American Council of Learned Societies

What American Council of Learned Societies does

The American Council of Learned Societies (ACLS) is a New York-based nonprofit federation founded in 1919 that operates as the preeminent U.S. organization advancing scholarship in the humanities and interpretive social sciences. It is a Congressional-Chartered umbrella of 86 scholarly member societies representing more than 300,000 individual scholars, with partnerships spanning 45 research universities and over 200 colleges and research libraries. ACLS distributes fellowships and grants through peer-reviewed competition cycles, supporting graduate students, faculty, independent scholars, and HBCU researchers, and operates portfolio programs including the flagship ACLS Fellowship Program (up to $60,000 per fellow), Mellon/ACLS Dissertation Innovation Fellowships, Luce/ACLS Programs in China Studies and American Art, the Robert H. N. Ho Family Foundation Program in Buddhist Studies, and the Digital Justice Grant Program.

ACLS operates without proprietary commercial technology products; its core technical infrastructure consists of internal Online Fellowship Application (OFA) and awardee portals (ofa.acls.org, awardee.acls.org) that administer grant competitions, peer review, and reference letter workflows. Beyond grantmaking, the organization runs the IDEA (Intentional Design for an Equitable Academy) unit, the Doctoral Futures Initiative with AHA, MLA, and SBL, the Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowship across 44 institutions, and open access publishing initiatives including Path to Open and the ACLS/Arcadia Open Access Book Prizes.

ACLS's revenue model is a non-profit grant and endowment hybrid: an annual operating budget of $37 million funded primarily through restricted and unrestricted grants from major foundations (Mellon, MacArthur, Ho Family Foundation Global, Henry Luce, Templeton Religion Trust, Arcadia), endowment returns, member society dues from 86 learned societies, and individual donations coordinated through a Centennial Campaign targeting $125 million. In 2024, ACLS awarded over $21.5 million to scholars. The organization has increasingly engaged in federal litigation to defend humanities funding, including a successful May 2026 court ruling against NEH grant cancellations and a precedent-setting case involving DOGE's alleged use of ChatGPT in grant termination decisions.

Name

American Council of Learned Societies

Legal name

American Council of Learned Societies

Website

https://acls.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1919

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

ACLS is a 1919-founded, Congressional-Chartered nonprofit federation of 86 scholarly societies that distributes fellowships and grants to advance humanities and social science research across 300,000+ scholars.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Academic Fellowship and Grant Programs

NAICS

Educational Services (611), Colleges, Universities, and Professional Schools (61131)

SIC

Services-Membership Organizations (8600)

akta.pro primary industry

Research Grants, Fellowships & Stipends (International) (EDAIAOAJ)

Keywords

• Humanities fellowship programs
• Scholarly grant funding
• Academic research support
• Learned society federation
• Humanities nonprofit services

Headquarters

HQ city

New York

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Foundation and Government Grants: ACLS receives substantial funding from private foundations including Mellon Foundation ($3.3 million Digital Justice Grant), MacArthur Foundation ($500,000 grant), and other institutional funders. These grants support specific programs and fellowship initiatives.
2. Endowment Returns: Investment returns from endowment funds established by donors and foundations support ongoing operational costs and fellowship programs.
3. Member Institution Dues: 86 member societies pay dues to participate in the ACLS network, contributing to organizational revenue and governance.
4. Individual Donations: Individual donors contribute to support ACLS mission of advancing humanistic knowledge.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels10 records

Core offering

ACLS administers a portfolio of competitive fellowship and grant programs that provide direct financial support to humanities and interpretive social sciences scholars. Its core offerings include the ACLS Fellowship Program (up to $60,000 for 6–12 months of research), dissertation fellowships, area studies fellowships, digital justice grants, HBCU faculty fellowships, leading edge fellowships, open access book prizes, and undergraduate fellowships administered on behalf of the Mellon Foundation. Programs are distributed through a peer-reviewed competitive selection process managed via the Online Fellowship Application (OFA) portal.

