Our Postbaccalaureate Program is designed to help college graduates improve their engagement with scholarship as well as their classical language skills, and take courses that prepare them for admission to graduate programs in Classics or Archaeology. CYA offers the opportunity of full-time, intensive study for one year with an array of courses such as languages at all levels, Epigraphy, Archaeological Drawing, Excavation fieldwork, etc. along with structured academic support.

Beyond being a Postbaccalaureate, it offers a study abroad experience bringing you into everyday contact and communication with the culture under study, from the wealth of archaeology and museums on offer to excavation and volunteer opportunities. The Greek language is experienced as a living entity, ranging from the ancient inscriptions in every Medieval church to modern graffiti on the streets – a total immersion in language learning in and out of the classroom.

Networking in Athens becomes a natural part of the lives of those who study its past: students can attend hundreds of guest lectures, open meetings, and seminars at the many foreign archaeological institutes such as the American School of Classical Studies at Athens (ASCSA) and the British School at Athens (BSA), University and Academy departments, the Archaeological Society, as well as numerous smaller seminar groups and clubs. Seeing how academics present their work and how others respond is an invaluable introduction to the discourse in the field, as well as providing opportunities to meet scholars of all levels and to discuss their work informally.

Access to material: how to approach a museum for permission to view archaeological material.

We can show you how the Ministry of Culture and its various arms works, how to identify material for study, and who to contact for permission to study it. This also includes discussions on the issue of unpublished material, and the etiquette of approaching museums, Ephorate of antiquities, holders of publication rights.

Access will be given to archaeological digs, and repositories both through CYA (and the two field schools: Voula and Despotiko) and other close collaborators. Participation in CYA field study: The Peloponnese, Crete, Northern Greece.

The small size of our language tutorials and the individual mentoring, counseling and close supervision on offer give students a customized approach to their studies.

Skills-based courses:
• Languages at all levels (Ancient Greek, Latin, Modern Greek)
• German for academic purposes
• The Greek Stones Speak: An Introduction to Greek Epigraphy
• Greek Textual Criticism and Paleography
• Ancient History: Sources & Methods
• Advanced Archaeology Seminar: From Excavation to Publication
• Excavations at Aixonidai Halai: Voula Field School
• Archaeological Drawing

Site-orientated courses:
• The Topography and Monuments of Athens
• Aegean and Ancient Greek Art and Archaeology

Continuing with the theme of skills-based learning, one notable feature of our program is our writing services. Students are expected to submit writing samples along with a CV for their post-graduate applications, so seminars will be provided on creating impactful CVs and applications, academic prose style and citation systems for research papers, and bibliographic tools for the ancient world (Lexicons, online Classics resources, L’Année philologique, etc.).

The Academic Writing Workshop offers:
• A Postbaccalaureate seminar to culminate in the completion of a research paper for submission as a writing sample for graduate school applications.
• A Language Lab providing invaluable help outside the classroom.
• An e-Portfolio Workshop, where students can organize their experiences, observations, interactive learning, theoretical knowledge, and involvement with fieldwork.
• Participation in the annual Student Conference ties in with networking and lecture attendance (noted above), and along with seminar/class presentations provides a very useful guide to public lecturing and publication in a supportive environment. There are also a few postgraduate journals to which students may wish to submit papers.
• A student teaching workshop to help train for future TA positions.

A complete Postbaccalaureate application package consists of the following:
1. CYA Postbaccalaureate Application
2. Official Transcript
3. One Academic Letter of Recommendation
4. Postbaccalaureate Personal Statement

When your application is completed, it will be reviewed by the Post-Baccalaureate Admissions Committee. As soon as a decision is made (typically within two weeks of completing your application), you will be notified by e-mail.

The Post-Baccalaureate Program does not discriminate on the basis of age, race, color, religion, sex, or national and ethnic origin. The application form includes no question on any of these matters, and photographs need not be sent before admission has been granted.

Fees for 2024-25:   $16,500

The College Year in Athens fees cover: