The American University of Malta has held its first graduation ceremony, for 22 students.  

The university was set up amid controversy over its programmes and location in 2016. 

The graduands are from Malta, Turkey and India who graduated in business administration, graphic design and animation, cyber security and engineering management. 

The ceremony, which was held virtually, included speeches by Education Minister Justyne Caruana, the chairman of the board of trustee Prince Jean de Nassaus and AUM Provost Narcisa Roxana Mosteanu. 

An honorary doctorate degree was awarded to former UNESCO director general Irina Bokova. 

The AUM stirred controversy from its inception after the government of Prime Minister Joseph Muscat approved the transfer of a prime site in Zonqor, Marsascala to the developers Sadeen group. The group was also handed historic warehouses to be transformed into a campus in Senglea.  

The university struggled to attract students during its first academic year and ended up firing a third of its academic staff in 2017 after having enrolled just 15 students.

In 2019 the student population at the AUM was only a fifth of what was promised in its student body target, with 143 students enrolled out of a forecast 710.