American University in Bulgaria
Programs and results
What we aim to solve
From its audacious early beginning as the first and only private university in Bulgaria, the only liberal arts higher education school in the South-East European and the CIS region and as a symbol of the support of the United States government to the democratization and reform of the region – AUBG has emerged as the highest quality liberal arts university in this part of the world. Meeting Enrollment Targets Issue: Our academic quality and the success of our graduates in business, academic careers, and in civil society is notable and the institution should focus on achieving greater recognition by the public. A criticism heard frequently is that AUBG is “isolated” from the community of Blagoevgrad and from Bulgaria’s public life. The general public has a clearly - established perception that AUBG is "expensive" -- without having a clear idea of the true cost of attending AUBG, especially in comparison with the true cost of attending universities elsewhere in Western Europe.
Our programs
What are the organization's current programs, how do they measure success, and who do the programs serve?
Various Studies
Arts, Languages and Literature
Business
Computer Science
Economics
History and Southeast European Studies
Journalism and Mass Communication
Mathematics and Science
Political Science and European Studies
Executive MBA
AUBG's Executive MBA, the first executive MBA program in Bulgaria established in 2003, is highly selective and has successfully educated the business leaders of the country for more than a decade. It is recognized worldwide for its practical curriculum that provides up-to-date skills for high performance in a complex global business environment.
Where we work
External reviews

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Goals & Strategy
Learn about the organization's key goals, strategies, capabilities, and progress.
Charting impact
Four powerful questions that require reflection about what really matters - results.
What is the organization aiming to accomplish?
The goal of higher enrollment of 1,200 undergraduate students remains vital to the sustainability and strength of AUBG. Increasing enrollment will increase our ability to expand academic programming both through new programs and within existing programs. A larger enrollment also allows for more efficient utilization of our existing classroom and other facilities. We are not proposing to meet the numerical enrollment target by becoming less: by maintaining high quality standards, we will not sacrifice our ability to offer a meaningful, high quality learning environment and learning experience for all students. Analysis of the results of our admissions process shows that AUBG enrolls a high percentage of its admitted students. The “yield rates” is particularly high for Bulgarian students, moderate in regional countries in which we recruit actively, and lowest in the most distant international markets.
What are the organization's key strategies for making this happen?
1. Define our market and peer group of competitors on an annual basis to adapt to the dynamic educational, demographic, and geo-political shifts.
2. Institute a rigorous market Segmentation, Targeting, Positioning (STP) approach to recruiting, which will inform our future priorities and initiatives to attract more applicants fitting the profile we target, and to increase yield.
3. Make scholarship support a Development priority. Tuition payments from AUBG students cover only direct educational expenses; the rest of the cost of running the University has to be funded via scholarships. This makes scholarship money a major factor in our ability to fulfill our mission.
4. Measure, evaluate, and market a consistent academic image of AUBG to prospective students, and their influencers such as teachers and parents, with the objective to increase propensity to apply and help meet Admissions KPI’s for inquiries, applications, and enrollment.
What are the organization's capabilities for doing this?
The Admissions team is highly committed and consists of a number of young motivated professionals. The well-designed current structure supports the activities related to recruitment and admissions to the university. Policies and procedures are in place to ensure smooth operations of the office. A newly adopted CRM system allows for better planning, tracking, and engagement of prospective students. The AUBG’s website is structured so it reveals AUBG’s key advantages and supports the recruitment efforts flawlessly. The strategic plan of the office aims to develop a culture of support from the AUBG community, build strategic partnerships, sustain performing markets and develop new ones. It also focuses on activities along the admissions funnel, targets and goals, addresses key segments, recruitment channels, key partners and activities, and outlines the action plan for the implementation of the strategy.
What have they accomplished so far and what's next?
The Admissions office achieved great results in the fall of 2018 by enrolling 251 new degree seeking students, a number representing 33 % increase over the previous year and the highest number in 7 years. The biggest success was in the number of Bulgarian students (170), which is 56% higher than the previous year and the best result in 12 years. Not only that the students were higher in numbers but they are also stronger academically as measured by Admission points. Following the trends and analyzing the reasons for success we are looking to replicate the success in Bulgaria to other international markets. We have started another integrated Marketing and Recruitment campaign and we are initiating new strategic partnerships. To address the area for improvement, i.e. converting more applicants to complete their applications we are focusing on more on-campus events and competitions which will provide opportunities for more students to experience AUBG.
Financials
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Operations
The people, governance practices, and partners that make the organization tick.
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Connect with nonprofit leaders
SubscribeBuild relationships with key people who manage and lead nonprofit organizations with GuideStar Pro. Try a low commitment monthly plan today.
- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
Want to see how you can enhance your nonprofit research and unlock more insights? Learn More about GuideStar Pro.
American University in Bulgaria
Board of directorsas of 1/21/2019
Mr. Ivan Manev
University of Maine
Ambassador Elena Poptodorova
The Atlantic Club of Bulgaria