Founded by Hiam Sakr of Ain Ebel, Lebanon, the American University of Science and Technology, in Beirut, Lebanon, an educational institute, was established on the 21st of March 1994 under the name of AUC (Decree # 4897), as an external degree program with the State University of New York/Empire State College, New York, USA. It later changed its name to American University of Science and Technology. On the March 7, 2000, it became a private non-sectarian co-educational institution of higher learning licensed by Presidential Decree no. 3585. Despite its success, it got into trouble. Because of its title, the American University of Beirut (AUB), the first and oldest American university in Lebanon, filed lawsuit against the institute forcing it to change its name to "American University College of Science and Technology". In 7 August 2007 the College title was removed and the university was renamed The American University of Science and Technology by a governmental decree. Its medium of instruction are English and French. AUST offers both Undergraduate and Graduate courses and degrees in most of its departments.