Modern Language Association

What Modern Language Association does

The Modern Language Association (MLA), founded in 1883 and headquartered at 85 Broad Street, New York, is a nonprofit professional association serving scholars, students, and academic institutions in modern languages, literatures, and the humanities. It operates a portfolio of interconnected products: the MLA Job List (a web-based job board marketplace at joblist.mla.org connecting colleges and universities with humanities job seekers), the Profession journal (a scholarly publication on pedagogy and academic career development), the MLA Style Center (writing and citation resources), MLA Handbook Plus (a subscription reference resource), and MLA Academic Program Services including the ADE (Association of Departments of English) and ALD (Association of Language Departments) programs that provide seminars, leadership institutes, and departmental resources.

The organization is funded primarily through individual membership dues (recurring subscription model), employer-paid fees for Job List advertising (with a 28% discount for ADE/ALD member departments), and publication/subscription revenue. It does not have external ownership, venture capital backing, or a parent company, and is governed independently. In 2023, MLA received a $1.5 million grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation to launch the Pathways program for recruitment and retention of underrepresented humanities students.

In 2026, MLA joined a successful federal lawsuit (as co-plaintiff with the Authors Guild, American Council of Learned Societies, and American Historical Association) in which a U.S. District Judge ruled unconstitutional the Trump administration's cancellation of more than 1,400 congressionally approved humanities grants totaling over $100 million. MLA's technology stack is conventional web-based infrastructure; it has no mobile applications, no disclosed APIs, and no AI/ML capabilities. The organization serves primarily North American academic institutions and humanities scholars, with some international reach into Taiwan and Hong Kong.

Name

Modern Language Association

Legal name

Modern Language Association of America

Website

https://mla.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1883

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

101–250 employees

Short description

The Modern Language Association is a 501(c)-eligible nonprofit professional association founded in 1883, serving humanities scholars and academic institutions with a job board (MLA Job List), scholarly journal (Profession), citation resources (MLA Style Center, Handbook Plus), and departmental membership services (ADE/ALD).

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Professional Association Services

NAICS

Professional Organizations (813920)

SIC

Services-Educational Services (8200), Services-Membership Organizations (8600)

akta.pro primary industry

Humanities & Arts Scholarly Publishing (EDAGAFAE)

akta.pro secondary industry

Humanities (History, Philosophy, Literature, Languages) (EDAGABAE)

Keywords

• Scholarly association services
• Academic job board
• Humanities publications
• Citation style resources
• Professional membership organization

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. Job Listing Advertising: Employers pay fees to post job advertisements on the MLA Job List platform. Departments or programs that are members of MLA Academic Program Services (ADE or ALD) receive a 28% discount on advertisements. Premium listing options are available to boost visibility.
2. Membership Dues: MLA membership provides access to career resources, publications, and discounts on Job List advertising fees.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

The Modern Language Association operates a portfolio of professional services and digital platforms for the humanities academic community. Its core offerings include the MLA Job List (an online job board marketplace connecting colleges and universities with humanities job seekers), scholarly publications such as Profession, the MLA Style Center (writing and citation resources), MLA Handbook Plus (online subscription reference), and MLA Academic Program Services (ADE/ALD) providing professional development for academic departments.

Product overview

The Modern Language Association operates a portfolio of digital and membership-based products serving the humanities academic community. The core offerings include the MLA Job List (a job board platform for humanities positions), Profession (a scholarly journal with articles and career resources), the MLA Style Center (writing resources and style guidelines), MLA Handbook Plus (online subscription resource), and MLA Academic Program Services (ADE/ALD) providing professional development programs. These products serve scholars, students, job seekers, and academic institutions.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• MLA Job List: A job board platform for humanities positions in and outside academia, serving as the recognized resource for faculty and administrative positions at North American colleges and universities.
• Profession
• MLA Style Center

Products and services

• MLA Job List A comprehensive job board marketplace for humanities fields, offering faculty, administrative, and nonprofit position listings connecting academic employers (colleges and universities) with qualified humanities job seekers. Employers pay to post listings; job seekers search and apply free of charge.
• Profession A scholarly journal providing articles, news, and resources for humanities professionals, covering pedagogical strategies, academic discourse, and career development content.
• MLA Style Center Online resource providing writing guidelines, citation style instructions, and pedagogical materials for scholars, students, and practitioners in humanities fields.
• MLA Handbook Plus Online subscription-based resource providing access to the MLA Handbook and related academic writing materials.
• MLA Academic Program Services (ADE/ALD) Professional development programs including ADE (Association of Departments of English) and ALD (Association of Language Departments) services, offering seminars, leadership institutes, and resources for academic departments.

Quantifiable outcome

• Featured 24+ live job openings in humanities fields at time of review
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers9 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Three partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• The Authors GuildcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe MLA partnered with The Authors Guild, American Council of Learned Societies, American Historical Association, and other plaintiffs in a federal lawsuit challenging the Trump administration's cancellation of more than $100 million in humanities grants. The organizations jointly sued over the unconstitutional termination of 1,400+ congressionally approved grants.
• American Council of Learned Societies (ACLS)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe MLA collaborated with ACLS as co-plaintiffs in the lawsuit against DOGE-led grant cancellations. ACLS is a major humanities research organization representing scholars across disciplines.
• American Historical Association (AHA)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe MLA partnered with AHA as co-plaintiffs in challenging the termination of humanities grants. The joint legal action protected over 1,400 grants totaling more than $100 million.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• HigherEdJobs: For-profit job board focused exclusively on faculty and administrative positions in higher education, directly competing for the same employer and job-seeker demand that the MLA Job List serves.
• American Philosophical Association: Humanities scholarly association running its own job committee and member services with a publishing program; directly comparable nonprofit professional-association model and constituency.
• American Historical Association: Humanities professional association co-litigant with MLA on the federal grants lawsuit and operating its own job board for historians; directly comparable membership and job-listings model in an adjacent humanities field.
• American Council of Learned Societies: Umbrella organization for humanities scholarly societies that joined MLA as a co-plaintiff and serves overlapping member institutions; comparable nonprofit scholarly mission and governance model.
• Modern Language Studies / Association for Asian Studies: Area-studies scholarly association with membership, conferences, and a job board; comparable professional association model serving humanities graduate students and faculty.
• National Council of Teachers of English: Professional association for English-language educators that publishes journals, runs events, and offers member benefits closely mirroring MLA's structure within the English-teaching subset of humanities.
• The Authors Guild: Membership organization for writers that co-litigated with MLA on grants litigation and serves a humanities-adjacent professional base; comparable subscription/dues revenue mix and advocacy posture.
• American Studies Association: Interdisciplinary humanities professional association publishing peer-reviewed work and running convention programming; closely mirrors MLA's nonprofit scholarly-publishing and member-services structure.

Broad incumbents

• Oxford University Press (Academic): Major humanities and academic publisher offering journals, monographs, and style/citation guidance at scale; competes with MLA on scholarly content, publication legitimacy, and style resources while operating far broader in scope.

Emerging players

• Inside Higher Ed: Digital media outlet and careers platform serving academia with news, opinion, and job listings; overlaps with MLA on humanities hiring content and audience reach among academic professionals.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks7 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com//modernlanguageassociation
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/modern-language-association
• Xx.com/MLAnews

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds1 record

Investors1 record

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about Modern Language Association