ABSTRACT
Foreign-linked private higher education has a long history in Greece. The oldest private institution, the American College of Greece, traces its history back to 1875, when American Christian missionaries founded a school for girls in Smyrna. The college moved to Athens in 1923 following an invitation from Prime Minister Eleutherios Venizelos. It was accredited by the New England Association of Schools and Colleges in 1981 (American College of Greece 2005). Although some private colleges are much maligned in sections of the Greek press, the American College of Greece has some influential alumni. The current Greek Prime Minister, Kostas Karamanlis, studied economics at its undergraduate school, Deree College, after graduating from Athens University’s Law School. He then went on to complete a master’s degree and PhD at Tufts University in the United States and returned to teach political science, diplomatic history and corporate law at Deree between 1983 and 1985. A few years later, Deree established the Konstantinos Karamanlis scholarship in honor of the current prime minister’s uncle, former Greek prime minister and president and founder of the New Democracy party, in honor of his statesmanship “and in recognition of the significant moral support he gave the College” (American College of Greece 2005: 26). Another wellestablished private institution is the American College of Thessaloniki. It is the higher education division of Anatolia College, which was formed in 1886 in Merzifon in Turkey with an American president and catering to Greek and Armenian students from the region. The college relocated to Thessalonika in 1924 and began offering post-secondary programs in 1981, with accreditation from the New England Association of Schools and Colleges in 1997. The University of La Verne, California had a branch campus in Athens between 1975 and 2004, initially to service US military personnel stationed in Greece, but by the time of its closure, students from thirty-three countries were enrolled (OBHE 2004c).