Product overview

The American Council of Learned Societies (ACLS) is a nonprofit federation of 86 scholarly organizations that does not operate a unified software product but rather offers a portfolio of fellowship, grant, and professional development programs supporting humanities and interpretive social sciences scholarship. The core offerings include the ACLS Fellowship Program (up to $60,000 for 6-12 months of research), Mellon/ACLS Dissertation Innovation Fellowships, ACLS Digital Justice Grants, HBCU Faculty Fellowships, and Leading Edge Fellowships. International and area studies programs include the Luce/ACLS Program in China Studies with its Digital Mapping Project, Robert H. N. Ho Family Foundation Program in Buddhist Studies (dissertation fellows, early career fellows, public scholars, and new professorship grants), and Luce/ACLS Dissertation Fellowships in American Art. ACLS also administers the Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowship Program (44 institutions) and runs the Doctoral Futures Initiative with partner societies (AHA, MLA, SBL). The Amplifying Humanistic Scholarship initiative supports open access publishing through Path to Open and the Open Access Book Prizes ($50,000 dual awards). The IDEA (Intentional Design for an Equitable Academy) unit encompasses the Digital Justice Grant Program, Intention Foundry, and Leadership Institute for a New Academy. These programs are accessible through ACLS's Online Fellowship Application (OFA) portal at ofa.acls.org.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• ACLS Fellowship Program Flagship fellowship program providing up to $60,000 for 6-12 months of full-time research and writing in humanities and social sciences, ACLS's longest-running initiative celebrating over 100 years of grantmaking.
• Mellon/ACLS Dissertation Innovation Fellowships Fellowship supporting innovative dissertation research in humanities and social sciences with up to $52,000 per fellow, including stipend, research/travel funds, and external mentorship.
• ACLS Digital Justice Grant Program Grant program supporting digital humanities projects focused on historically marginalized communities, with emphasis on diversity, capacity building, and engagement. Funded by the Mellon Foundation.
• ACLS HBCU Faculty Fellowships and Grants Program supporting research at Historically Black Colleges and Universities in humanities and social sciences, with awards up to $50,000 for fellows and $10,000 for research projects.
• ACLS Leading Edge Fellowships

Quantifiable outcome

• Distributed over $21.5 million to scholars in 2024
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers5 records

Segments6 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Two partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• Lion's Roar FoundationcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner in Buddhist Studies program supporting scholarship on Buddhist traditions through collaborative funding of research and publication.
• Rubin Museum of Himalayan ArtcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner in Buddhist Studies program funding research and education on Himalayan art and culture.

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Social Science Research Council: SSRC is a nonprofit that awards fellowships and grants to social scientists worldwide through competitive peer review, with a similar operating model to ACLS but focused on social sciences rather than humanities. Comparable in scale, mission, and grant administration approach.
• American Academy of Arts and Sciences: AAAS is a learned society and ACLS member organization that supports scholarship through fellowships, publications, and policy engagement. One of the founding member societies of ACLS and a direct peer in advancing humanities and social science scholarship.
• National Humanities Center: NHC is an independent nonprofit that supports advanced humanities scholarship through residential fellowships and public programming. Shares ACLS's fellowship model and humanities mission but operates as a residential center rather than a grant-making federation.
• American Philosophical Society: Founded by Benjamin Franklin, APS is one of ACLS's founding member societies and supports scholarly research through competitive grant programs. Direct peer as both a learned society administering research grants and a member of ACLS federation.

Broad incumbents

• National Endowment for the Humanities: NEH is the federal agency providing grants for humanities research and education, serving as ACLS's primary federal funding partner and the largest source of humanities grants in the US. While broader in scope and government-backed, NEH is the principal institutional counterpart to ACLS's fellowship mission.
• Institute of International Education: IIE administers major international fellowship and scholarship programs (Fulbright, etc.) with a global footprint and similar mission of advancing scholarship through funded fellowships. Broader in scope than ACLS but operates comparable international fellowship administration infrastructure.
• Fulbright Program (US Department of State): The Fulbright Program is the flagship US international academic exchange program offering grants for research and study abroad, administered with support from IIE and CIES. Comparable to ACLS's international fellowship administration and global scholar reach across 86+ countries.

Others

• Mellon Foundation: Mellon Foundation is ACLS's largest programmatic funder ($3.3M Digital Justice Grant, Dissertation Innovation Fellowships), making it a key financial partner rather than a direct competitor. Comparable in scale and humanities focus but operates as a grantmaker rather than intermediary.

Emerging players

• Council of Independent Colleges: CIC serves as an advocate and resource provider for independent higher education institutions, including supporting humanities programs. Partial overlap with ACLS's institutional partnerships, particularly around HBCU and liberal arts college engagement.

Regional players

• American Association of University Women: AAUW provides fellowships and grants to women scholars primarily in the US, with similar mission to ACLS in advancing scholarship through funded fellowships. Comparable grant-making model but narrower focus on gender equity rather than all humanities disciplines.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat6 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/UCN30Qk9j0bKuWF2ulC9CtVQ
• Facebookfacebook.com/ACLS1919
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/american-council-of-learned-societies
• Instagraminstagram.com/acls1919

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles18 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds6 records

Investors5 records

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about American Council of Learned Societies