The American College of Sofia (ACS) is a private, fee-paying upper secondary school (grades 8-12) with American roots in Simeonovo on the edge of Sofia. It traces its history to a missionary school for boys opened by Americans in Plovdiv (Philippopolis) in the 1860-1861 school year; the school later moved to Samokov, and in 1926 it was handed to Sofia American Schools, Inc., which built the present campus. In 1947 the state confiscated the campus, and in September 1992 the College reopened. Today it has 946 students; the school calls itself the oldest American educational institution outside the United States. It is a language high school admitting students after grade 7 through its own competitive exam. There are two tracks: the Bulgarian national curriculum (grades 8-12) with the Bulgarian diploma and the American High School Diploma, and an international track for foreign students and Bulgarians who studied abroad, culminating in the IB Diploma in grades 11-12. All subjects except Bulgarian language and literature and foreign languages are taught in English. The Bulgarian Ministry of Education recognises ACS as an Innovative School; the school reports Middle States Association accreditation since 2005 and IB authorisation. A 28-bed dormitory serves students from outside Sofia; Bulgarian families can apply for tuition reduction and full scholarships.
Key facts
Tuition
≈ $25 080 a year
22 200 EUR
Programmes
IB · DP · American programme · National programme
Languages of instruction
English
Languages taught
Bulgarian, French, German, Spanish
About the fees Tuition for 2026-2027: 22200 euro per year for international students, also 22200 euro for Bulgarian students transferring from international schools abroad, and 10540 euro for Bulgarian students. Tuition covers study materials, a personal Chromebook, extracurricular activities, university counselling and use of labs and sports facilities; food, transport and trips are extra. Families of Bulgarian students who pass the exam may apply for need-based tuition reduction (10% to 90%); for 2026-2027 the school allocated 1468679 euro, and almost 85% of applicants received a reduction. Full five-year scholarships are available for Bulgarian students.
Admissions Admission is competitive and based solely on the school's own entrance exam; the national grade 7 exam is not required. After grade 7: Bulgarian citizens and foreign citizens with permanent residency and a Bulgarian EGN who complete grade 7 (or grade 5 of the French system at the Lycee francais Victor Hugo) with a first-semester GPA of at least 5.00. The exam (a four-section test and an essay) is in Bulgarian; the school admits about 180 students, 90 girls and 90 boys, ranked separately; the exam fee is 30 euro. After grade 8: the same group takes the ISEE in English and an interview, if grade 9 has places. Foreign students and Bulgarians transferring from international schools are admitted year-round as places allow: transcripts for the last two years with at least a B average (3 on a four-point scale), the ISEE in English (160 dollar registration fee paid to ERB) and an interview if needed; they follow the international curriculum with the IB Diploma in grades 11-12. Bulgarian citizens in this group may switch to the national curriculum after legalising transcripts and passing make-up exams.
Stages and year groups Grades 8-12. Two tracks. The five-year Bulgarian national upper secondary curriculum (grades 8-12, grade 8 with intensive English) with specialisations in mathematics, software and hardware, humanities, foreign languages, sciences and entrepreneurship; graduates sit the state matura and receive the Bulgarian diploma and the American High School Diploma. An international track for foreign students and Bulgarians who studied abroad: the school's own curriculum culminating in the IB Diploma Programme in grades 11-12; graduates receive the IB Diploma and the American High School Diploma. All students may sit Advanced Placement exams.
Address Floyd Black Lane, Mladost-2, 1799 Sofia
Accreditations and programmes verified against official registries
IB · DP · authorised programmeMSA · accreditationThe IB register lists the Diploma Programme at the college, and it is accredited by MSA (Middle States Association). The Bulgarian programme for grades 8-12 with the matriculation exams and an American high school diploma run alongside.
school 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
IBInternational Baccalaureate
A Swiss non-profit, working since 1968. Its programmes are among the most widely recognised school programmes in the world. Authorisation is granted stage by stage, so a school with the final stage does not necessarily run the younger ones; which stages this school holds is set out in the line below.
What the badge means for this school. The school is allowed to run this programme and to award its certificate. This is a confirmation of the programme, not a judgement on the school as a whole. The entry stands in the organisation's public register - anyone can check it. At this school: DP (ages 16-19). DP is the final stage, ages 16 to 19: six subjects plus a compulsory core of theory of knowledge, an extended essay and CAS. The diploma is accepted by universities all over the world, and in a number of countries it counts for admission on the same footing as the local leaving certificate.
