Structure:

    class UserProfile < ActiveRecord::Base

      belongs_to :home_country, :class_name => 'Country'
      belongs_to :current_university, :class_name => 'University'

      acts_as_aan do
        association :current_university do
          [:name]
        end
        association :home_country do
          [:name, { :iso_3166_a2 => :country_code}]
        end
      end

      validates :home_country, :presence => true
      validates :current_university, :presence => true
    end

Usage:

    u = UserProfile.new
    u.home_country_name = 'Netherlands'
    u.current_university_name = 'University Of Amsterdam'
    u.save # => true

    u.home_country # => #<Country id: 12, name: "Netherlands"
    u.home_country_name # => "Netherlands"