Press Room

AAC&U is the leading national association concerned with the quality, vitality, and public standing of undergraduate liberal education. AAC&U is an excellent source of information on undergraduate curricular change, how colleges are changing to meet the needs of the new global economy, general education reform, student learning outcomes assessment, diversity and equity in higher education, and global issues in higher education.

AAC&U champions a contemporary vision of liberal education and sponsors a campaign called Liberal Education and America's Promise to expand public and student understanding of what really matters in college—the kinds of learning that will truly empower students to succeed and make a difference in the 21st century.

Recent Press Releases

AAC&U Selects Twenty-Two Institutions to Highlight Departments that Integrate Civic Responsibility by Design in Majors

October 25, 2017

Washington, DC—The Association of American Colleges and Universities (AAC&U) announced today twenty-two departments from institutions across the country that are providing models for how to make civic learning and democratic engagement an expectation for all students who major in a given discipline. Nine departments listed below were singled out for special recognition and will be featured in an upcoming issue of Peer Review, AAC&U’s quarterly publication on emerging trends and key debates in undergraduate...Read more

Five AAC&U Member Institutions Named as 2017 Excellence in Assessment Designees

August 21, 2017

Five exemplary institutions, all AAC&U members, have received an Excellence in Assessment (EIA) designation recognizing their commitment to the comprehensive assessment of student learning outcomes as a means to drive internal improvement and advance student success. Read more

AAC&U Selects Ten Institutions as Sites for Truth, Racial Healing & Transformation (TRHT) Campus Centers

August 16, 2017

Washington, DC—The Association of American Colleges and Universities (AAC&U) announced today the ten institutions selected to serve as sites for the first Truth, Racial Healing & Transformation (TRHT) Campus Centers. With generous support from Newman’s Own Foundation and the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, AAC&U will guide the...Read more

AAC&U Receives Grant from the Teagle Foundation to Guide Faculty-Led Curricular Change and Build Communities of Practice Around Quality and Completion

June 15, 2017

Washington, DC—The Association of American Colleges and Universities (AAC&U) announced today that it has received a $300,000 grant from the Teagle Foundation for a three-year project to guide faculty-led curricular change and build communities of practice around quality and completion in partnership with the University of Houston–Downtown, Winston-Salem State University, University of Nevada–Las Vegas, and Community College of Philadelphia.

With higher education at a crossroads—amid a changing economy, new technologies, and shifts in enrollment and funding—...Read more

Nearly 200 Institutions Selected to Send Participants to AAC&U Summer Institutes

May 23, 2017

The Association of American Colleges and Universities (AAC&U) announced today the two- and four-year colleges, universities, and state systems sending participants to its four regularly scheduled 2017 summer institutes. Teams of five or more will attend the Institute on General Education and Assessment at Loyola University Chicago (May 31–June 3, 2017); the Institute on High-Impact Practices and Student Success at Boston University (June 24–27, 2017); and the Institute on Integrative Learning and Signature Work at Loyola University Chicago (July 11–14, 2017). Individual faculty members will attend the Project Kaleidoscope STEM Leadership Institutes at the Claggett Center in Adamstown, Maryland (July 11–16; 18–23; and 25–30, 2017).Read more

AAC&U Receives Grant from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation to Develop Centers for Truth, Racial Healing & Transformation at Higher Education Institutions

March 23, 2017

Washington, DC—The Association of American Colleges and Universities (AAC&U) announced today that it has received a $399,763 grant from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation (WKKF) to support the initial development of ten Centers for Truth, Racial Healing & Transformation (TRHT) at higher education institutions across the country. The Kellogg Foundation’s TRHT enterprise is a comprehensive effort, implemented nationally and in local communities, to plan for and bring about transformational and sustainable change and to address the historic and contemporary...Read more

Not the Usual Standardized Test: VALUE Approach Shows It's Possible to Meaningfully Measure Student Learning for Outcomes that Matter in Work and Life

February 23, 2017

Washington, DC—A groundbreaking approach to assessing student learning created and spearheaded by the Association of American Colleges & Universities (AAC&U) shows it is possible to evaluate undergraduate students’ achievement without relying on standardized tests and by using existing material. In On Solid Ground, a report released today, AAC&U shares the results from the first two years of data collection for the VALUE (Valid Assessment of Learning in Undergraduate Education)...Read more

Association of American Colleges and Universities Announces Six New Directors and a New Slate of Officers for Board of Directors

February 15, 2017

Washington, DC—At its recent Annual Meeting in San Francisco, California, the members of the Association of American Colleges and Universities (AAC&U) elected six new directors and selected a slate of new officers. Elsa Núñez, President of Eastern Connecticut State University, became Chair of the Board, taking over for James P. Collins, Virginia M. Ullman Professor of Natural History and the Environment at Arizona State University. Collins will continue to serve on AAC&U’s Board Executive Committee as Past Chair. The members also voted to appoint...Read more

AAC&U Presents 2017 Frederic W. Ness Book Award to The Aims of Higher Education: Problems of Morality and Justice

February 3, 2017

Washington, DC—The Association of American Colleges and Universities (AAC&U) announced today the winner of its Frederic W. Ness Book Award, The Aims of Higher Education: Problems of Morality and Justice, a collection of essays published in 2015 by the University of Chicago Press. The Ness award is given for the book that best contributes to the understanding and improvement of liberal education, and was formally presented to the editors, Harry Brighouse and Michael McPherson, at AAC&U’s Annual Meeting on January 26,...Read more

AAC&U Receives $520,000 Grant from Newman’s Own Foundation to Support Creation of Centers for Truth, Racial Healing & Transformation at Higher Education Institutions

January 24, 2017

Washington, DC—The Association of American Colleges and Universities (AAC&U) announced today that it has received a $520,000 grant from Newman’s Own Foundation, the independent foundation created by the late actor and philanthropist, Paul Newman, for a three-year initiative supporting the collaboration with the W.K. Kellogg Foundation to create Centers for Truth, Racial Healing & Transformation (TRHT) at higher education institutions across the country.

The grant will support a multi-year initiative to implement ten TRHT Centers, which will be designed to engage and empower...Read more

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About AAC&U

AAC&U is the leading national association concerned with the quality, vitality, and public standing of undergraduate liberal education. It's members are committed to extending the advantages of a liberal education to all students, regardless of academic specialization or intended career. Founded in 1915, AAC&U now comprises nearly 1,400 member institutions — including accredited public and private colleges, community colleges, research universities, and comprehensive universities of every type and size.

AAC&U functions as a catalyst and facilitator, forging links among presidents, administrators and faculty members who are engaged in institutional and curricular planning. It's mission is to reinforce the collective commitment to liberal education and inclusive excellence at both the national and local levels, and to help institutions to keep the quality of student learning at the core of their work as they evolve to meet new economic and social challenges.