AUP Welcomes Largest-Ever Incoming Class

In France, September is known as la rentrée – an end to summer vacation and the start of a new school year. For AUP, this means welcoming a new cohort of students to campus, global explorers from all over the world who come to Paris to study the liberal arts in the premier international American institution of higher learning in Europe.

Following a dip in admissions due to the Covid-19 pandemic, AUP has now recovered its recruitment levels to the point where this Fall semester sees AUP’s largest-ever incoming class arrive in the City of Light. More than 610 undergraduate, graduate, partner and transfer students arrived in Paris last week in time for Orientation – many of them moving into AUP-owned housing.

Among students’ first tasks? Getting to know the neighborhood. The 7th arrondissement, AUP’s home, is a vibrant central Parisian area known for chic boutiques and relaxed café terraces. Before classes start, incoming students are guided through the process of setting up their phone plan and metro cards, accompanied all the while by experienced student advisors who share local secrets and help settle them into their new home.

Also arriving on campus this Fall: AUP’s 13th President, Sonya Stephens, who welcomed incoming students during Convocation in the American Church in Paris. Professor Stephens was announced as president in January of this year, but officially took over the role from outgoing President Celeste M. Schenck as of September 1.