AAC&U Releases New Five-Year Strategic Plan Focused on Equity, Innovation, and Excellence

Washington, DC—The American Association of Colleges and Universities today released its strategic plan for 2023–27 during its annual meeting in San Francisco. The plan presents the goals and aspirations that will guide the association’s work over the next five years.

Equity, Innovation, and Excellence foregrounds AAC&U’s values, purpose, and scope within the current societal context and landscape of higher education, and the plan outlines the strategic objectives that will frame the association’s commitment to continuous innovation, improvement, and expansion.

AAC&U President Lynn Pasquerella announced the release of the new strategic plan in her address to attendees from higher education institutions across the country and around the world who were gathered at 2023 AAC&U Annual Meeting, “Reclaiming Liberal Education.”

“As institutions recover from the impact of COVID-19, renew commitments to equity and community engagement, and reimagine the future of postsecondary education on their campuses, delivering a high-quality liberal education equitably will be more important than ever,” Pasquerella said. “The plan serves as a collective call to action for those of us who believe that a liberal education provides the foundational knowledge and skills that empower students to advance the common good through responsible and engaged citizenship in local, national, and global contexts.”

Equity, Innovation, and Excellence was developed through a comprehensive strategic planning process that began in July 2021 and was designed to promote collaboration among stakeholders—AAC&U’s staff and board of directors as well as faculty, staff, and administrators at member institutions. In the process, the AAC&U Board of Directors approved a revised mission statement to serve as the foundation for the 2023–27 strategic plan: AAC&U advances the democratic purposes of higher education by promoting equity, innovation, and excellence in liberal education.

The plan commits the association to four strategic objectives to guide its work over the next five years:

• Sustain an association prepared to thrive and champion liberal education globally.
• Create a model for institutional transformation on campuses.
• Partner with educators and institutions to transform the student learning experience.
• Fully engage our members around the world.

For more information about AAC&U’s 2023–27 strategic plan, Equity, Innovation, and Excellence, visit https://www.aacu.org/strategicplan.

Keep up with developments and conversations from the 2023 AAC&U Annual Meeting on Twitter by following @AACU and #AACU23.

About AAC&U

The American Association of Colleges and Universities (AAC&U) is a global membership organization dedicated to advancing the democratic purposes of higher education by promoting equity, innovation, and excellence in liberal education. Through our programs and events, publications and research, public advocacy, and campus-based projects, AAC&U serves as a catalyst and facilitator for innovations that improve educational quality and equity and that support the success of all students. In addition to accredited public and private, two-year, and four-year colleges and universities and state higher education systems and agencies throughout the United States, our membership includes degree-granting higher education institutions in more than twenty-five countries as well as other organizations and individuals. To learn more, visit www.aacu.org.