American University of Sharjah

The American University of Sharjah was founded in 1997 by the Emir of Sharjah, Sultan bin Muhammad Al-Qasimi.
AUS was granted a license by the UAE Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research in 1998 and held its first student council elections the same year. In the subsequent year, the university was granted a license by the UAE Commission for Academic Accreditation.[citation needed] The university launched its first graduate degree, a Master of Business Administration (MBA), in 2000 and held its first commencement the following year. The US Middle States Commission on Higher Education granted accreditation to the university in 2004.
In 2006, Emir Al-Qasimi inaugurated the new AUS Library.In 2010, the AUS Bachelor of Architecture degree program became the first outside of North America to be granted accreditation by the US National Architectural Accrediting Board (NAAB). In 2012, Forbes Middle East ranked the AUS MBA program as the best offered by a private university in the Gulf Region.