AMA Institute
AMA Computer University was founded by Dr. Amable R. Aguiluz V, who named it after the acronym of his father's name, Amable M. Aguiluz, Sr. Dr. Aguiluz resolved to provide education on the field of computer technology, based on his experience in computer sales. Aguiluz founded the AMA Institute of Computer Studies with the first computer school located along Shaw Boulevard on October 20, 1980. At that time, AMA Institute of Computer Studies offered short-term courses in Electronic Data Processing Fundamentals, Basic Programming, and Technology Career. Only 13 students enrolled at the AMA Institute of Computer Studies during the first semester.
AMA Computer College came into existence in June 1981. It extended its services through a four-year Bachelor of Science degree in Computer Science. With only a handful of students in its first year of operation, the AMACC student population rose dramatically from 600 in 1983 to 2,000 in 1985 in its first official campus in Makati City. Shortly after, it established its main campus in Quezon City. Two provincial campuses were then founded in Cebu and Silicon Gulf, Davao.
With the passage of the Philippine Higher Education Act of 1994, privately controlled educational institutions' academic fees were deregulated. AMA solved the problem of low student population by embarking on an aggressive marketing, advertising and information campaign. With this type of strategy, profit-oriented schools started to grow.
The emergence of AMACC also led to the birth of AMA Computer Learning Center (ACLC) in 1986 and AMA Telecommunication & Electronic Learning Center in 1996.
AMACC engages in offering short-course programs for professionals and two-year technical/vocational courses for those who wish to acquire employment skills. ACLC is one of the first schools in the Philippines to concentrate on telecommunication, electronics, and related technologies.
AMA has adopted a principle of being the first to do things. It was the first school in the country to fully integrate the Internet into its curriculum. Internet services were provided in all its campuses. Since 1987, all major AMA colleges have been interconnected through a local area network (LAN), which virtually converted them into one nationwide school system. AMA is also the first and only school in the country to have successfully held a teleconference between its high school students and another high school class in Canada in 1994.
In 1991, Aguiluz was able to gain full accreditation for AMA Computer College in the American League of Colleges and Universities (ALOCU), thus, making AMA the first Filipino and non-American school to be so honored. Moreover, AMACC became an official member of the John F. Kennedy Educational Institute in Japan.