The College of Arts and Sciences is dedicated to excellence in teaching, scholarship, the arts, and service to its local, national, and international communities.

The college provides a rich education in the liberal arts and sciences for all of American University's undergraduate students, offering challenging programs of study for its undergraduate and graduate majors; and fosters outstanding research, practice, and creative activity.

The college is committed to the core purposes of liberal education: promoting free and rational discourse, fostering an understanding of the diversity of human experience, providing the critical intellectual skills necessary to navigate a rapidly changing world, and integrating knowledge across disciplinary boundaries.