Register to check for yourself, and the full guide →MSAMiddle States Association of Colleges and Schools
One of the oldest American accreditations, working since 1887 in more than a hundred countries and linked to the Office of Overseas Schools of the US State Department. It judges the school as an institution across twelve areas, including finances, governance, premises and student support.
What the badge means for this school. The school has been through this organisation's accreditation. It was judged as a whole: governance, safeguarding, staff, premises, teaching. The entry stands in the organisation's public register - anyone can check it.
Register to check for yourself, and the full guide →American programme
The American school programme, with the High School Diploma at the end. It usually comes together with AP courses, which the College Board stands behind, and with an American accreditation - MSA, NEASC or Cognia.
What this means for this school. The diploma is written out by the school itself: the American programme has no common leaving exam, and the content of the senior years is set by the school. Outside checking therefore rests on two things here - the accreditation of the school, and the AP exams if the school runs them.
National programme
The state school programme of the country the school stands in: it is set by that country's ministry of education, which also licenses the school and awards the leaving certificate. That certificate is used for entry to local universities, and abroad it is matched to the local one.
What this means for this school. This entry does not count towards the score, and that is deliberate. Every lawful school in a country works to the national programme, so on its own it tells one school apart from no other - unlike the French, German or Russian programmes, which are carried abroad and confirmed by the register of their organisation. We show it because a parent needs to know what programme their child is taught and what certificate the child will get. Counting it would lift the whole ranking at once and still tell nobody apart.
Exams and destinations from the school's official website
Exam results State matura 2026: Bulgarian language and literature average grade 5.64 (87.43 points) against 67.21 in Sofia and 59.99 nationally, 32 perfect scores; English 5.70 (88.66 points) against 73.46 in Sofia and 72.36 nationally, 15 perfect scores; mathematics (39 students) 5.64 (88.06 points) against 82.48 in Sofia and 77.76 nationally, 12 perfect scores. The school does not publish IB results.
Where leavers go: Yale University · Princeton University · Stanford University · Columbia University · University of Oxford · London School of Economics (LSE) · Imperial College London · University College London (UCL) · Delft University of Technology · Bocconi University · ETH Zurich · Technical University of Munich
and others, 14 universities in the school's list in allThe list shows offers received by the Class of 2026 by late May: universities in the USA, the UK, the Netherlands, Italy, Germany, Switzerland, Spain, France, Belgium, Canada and elsewhere. The most popular fields are engineering, medicine and life sciences, business and economics, and computer science.
Facilities from the school's official website
·Swimming poolnot stated on the website
✓Sports hall
✓Laboratories
✓Theatre or assembly hall
✓Library
✓Catering
·School transportnot stated on the website
✓Boarding
Also on site: Sports ground or field · Makerspace
Clubs and activities: Debate Club · Astronomy Club · 3D Printing Club · Adventure Club · App Development Club · Business Club · Chemistry Club · Creative Writing Club · Entrepreneurship Club · Finance & Investment Club · First Aid Club · FISSION Club · Forensic Science Club · Bulgarian Folk Dancing Club · Hiking Club · Interact Club
Teaching staff from the school's official website
·Teachers listed by namenot published
·Teacher qualificationsnot stated
·Number of teachersthe school does not say
·Students per teacher or class sizenot stated
About a third of teachers are international, mainly from the USA, the UK and Canada (the site gives 33% and 35% in different places). Teachers sponsor clubs and serve as advisers; a Dean of Faculty Development runs professional development, and department chairs support young teachers. The IB coordinator holds a PhD in history from Sofia University.
Safety and wellbeing from the school's official website
·CCTVnot stated on the website
·Security staffnot stated on the website
·Access controlnot stated on the website
·Nurse or medical roomnot stated on the website
✓Counsellor
·Child protection policynot stated on the website
·Staff trainingnot stated on the website
·Anti-bullying policynot stated on the website
The Student Support team: a school counselor and three school psychologists offering individual and group counselling, academic support groups and health courses. The dormitory is run by two supervisors (one male, one female) and has a fire alarm system.
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%)84 Community rating (16%)no dataparent reviews are needed: the criterion switches on at the fifth verified one Exams and destinations (12%) scored on disclosed data80 Safety and wellbeing (12%) scored on disclosed data60 Accreditation and verifiability (10%)90 Teaching staff (10%) scored on disclosed data55 Facilities (10%) scored on disclosed data85 Clubs and activities (8%) scored on disclosed data78 "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
Sofia, Bulgaria · est. 1860 · Private