Yerevan /Mediamax/. The American University of Armenia (AUA) and the Scholae Mundi Armenia Charity Foundation signed a five-year Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to "collaborate and work together by facilitating educational and culture exchange towards the internationalization of higher education in Armenia.”

The MoU was signed between Veronika Zonabend, the co-founder of Scholae Mundi and chair of the Board of Governors of United World Colleges (UWC) Dilijan College, and Armen Der Kiureghian, the president of AUA.

In signing the MoU, AUA and Scholae Mundi recognize “the importance of promoting AUA, its academic programs, and status as an US-accredited institution of higher education.” They also recognize “the importance of promoting Armenia internationally and UWC in Armenia.”

"We should remember that all our educational initiatives in Armenia are meant for turning the country into an educational cluster, bringing together people of various nationalities who seek new out-of-the-box ideas and strive to change the world,” Veronika Zonabend said.

The MoU supports this vision and, in one of its terms, stipulates that the Charity Foundation would launch a scholarship program to support students of non-Armenian descent who studied at a college within the UWC network and who were admitted to AUA. Scholae Mundi will donate the difference in the cost of tuition fees at AUA for international students and citizens of Armenia for up to three international students for five years. The scholarship contenders will be selected by AUA standard procedures.

AUA, too, is deeply invested in Scholae Mundi’s efforts to diversify the educational scene in Armenia; it can only stand to benefit from such a development, in particular from the scholarship program, as the University is actively seeking to diversify its student body.

"The American University of Armenia intends to increase the number of its international students. We believe a diverse student body enriches the educational experience of all students. We are grateful to Scholae Mundi Armenia in helping us achieve this goal by providing scholarships to UWC students. As a US-accredited university, AUA is a perfect destination for those students who are interested in gaining Western education in a culturally rich and safe country," Armen Der Kiureghian said.

Mediamax talked to Veronika Zonabend about Scholae Mundi’s new educational projects in September, 2015.