For more than four decades, College Year in Athens has offered unparalleled learning opportunities in Greece. Incorporated in 1962 as a non-profit under U.S. law, College Year in Athens was the first study-abroad program in Greece for English-speaking undergraduates. College Year in Athens is a member of NAFSA: Association of International Educators, EAIE: European Association for International Education, and a charter member of FORUM : Forum on Education Abroad.

Founder Ismene Phylactopoulou (1907-1983), arrived in Greece from Smyrna as a refugee in 1922.  A graduate of Wellesley College, she recognized Greece’s tremendous historical and cultural importance to liberal arts studies as well as its potential draw for the developing study abroad movement. A woman of great energy and resolve, she set about creating a serious academic program that would open the hearts and minds of college-age North Americans to Greece while maintaining a genuine concern for each student’s educational and personal growth.  Director of College Year in Athens for nearly two decades, “Mrs. Phyl,” as she was affectionately known, received the Doctorate of Humane Letters from DePauw University in recognition of her achievements in study abroad.

Beginning with a pioneering first class of five students—all female—College Year in Athens quickly grew in size and recognition, and currently serves approximately 140 students each semester from top-tier colleges and universities.  The program of studies originally focused on the contributions of Archaic and Classical Greece to Western Civilization although, over time, the historical range was expanded to include courses from prehistoric to modern times.  Recognizing that an understanding of ancient and contemporary Greece must include the role of the country within the greater geopolitical region, College Year in Athens has broadened its offerings further to include a set of courses of East Mediterranean Area Studies.