• About the OAC
• About the Core Course
• About Applying to the Core Course
• About the Advanced Education Program
• Technical Issues

About the OAC

Does the OAC offer scholarships or financial aid to students?

We offer financial support to most full-time students. The various kinds of financial assistance we offer are described here. On the OAC application form, applicants may indicate whether they wish to be considered for a tuition waiver or a phone scholarship.

Is there a campus I can attend?

Classes are conducted online and via teleconferencing. Some classes are conducted live (and by telephone) from ARI’s facilities in Irvine, California. Students who live nearby may attend in person.

Is the OAC accredited?

No. The feedback we have received from our students is that accreditation is not a driving factor in their decision to apply to the program.

A few students in the past have been successful on their own in getting their colleges to give them credit for taking a course with ARI.

About the Core Course

Can high school students and others who have not attended college apply to the program?

Yes, we welcome applications from high school students; a college degree is not a prerequisite for admission to the OAC’s core course. The OAC is intended for students who have a serious interest in becoming professional intellectuals or in engaging in intellectual activism within their professions. (Please note that students under eighteen years of age need parental consent in order to enroll.)

What are the deadlines for applying?

Please view the Academic Calendar for information about these dates.

What costs are involved?

Most full-time students receive full tuition waivers and phone scholarships. Scholarships are intended to help defray some of the costs of phoning in to OAC classes. Currently, the OAC offers phone scholarships at the rate of $.04/minute of scheduled class time attended by the student. All financial assistance is conditional upon maintaining satisfactory standing in the program.  

When will I hear whether I have been accepted?

Please view the Academic Calendar for information about these dates.

How do I interact with other students or the instructor outside of class?

Each class has a discussion board on which students can discuss their courses and share ideas. In addition, ARI hosts special events throughout the year exclusively for OAC students.

What is the schedule of classes?

Classes take place on weekdays. Start times vary (between 1 and 5 p.m. Pacifiic/4 and 8 p.m. Eastern). Students who are unable to attend classes live may take classes via the internet, by listening to recordings of the lectures. Online classes are asynchronous and do not require students to log in to the class homepage at a specific time. Students are expected to log in several times each week.

About Applying to the Core Course

What can I do to prepare for the entrance exam?

The exam presupposes that you have read and have a basic understanding of the ideas in The Fountainhead, Atlas Shrugged, The Virtue of Selfishness, and Capitalism: The Unknown Ideal.

How does the exam work?

Once we receive an application form we will email you an entrance exam at the time you have chosen to take it. You may select the time you wish to take the exam from the options that are listed on the application form. You may not consult books or notes while taking the exam.

How much time will I have to write the exam? What if it arrives late?

The exam itself has a time limit of 90 minutes. Owing to congestion on the internet, it is possible that the e-mail from ARI containing your exam will be delayed. To allow for that possibility, we ask that you submit the exam within two hours from the time you receive it. I.e., you will have 90 minutes to write the exam, and 30 minutes leeway.

When will I know whether I have been accepted into the program? When do classes begin?

Please view the Academic Calendar for information about these dates.

About the Advanced Education Program

Who can apply?

Students who have successfully completed the OAC's core course and who are seriously considering pursuing an academic or intellectual career are eligible to apply for the advanced education program.

Other

Are there job opportunities at ARI for alumni?

ARI offers both financial support and career-development opportunities to its graduates. Indeed, most of our current faculty and staff were once (and in some cases still are) students at the OAC. ARI occasionally recruits for fellows to work in-house as full-time teachers and writers. For more information, visit our career prospects webpage and our employment page.

Technical Issues

I’m having technical difficulties with audio or video files. What can I do?

If your question isn’t answered here, please email us.

My connection to the Internet is not reliable enough to access streaming audio/video, can I download the video and/or seminar?

Currently the presentations are available only in streaming format.

I have a question that is not answered here, whom should I write to?

Please submit your question using this form.