Washington, D.C. · Nonprofit
AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES
AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES (Washington, D.C.) receives grants from 29 organizations whose IRS filings report $17,796,129 to it, the largest being Ascendium Education Solutions Inc ($2,758,783). 21 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2025
- $19M
- Funders on record
- 29
- Grants received
- $18M
- Net assets
- $18M
What American Association of Colleges and Universities does
Mission
Aac&u advances the democratic purposes of higher education by promoting equity, innovation, and excellence in liberal education.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Programs
Grant funded programs to study, research and address common educational issues as well as targeted areas of concern, in efforts to advance the broad individual and societal purposes of liberal education.
$6,431,289 spentof which $841,279 as grants43% of program spendingPrograms to study and research common educational problems and issues, in efforts to advance the broad individual and societal purposes of liberal education.
$3,387,885 spent23% of program spendingMeetings and other communications of the association with its members regarding issues affecting higher education. The annual meeting, held each january, attracts over 1,300 attendees. Six institutes and four topical meetings were also held.
$2,591,428 spent$4,704,037 earned by the program17% of program spendingMembership services recruits new members, develops strategies to retain members, assesses member satisfaction, answers member inquiries, prepares materials concerning member benefits, and maintains membership records.
$940,403 spent$5,532,136 earned by the program6% of program spendingOther program services: aac&u publications focus on teaching, learning, curriculum, and academic leadership. Journals and other materials are published to provide the membership with information on methods of education. Each issue of our three periodicals is distributed to approximately 7,000 members and paid subscribers. We also have over 80 publication titles available for sale.
$444,763 spent$20,074 earned by the program3% of program spendingCommunications
$1,065,588 spent7% of program spending
The 6 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $14,861,356.
The organization over time
Each line starts at 100 in 2017, so what you read is the shape rather than the size: 150 means half as much again as 2017, 50 means half. The number beside each label in the key is where it ended. The shaded band is where the middle 50% of its peers' revenue would sit, given their growth.
Balance sheet
Total assets and total liabilities at each year end, in dollars. The largest one-year move in total assets was 2024 to 2025, from $23M to $28M (+24%).
How it's funded, over time
Each bar is one year's revenue split into where it came from, and every bar is the same height — these are shares, not amounts, so a year that raised twice as much looks the same size. Hover a bar for the split.
Government-grant reliance: 2017 7% · 2018 9% · 2019 6% · 2020 6% · 2022 19% · 2023 18% · 2024 17% · 2025 17%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
44% of AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES’s revenue is contributions — more donation-reliant than the typical peer (23% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 3 of the last 8 reported years ran a deficit.
reserve
Leadership and staff
The officers, directors, trustees and key employees listed on each return. Joined and no longer listed compare each filing with the year before, matching people by surname and first initial; a year after a gap, or a roster under three people, has no comparison.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 6 funders to 12 funders, grant income rose $1.1M → $2.8M.
2 of 29 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 1% of grant dollars received. That money is really individual donors directing a sponsor; the institutions to cultivate are the non-DAF funders.
Left out of every figure on this page: $84k from 2 payers (the payer shares this organization's board, largest Campus Compact). These are real filings, and they are not money AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES raised.
From the IRS filings of AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES’s funders (the co-funder graph). Association, not causation. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024–FY2026 are still being filed and are shown unshaded; they do not move any figure on this page.
How concentrated its funding is
AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES has a broad base — no single funder exceeds 16% of grant income, and it takes 5 funders to reach half.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 5 funders to its left
32% of the income these shares are computed over arrives through pass-through sponsors or from payers whose filings do not say what kind of payment it is. Concentration is still measured over all of it, because the money is real; what it does not support is a claim about how many institutions have chosen to fund AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 40% · 2018 46% · 2019 38% · 2020 63% · 2021 24% · 2022 23% · 2023 22% — diversifying over time.
“Effective funders” = inverse Herfindahl index (1 / Σ shareᵢ²) — the number of equal-sized funders that would give the same concentration. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024–FY2026 are still being filed and are shown unshaded; they do not move any figure on this page.
How long its funders stay
46% of AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 72% give in more than one year at all.
Share of funders still giving k years after their first recorded grant, pooled across every acquisition cohort. A funder counts as retained in a year only if it made a grant that year. Measured to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving — a funder cannot be counted as lapsed in a year most filers have not reached.
Where its funders are
AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES draws 97% of its grant income from funders outside Washington, D.C., across 16 states in all.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $90k arriving through sponsors registered in 2 states is excluded from the map and the split above: a sponsor holds money on a donor’s behalf, so its registered address would place those dollars somewhere no donor need ever have been. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024–FY2026 are still being filed and are shown unshaded; they do not move any figure on this page.
Against its field
AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES runs a healthier operating margin than half of the 3,758 education nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 3,758 education nonprofits $10M–$100M, FY2025
Government funding AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES receives
Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $16.4M on record.
- National Science Foundation$16.3M
- National Endowment for the Humanities$30k
- Department of Homeland Security$12k
- Department of Transportation$8k
- Department of State$6k
Federal grants vs contracts are distinguished; state line items keep their reported category. Matched by name + geography (the BMF), so coverage is partial and precision-first.
Organizations like AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES
Organizations whose mission and program text most resemble this one, by semantic similarity over every organization in the US filings — the closest peers, and often the clearest route to shared or prospective funders.
In Washington, D.C.
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
81% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
97%
Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.
Footprint & structure
Files a return copy in 37 states
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES: IRS status (Business Master File, Publication 78, auto-revocation), the OFAC sanctions lists, the Internal Revenue Bulletin, and California registration, with the Rev. Proc. 2018-32 §8.01 reliance elements stated element by element. Generated from the current files at the moment you download it.
Screens are triage, not determinations; a source that cannot be read reports not screened, never clear. Screen this nonprofit · How the screen works · on the API as GET /api/screening/{ein}?format=pdf
Questions and answers
- Who funds AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES?
- AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES (Washington, D.C.) receives grants from 29 organizations whose IRS filings report $17,796,129 to it, the largest being Ascendium Education Solutions Inc ($2,758,783). 21 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES have?
- IRS filings report 29 organizations giving $17,796,129 in grants to AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES, 21 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES?
- Ascendium Education Solutions Inc is the largest funder on record, with $2,758,783 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Washington, D.C.. The funding by cause and by state pages list the largest funders for a given area and how to approach them.
These figures are read directly from IRS Form 990 / 990-PF e-file XML: this organization’s own return for FY2025 (financials across 2017–2025), and the filings of 29 funders that report grants to it. “On record” means captured in the filings we have parsed — a funder that does not e-file, or whose grant detail is not itemized, will not appear. Filings run roughly 12–24 months behind. Trends on this page end at FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving; later years are shown and marked, and move no figure. Data on this page was exported October 14, 2026. What this page cannot tell you · view filing