Cities / Lagos / American International School of Lagos
American International School of Lagos
Independent non-profit day school founded in 1964, serving 479 students from 46 nationalities across Early Childhood through Grade 12 on Victoria Island. Fees are billed in USD and range from US$17,638 for Early Childhood to US$32,165 for High School, plus…
In brief
The diplomatic-circuit American school in Lagos, founded 1964, offering both a US standards-based programme and the IB Diploma to a community that spans 60-plus nationalities.
AISL sits on a secure Victoria Island campus and is fully accredited by MSA, CIS, and the IB. Around 480 students, with 78 percent of faculty holding advanced degrees and all carrying international teaching experience. Tuition runs in the high-twenties to mid-thirties of thousands of US dollars, putting it at the top of the Lagos market alongside the British International School. Waitlists are common and admissions move on a fixed timeline.
Expat families with State Department, oil and gas, and NGO ties tend to land here by default, and feedback on the community, safety standards, and pastoral care is consistently positive. The honest question some families raise is whether the IB results match the price tag at the senior end. Visit, sit in on classes, and ask directly about Diploma point averages for the most recent cohort.
Fees
| Fee | Age | Type | Amount |
|---|---|---|---|
| Early Childhood (Pre-K) | 3 | Annual | $20,638 |
| Elementary (Kindergarten - Grade 5) | 5 | Annual | $24,653 |
| Middle School (Grades 6-8) | 11 | Annual | $31,049 |
| High School (Grades 9-12) | 14 | Annual | $35,165 |
| Application fee | One-time | $150 | |
| Registration fee (one-time, non-refundable) | One-time | $10,000 |
Reviews
- Long-running fixture of West Africa's international school circuit. Reddit teacher threads place AISL alongside Lincoln Community School in Accra and ISD Dakar as the strongest three options in the sub-region.
- Walled, on-campus living for staff in a secure area of Lagos. One ex-Abuja teacher wrote: "the money is great and you will live on campus in a very safe area."
- One former student who attended between 2008 and 2013 remembered the community as "very warm" and credited AISL teachers with inspiring them to enter teaching themselves. They reported the community is "still very much close-knit and lively."
- Lagos itself is the trade-off. The same posters describe heavy traffic, the need to limit travel to Victoria Island and Ikoyi, and to fly rather than drive between Nigerian cities.
- IB Diploma plus American curriculum. Strong university outcomes are not directly documented online, but the school is consistently named in regional best-of lists for staff retention and packages.
Head of school
Dr. Dan Love
Dr. Dan Love is the Superintendent of the American International School of Lagos, where he emphasizes a close-knit community and a commitment to providing exceptional learning experiences for students. He advocates for a diverse and inclusive environment that supports the academic and social-emotional learning of all students.
Accreditations
- Council of International Schools 01
Academic results
- IB Diploma Authorised (Gr. 11-12)
- Accreditation CIS, NEASC