← Back to homeAmerican International School - Salzburg
Salzburg, Austria · est. 1976 · Private
Illustration · Salzburg
American International School - Salzburg is a private American college-preparatory boarding school founded in 1976. It teaches grades 7-12 and offers an optional 13th post-graduate year. The school is deliberately small: around 100 students at full capacity and on average about 25 nationalities. Over 80% of students board on campus, 15-20% are day students from Salzburg and the surrounding area. Graduates receive the American High School Diploma; Advanced Placement courses have been part of the regular programme since 1983. The language of instruction is English: the school describes itself as "a school in which English is the language of instruction". German is compulsory for all students at every level, and beginners can start from scratch.
Key facts
Tuition
≈ $27 114–57 616 a year
24 000–51 000 EUR
Programmes
AP · American programme
Languages of instruction
English
Languages taught
German, French, Italian, Spanish
Registration fee
≈ $169
150 EUR
Summer camp
Yes, open to all
About the fees Annual fees for 2026-2027: full boarding 48000 EUR (grades 7-8), 49500 EUR (9-10), 51000 EUR (11-12); five-day boarding 47000, 48500 and 50000 EUR; day students 24000, 25000 and 26000 EUR. Boarding fees include room, meals, textbooks, two multi-day trips in Europe, ski days and most weekend activities; day fees include breakfast and lunch on school days, textbooks, trips and accident insurance. Returning students and siblings receive a 5% discount.
Admissions The school admits students of any nationality aged 12 to 19: "students of any nationality between the ages of 12 and 19". Grade 7 entrants must be 12 and have completed six years of schooling; students must be under 20 at completion. Required: application form, previous transcripts, passport copy, two teacher recommendations (English and mathematics) and the application fee. Non-native English speakers need a recent English exam (TOEFL, TOEFL Junior, Cambridge, IELTS, SLEP or the school's own test): at least A2-B1 for grades 7-8, B1 for grade 9, B2 for grade 10 and C1 for grades 11-12. German is not required. There is no deadline; applications are reviewed all year while places remain, and a decision follows within one week. Applicants who need a visa for Austria are advised to finish admission by the end of May (the FAQ page says end of June). Day students go through the same admission process as boarders.
Stages and year groups Grades 7-12. Junior High covers grades 7 and 8, High School grades 9-12, plus an optional 13th post-graduate year for further university preparation and AP exams. The school's diploma is the American High School Diploma, which the school describes as accredited by the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools; it is based on credits earned in grades 9-12. The regular programme includes 14 AP courses: English Literature and Composition, European History, Human Geography, Psychology, Calculus AB, Calculus BC, Precalculus, Biology, Chemistry, Environmental Science, French, German, Italian and Spanish Language and Culture. The school itself compares AP with the IB and chooses AP; the site lists no IB, Cambridge or Austrian Matura programmes.
Address Moosstrasse 106, 5020 Salzburg
Accreditations and programmes verified against official registries
MSA · accreditationCollege Board · authorised programmeThe school is accredited by MSA (Middle States Association), listed as Active and valid until 2029; the MSA directory describes it as boarding only, while the school's own website also admits day pupils. It appears in the College Board AP Course Ledger for the 2025-2026 school year with 11 subjects.
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
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 →College BoardCollege Board, the AP programme
An American organisation that allows a school to put the letters AP on a pupil's transcript. The permission is granted course by course and tied to a particular teacher, it has to be renewed every year, and College Board reads the course syllabus before granting it.
What the badge means for this school. The school is allowed to run advanced AP courses - not the school as a whole, but one by one: by subject and by teacher. Governance, safeguarding and the primary years are not part of that check. Which subjects are actually approved is visible in the ledger. The entry stands in the organisation's public register - anyone can check it. Authorisation here runs a year at a time: the register lists the school for the 2025-2026 school year.
Register to check for yourself, and the full guide →AP
Advanced Placement: American advanced courses for the senior years. The exam for a course is set and marked by the College Board, not by the school. A good result is counted by American universities as a first-year course already passed, which saves a student time and money.
What this means for this school. A school does not get to call a course AP automatically: the College Board reads the course syllabus and approves it separately for every subject and every teacher, and the permission has to be renewed each year. Every approved school in the world is listed in the open AP Course Ledger, and this school's entry there stands as a line in the accreditation block above. How many courses a school is approved for, and in which subjects, the ledger does not show in its general listing. AP has no leaving certificate of its own: it sits on top of the school's main programme rather than being a separate system.
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.
Exams and destinations from the school's official website
AP scores of 3 and above
86.5%
Exam results AP 2026: 43 students sat 119 exams; 86.5% of exams scored 3 or higher, 95% of students earned a 3 or higher on at least one exam; seniors' pass rate was 87%. Five subjects had a 100% pass rate: German, Calculus AB, Calculus BC, Chemistry, Psychology.
Where leavers go: Stanford University · New York University · Boston University · George Washington University · Fordham University · Pomona College · University of Virginia · University of Washington · University of California, Santa Barbara · London School of Economics · University College London · King's College London
and others, 30 universities in the school's list in allThe school publishes university acceptances for 2016-2022. According to the school, about one third of graduates go to universities in the USA and Canada, one third to the UK and one third to continental Europe, mainly Austria and Germany.
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
✓Library
✓Catering
·School transportnot stated on the website
✓Boarding
Campus: Campus in the green suburbs of Salzburg at the foot of the Untersberg, ten minutes from the centre; sports at the RIF centre 15 minutes away.
Clubs and activities: Soccer (DVAC league) · Volleyball (DVAC league) · Basketball (DVAC league) · Cross-country · Swimming · Tennis · Skiing and snowboarding · Basketball Jamboree · Sports Day
Summer camp: the school runs its own camp and takes children from outside as well
Summer Language Program on the school campus: intensive English or German for ages 12-18, three two-week sessions in July and August, combinable up to six weeks. Boarding: 2500 EUR for 2 weeks, 4450 EUR for 4 weeks, 5750 EUR for 6 weeks; day students: 1500, 2500 and 3600 EUR. Lessons, meals, excursions and activities are included; completing the full six weeks of English can earn high school credit.
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
The Faculty and Staff page lists 24 people: Headmaster Paul McLean, teachers of English, mathematics, sciences, history and social studies, German, Italian, French and studio art, the college counselor, the dean and the boarding staff (Dorm Parents, Resident Assistants). The school states an average teacher tenure of 12 years and a ratio of 3 students per staff member, boarding staff included. Resident staff do not teach credit-bearing classes; they handle non-academic hours, physical education and sports.
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
·Counsellornot stated on the website
✓Child protection policy
✓Staff training
·Anti-bullying policynot stated on the website
The child protection policy is published on the site and covers the school year, the summer programme and trips. All staff are trained regularly in child protection, with certifications renewed annually; new staff are screened for suitability to work with young people; a Child Protection Team of administrators, teachers and resident staff is in place.
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%)75 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 data65 Accreditation and verifiability (10%)90 Teaching staff (10%) scored on disclosed data55 Facilities (10%) scored on disclosed data75 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