← Back to homeThe American College in Spain
Marbella, Spain · Private
Illustration · Marbella
The American College in Spain (ACS) is a private American high school and college in Marbella, near Puerto Banús. The school calls itself the first North American high school and university in Andalusia. The high school is four years on the American system: under an agreement with Mizzou Academy, the high school of the University of Missouri, ACS represents it in Spain, and leavers receive an accredited American University of Missouri High School diploma, standard or college-preparatory. Classes take place in classrooms Monday to Thursday from 9:10 to 15:25, five one-hour lessons, and on Friday until 14:15; each pupil gets an individual study plan, can speed up graduation by taking more courses, and can choose Advanced Placement courses. Classes are small, with supervised homework and teacher help outside lessons. The school adapts schedules flexibly for athletes training at clubs on the coast. After school pupils can continue in the ACS university programme: two years of general courses with a Keiser University Associate of Arts degree and transfer to a bachelor's at Keiser or another university; with a GPA of 3.0 or higher the MizzouDirect programme gives pre-admission to the University of Missouri. According to ACS, more than 12000 students of almost 40 nationalities have passed through its programmes. Teaching is in English.
Key facts
Tuition
≈ $14 912 a year
13 200 EUR
Languages of instruction
English
About the fees The school publishes its fees itself: the high school costs 13200 euros per school year (36 weeks, 5-6 subjects per term), an extra subject 1420 euros. On top of that: learning materials 1000 euros a year, an administration fee of 500 euros a year and a one-time transcript evaluation fee. A 10 percent discount for families with two or more children and 5 percent for paying the whole year before 1 June; payment plans are possible.
Admissions The school admits both Spanish and foreign pupils; for foreigners it describes the student visa in detail: applying in person at the consulate, no earlier than 90 days before travel, at least 20 hours of classes a week; for the acceptance letter a non-refundable deposit is taken and counted towards the fees. Applicants from another school submit certified reports, which are sent to the USA for evaluation to determine how many courses remain until graduation; a registration form, payment of the transcript evaluation fee and a passport copy (DNI or NIE for residents of Spain) are required. Before enrolment pupils take an English and mathematics placement test, those with a weak level are assigned preparatory courses, and then the academic department holds an interview. Intakes are in September and February, but pupils can start later. For pupils with documented learning difficulties the school offers reasonable accommodations, such as extra exam time, but it has no dedicated service for high special needs.
Stages and year groups Grades grades 9-12 (four-year American high school). An American high school on Mizzou Academy courses: English language arts, social studies, science and mathematics to US national standards, with an individual graduation plan. University of Missouri High School diploma: standard (at least 3 credits, 6 courses with Mizzou Academy) or college-preparatory (at least 5 credits, 10 courses). AP courses: Calculus AB, Comparative Government and Politics, English Language and Composition, English Literature and Composition, European History, Psychology, Statistics, United States History. There is also a separate GED programme (10-12 weeks, 4 subjects). Classes are small; the school does not give an exact class size.
Address CC La Alzambra, Urb. La Alzambra, 29660 Puerto Banús, Marbella (Málaga)
Accreditations and programmes verified against official registries
Cognia · candidateschool is in an official registryconfirmed by a school document, by membership or by taking part in a networkclaimed by the school, no confirmation, not counted in the scoreGuide to all organisations → What stands behind each entry
CogniaCognia, formerly AdvancED
The widest-reaching American accreditation: some forty thousand schools in over a hundred countries. It accredits both individual schools and whole school systems. It also sells a paid membership with no inspection behind it, and that membership is often passed off as accreditation.
What the badge means for this school. The school is a candidate for accreditation by this organisation: the route has been started but not completed. Candidacy speaks of an application made and a file accepted for consideration, not of the outcome of an inspection, and the organisations themselves usually require schools to say that it does not guarantee accreditation. The candidacy is confirmed in the organisation's open directory.
Register to check for yourself, and the full guide →Exams and destinations from the school's official website
The school publishes nothing about where its leavers go: no share going on to university, no exam results, no list of universities.
Facilities from the school's official website
·Swimming poolnot stated on the website
·Sports hallnot stated on the website
·Laboratoriesnot stated on the website
·Theatre or assembly hallnot stated on the website
·Librarynot stated on the website
·Cateringnot stated on the website
·School transportnot stated on the website
·Boardingnot stated on the website
Campus: The school occupies premises in the La Alzambra shopping centre by the Vasari roundabout in Puerto Banús: high school and university classrooms, a lecture hall, an IT room, lounges with tables and a microwave on each floor, an outdoor terrace and a sports area. There is no canteen of its own; there is a cafeteria opposite and a supermarket below, a fitness centre nearby, and the beach is 5 minutes' walk away. PE and fitness take place during school hours.
Teaching staff from the school's official website
·Teachers listed by namenot published
✓Teacher qualifications
·Number of teachersthe school does not say
·Students per teacher or class sizenot stated
What the listings show: master's and doctoral degrees, teacher-training master's degrees
The school names 11 teachers with their degrees: master's and doctoral graduates of universities in Spain (Málaga, Madrid, Seville, Elche, Carlos III), the UK (Leicester), Canada (Calgary), the USA (Syracuse), Romania and South Africa, including in education, biology, history, literature and anthropology. Classes, in its words, are small; teachers help pupils outside lessons too, and there is an academic adviser.
Safety and wellbeing from the school's official website
The school says nothing on its website about security, medical care or pupil support.
Reviews
No reviews yet. The community rating counts towards the score once a school has five verified reviews - until then we do not show a zero, so as not to mislead.
Criteria breakdown criterion weight in brackets
Academics and programmes (16%)60 Community rating (16%)no dataparent reviews are needed: the criterion switches on at the fifth verified one Exams and destinations (12%) scored on disclosed data55 Safety and wellbeing (12%) scored on disclosed data55 Accreditation and verifiability (10%)65 Teaching staff (10%) scored on disclosed data55 Facilities (10%) scored on disclosed data60 Clubs and activities (8%) scored on disclosed data55 "Scored on disclosed data" stands where we count only what the school has written about itself on its own site: exams and destinations, safety and wellbeing, teaching staff, facilities, clubs and activities. A low score here means the school does not write about this, not that the school does not have it: a school with good security and a sparse site will score low. A school can fill in its profile, and the score will be counted again.
The score is counted from 8 of the 9 criteria.Only those with checkable data count: programmes and accreditations from official registers, the fee from a published price list. Where it says "scored on the median", the school has no data and the middle of the list is put in its place, so that a gap gives no advantage. Admissions, teaching staff and reviews come in as their data arrives.
The full methodology → Similar schools in the country