The American University of the Caribbean (AUC) in Les Cayes, Haiti, was founded and incorporated in 1983 as a not-for-profit institution organized exclusively for educational and scientific purposes. It is incorporated in the State of Florida, recognized by, and licensed with, the “Ministère de l’Education Nationale et de la Formation Professionelle de la République d’Haïti.”
The University opened its doors and began programs of instruction in 1986 at Rue Antoine Simon in Les Cayes—a peaceful, developing city with exceptional resources and an industrious local population which welcomes the university.
In 1989, the University moved to its present site, the Pierre Toussaint Campus, Charpentier, and into a spacious 61,000 square foot building, the construction of which was funded by the American Schools and Hospitals Abroad (ASHA).
The University is a developing institution that offers programs and degrees based on the articulated needs of the people of Haiti. As the institution grows and develops, it will change not only in physical appearance but also in programs and degrees offered.
Mission & Values
AUC pursues excellence in undergraduate, graduate, and post-graduate teaching and research as it aims at transforming itself into a source of scientific realism and fostering scholarship among its students who seek to discover the relative authority of natural laws and become familiar with scientific essentials.
The University offers programs which preserve, foster, and expand: democracy, the perception of nature as a source of values, a firm belief in education as a universally prescribed means of adjustment, and a study of the truth of verifiable experience. It provides alternative and non-traditional programs to meet the ever-changing educational needs of the people as it strives to foster scientific and intellectual growth in fundamental as well as specified fields.
Intelligent inquiry and the relentless pursuit of knowledge built through research and personal reflection – both inside and outside the classroom – create opportunities and choices. Student are challenged to be fearless in their curiosity so that they may not only better themselves but also create a better environment.
The AUC faculty and staff are passionate about their daily role of helping the students to discover their abilities, strengths, and weaknesses and to cultivate their talents, dreams, and characters so they may develop to their fullest potentials.
Statement of Purpose
The purpose of the American University of the Caribbean (AUC) is to share in the education of the population of Haiti, in the service of its people, and in the advancement of knowledge. Its goal is to promote scholarship and high academic and ethical standards as approved by the Board of Trustees through an intensive, academically demanding education conducted in the English and French languages at undergraduate and graduate level programs of scientific studies relevant to students of Haiti and the world.
The University believes in and encourages freedom of thought and expression in a spirit of integrity and responsibility. Each member of the AUC community (students, faculty, staff, and administrators) has the right to individual self-expression and is obligated to guarantee his/her colleagues these same rights. Each has the right of peaceful dissent, but no one has the right to prevent those who disagree with him/her from pursuing their proper activities.
All members of the university are expected to conduct themselves in accordance with the spirit of this declaration of policy, the regulations of the university, and the laws of the Republic of Haiti that grants the university the privilege of carrying out its educational activities within a framework of academic freedom.
