YEREVAN, MARCH 3, NOYAN TAPAN. The American University of Armenia (AUA) has received education accreditation of the US Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC). The AUA President Harutyun Armenian said at the March 2 press conference that they started the accreditaion process 7 years ago, and it was done in three stages: receiving a correspondence status, then a candidate status, and finally - being granted the accreditation. In H. Armenian's words, this is an unprecedented event: it is for the first time that the WASC grants this status to a university outside the US and especially for a 7 year period. WASC accreditation is usually granted for 3 years. H. Armenian attributed this exception to high-level education provided by the AUA. "The accreditaion process was a period of self-examination and self-analysis for us, which has had a positive impact on the university's functioning," he underlined. He added that this achievement has created new challenges for the AUA. Congratulating the university staff, the RA Minister of Education and Science Levon Mkrtchian noted the importance of the AUA's accreditaion for further activities of the country's higher educational system. He expressed confidence that state and non-state higher educational institutions of Armenia must undergo accreditaion - "they should have the courage to pass these stages of self-analysis and self-examination." According to him, this is necessary for improving the educaional level and occupying one's own place in internation educational system.

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