Richmond in Rome, Italy: Academics

Richmond in Rome

The Rome Summer Advantage program is organized by Richmond, The American International University in London. The university is an independent, non-profit international university of liberal arts and professional studies offering fully-accredited BA, BS and MA degrees.

DILIT International House

Rome Summer Advantage classes are held in DILIT International House, a well-known language school established in 1974. The school is based in the center of Rome, a five-minute walk from the central railway station. It is part of the famous International House group that includes more than 100 language centers in 20 cities in and outside of Europe. DILIT has been voted as the top Italian language school in both 2006 and 2007 by Language Travel Magazine.

Accreditation

Richmond, The American International University in London, is an independent non-profit international university of liberal arts and professional studies. It is accredited by the Commission on Higher Education of the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools, one of the six regional accrediting bodies recognized by the U.S. Department of Education. It is also accredited by the British Open University Validation Services, and was the first university in the U.K. or the U.S. to be fully accredited by the higher education authorities of both countries. Its degrees are licensed by the Department of Education in the state of Delaware, and are also validated by the Open University. All are designated by the Department of Education and Skills of Her Majesty’s Government in the United Kingdom. Renowned for its emphasis on international and multicultural themes, Richmond has an international student body of approximately 1,000 full-time students from 85 countries.

Transcripts

Transcripts are prepared by the Richmond Registrar’s Office, Richmond, The American International University in London, Queen’s Road, Richmond, Surrey TW10 6JP, U.K. One official copy of the transcript will be mailed free of charge to the address specified in the application form. Requests for additional transcript copies must be made in writing and will incur a $15 per transcript fee.

Assessment and grading

Course work required varies with the nature of the material covered. Instructors are likely to use some combination of quizzes, papers, final examinations, projects and class participation. Grades are awarded by instructors on a 4.0 scale which assigns values to pluses and minuses within the letter grade.

Course selection

The normal course load is 3 or 6 credits, comprised of one or two 3-credit courses. Preliminary course selection is made on the initial application. The earlier you send the application, the better your choice of courses. You should provide two alternate courses in case first choice courses are not available. If first choice courses are not available, you will automatically be registered for your second choices. It is necessary to confirm course choices or make changes before leaving the U.S. Once in Rome, you will not be allowed to add any courses to the original course selection. Courses run providing a minimum of 10 students are enrolled. Limited changes may be necessary before a session starts.