Arabic: الجامعة الاميركية في القاهرة Established: 1919 The American University in Cairo (AUC) was founded in 1919 by a group of Americans dedicated to education and community services. The university quickly became an essential meeting point for cross-cultural debate and understanding, serving as a crossroads for culture and academics. Currently headed by President Lisa Anderson, AUC is commonly considered the top English-language university in the region and a major contributor in the fields of social, political, and cultural life in the Arab world. It is also considered one of the best universities in Egypt, attended by a mixture of foreigners, the children of upper class and upper-middle class Egyptian families, and a handful of scholarship students. According to its website, AUC has a broad focus on liberal arts and prides itself on the diversity of its student body, representing over 100 countries including nearly 300 study abroad students each semester. Faculty members, teaching staff and lecturers also come from international backgrounds, providing the students with a variety of teaching methods and experiences to be gained. AUC currently offers both undergraduate and graduate programs, as well as continuing education opportunities and language schools for both English and Arabic. In the summer of 2009, the university transferred their campuses from the heart of downtown Cairo to a 260-acre state-of-the-art campus in New Cairo, representing “investment and room for expansion.” The current student population is around 6,000 students.