American International College, Springfield, Mass (78032)

American International College (AIC) is a

private college Private universities and private colleges are institutions of higher education, not operated, owned, or institutionally funded by governments. They may (and often do) receive from governments tax breaks, public student loans, and grants. D ...

Springfield, Massachusetts Springfield is a city in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, United States, and the seat of Hampden County. Springfield sits on the eastern bank of the Connecticut River near its confluence with three rivers: the western Westfield River, the ...

History

American International College was originally established on July 18, 1885, as the French Protestant College by Rev. Calvin E. Amaron, who sought to create an institution of higher learning that would provide the local French Protestant minority with access to higher education.

Academics

The college offers

undergraduate Undergraduate education is education conducted after secondary education and before postgraduate education. It typically includes all postsecondary programs up to the level of a bachelor's degree. For example, in the United States, an entry-lev ...

and graduate programs, including

master's A master's degree (from Latin ) is an academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice.

and doctoral degrees and certificates of advanced graduate study (CAGS). There are three schools which focus on their respective academic areas: :* School of Business, Arts, and Sciences: Bachelor's and master's degrees. :* School of Health Sciences: Bachelor's, master's, and doctoral degrees. :* School of Education: Master's and doctoral degrees. Undergraduate students choose from 37 majors as they earn a Bachelor of Arts (B.A.), Bachelor of Science (B.S.), Bachelor of Science in Nursing (B.S.N.) or Bachelor of Science in Business Administration (B.S.B.A). Certificates and other non-degree programs are also offered.

Athletics

The school competes in

NCAA Division II NCAA Division II (D-II) is an intermediate-level division of competition in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). It offers an alternative to both the larger and better-funded Division I and to the scholarship-free environmen ...

, and is a member of the

Northeast-10 Conference The Northeast-10 Conference (NE-10) is a college athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at the Division II level. Member institutions are located in the northeastern United States in the states o ...

for all but four sports. Among the exceptions is the school's men's ice hockey team, which is a member of the Division I,

Atlantic Hockey Association The Atlantic Hockey Association (AHA) is an NCAA Men's Division I Ice Hockey conference which operates primarily in the northeastern United States. It participates in the NCAA's Division I as an ice hockey-only conference. Unlike several other ...

. The team participated in its first

NCAA Men's Ice Hockey Championship ''NCAA men's ice hockey championship'' refers to either of the two tournaments in men's ice hockey – one in Division I and one in Division III – contested by the National Collegiate Athletic Association The National Collegiate Athlet ...

in 2019 and defeated nationally ranked No.1 St. Cloud State in the first round. Additionally, the college's wrestling program, which is the only NCAA DII program in New England, competes as an independent. AIC also has a

college rugby College rugby is played by men and women throughout colleges and universities in the United States of America. Seven-a-side and fifteen-a-side variants of rugby union are most commonly played. Most collegiate rugby programs do not fall under the ...

program that was founded in 2009 and began play in 2010. The rugby program is part of the school's athletic department, has varsity status, with rugby scholarships available for students. AIC's men's team plays Division 1A in the Liberty Conference, while the women's team is a member of the NIRA.

Notable alumni

Politics

Paul Babeu Paul Raymond Babeu (pronounced ''BAB-you''; born February 3, 1969) is an American law enforcement officer, politician and member of the Republican Party who was sheriff of Pinal County, Arizona, from January 1, 2009, to January 1, 2017. He was ...

, Arizona sheriff * Mark G. Mastroianni, United States District Judge of the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts *

William D. Mullins William David Mullins (August 13, 1931 – March 2, 1986) was an American politician, educator, and professional baseball player who served in the Massachusetts House of Representatives from 1977 until his death in 1986. A member of the Democratic ...

, member of the

Massachusetts House of Representatives The Massachusetts House of Representatives is the lower house of the Massachusetts General Court, the state legislature of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. It is composed of 160 members elected from 14 counties each divided into single-member ...

Richard Neal Richard Edmund Neal (born February 14, 1949) is an American politician serving as the U.S. representative for since 1989. The district, numbered as the 2nd district from 1989 to 2013, includes Springfield, West Springfield, Pittsfield, H ...

, member of the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the Lower house, lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the United States Senate, Senate being ...

Mike Gravel Maurice Robert "Mike" Gravel ( ; May 13, 1930 – June 26, 2021) was an American politician and writer who served as a United States Senator from Alaska from 1969 to 1981 as a member of the Democratic Party, and who later in life twice ran for ...

Alaska Alaska ( ; russian: Аляска, Alyaska; ale, Alax̂sxax̂; ; ems, Alas'kaaq; Yup'ik: ''Alaskaq''; tli, Anáaski) is a state located in the Western United States on the northwest extremity of North America. A semi-exclave of the U.S., ...

Senator A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

Michael C. Polt Michael Christian Polt (born 1954) is an American diplomat. He served as the U.S. Ambassador to Estonia from 2009 to 2012 and as U.S. Ambassador to Serbia and Montenegro from 2004 to 2006 and its successor state Serbia from 2006 to 2007. Currentl ...

, US diplomat and former Ambassador to Estonia, Serbia, and Serbia and Montenegro

Athletics

Jim Calhoun James A. Calhoun (born May 10, 1942) is a longtime college basketball coach. He is best known for his tenure as head coach of the University of Connecticut (UConn) men's basketball team. His teams won three NCAA national championships ( 1999, ...

, college basketball coach *

Asnage Castelly Asnage Castelly (born March 29, 1978Asnage Castelly
,

Olympic Olympic or Olympics may refer to Sports Competitions * Olympic Games, international multi-sport event held since 1896 ** Summer Olympic Games ** Winter Olympic Games * Ancient Olympic Games, ancient multi-sport event held in Olympia, Greece b ...

wrestler * Harrison Fitch, college basketball player *

Dave Forbes David Stephen Forbes (born November 16, 1948) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player. He played for the Boston Bruins and Washington Capitals of the National Hockey League between 1973 and 1978, and for the Cincinnati Stingers of the ...

, professional hockey player *

Mario Elie is a character created by Japanese video game designer Shigeru Miyamoto. He is the title character of the ''Mario'' franchise and the mascot of Japanese video game company Nintendo. Mario has appeared in over 200 video games since his cr ...

, professional basketball player and coach * Bruce Laird, professional football player * Tom Rychlec, professional football player

References

External links

*
American International College Athletics website
{{authority control Educational institutions established in 1885 1885 establishments in Massachusetts