Academics at AUCA Explained

The following sections contains a general overview of the academic system at AUCA. For more information, visit the Academics page.

Credit system

Education at AUCA is based on the ECTS* credit system, used in many universities and colleges around the world. Credits indicate the number of hours spent on a particular course during the semester. For example, if a course is taught twice a week throughout the entire semester, it takes up 6 credits; courses that are taught once a week, or last only half a semester, usually take 3 up credits.

(For reference: One ECTS credit at AUCA is equal to 30 academic hours.)

Each semester, a student chooses several subjects based on the number of credits they have. Typically, students are given 30-36 credits per semester, depending on the specifics of their study program and year of study. For example, if a student has 30 credits, they can take up to 5 six-credit courses.

To be awarded a diploma and graduate, a student must earn 240 credits.

*ECTS – European Credit Transfer and Accumulation System.

Required and elective courses

Although students can choose their own courses to study, there are certain rules on how they should go about it. To successfully complete their program, students must study several general education courses, as well as a number of required courses. Examples of required courses of the ESCS program are:

Applied Ecology (ENV/NTR-205);
Climate Change and Sustainable Development (ENV-216);
Environmental Chemistry (AGEO/NS-110).

If a student has available credits left, they can use them for elective courses, which may relate to their program. Examples of elective courses of the ESCS program are:

Environmental Geophysics (ENV/NS-203)
Environmental and Social Impact Assessment (ENV-200);
Agro-Ecology and Integrated Crop Management (ENV-303).

Selecting courses requires a careful strategy, so be sure to analyze your checklist and seek guidance from your program supervisors.

In addition to earning 240 credits and completing required courses, students must fulfill a number of other requirements (see next section).

Next section: Major Requirements