American Association of University Professors

What American Association of University Professors does

The American Association of University Professors (AAUP), founded in 1915 and headquartered at 555 New Jersey Ave NW, Washington, DC, is a private nonprofit membership association and union that represents faculty and other academic professionals at U.S. colleges and universities. Its mission focuses on protecting academic freedom and shared governance, and it has produced the foundational policy documents (collected in The Redbook) that define professional standards across American higher education. The organization supplements its national advocacy with legal support, collective bargaining assistance, government relations, and a research program that publishes the Annual Report on the Economic Status of the Profession.

AAUP's core offerings are organized as a set of membership programs (Protecting Academic Freedom, Advancing Shared Governance, Legal Program, Research, Government Relations, and Awards) and a publication portfolio that includes the scholarly journal Academe, the Journal of Academic Freedom, The Redbook, AAUP Policy Statements & Reports, and the AAUP Presents podcast. Distribution runs through a decentralized network of local chapters and state conferences embedded at colleges and universities, with the national office providing resources, legal defense, and policy coordination. AAUP also maintains an affiliated AAUP Foundation (aaupfoundation.org) and a reciprocal affiliation with the American Federation of Teachers (AFT), which together represent approximately 1.8 million members.

Revenue is generated primarily through chapter-level membership dues and recurring subscriptions to publications such as Academe, supplemented by merchandise and event registrations. Pricing tiers are not publicly disclosed. The organization grows through community-led organizing campaigns, advocacy, and cross-movement legal activity; it has filed challenges to federal visa and immigration policies, joined with EFF-supported counsel on surveillance litigation, and partnered with UAW, YDSA, Sunrise Movement, and Rutgers' Workplace Justice Lab on issue campaigns. AAUP currently operates with 11-50 staff at its Washington headquarters and is led by President Todd Wolfson.

Name

American Association of University Professors

Legal name

American Association of University Professors

Website

https://aaup.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1915

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

The American Association of University Professors is a nonprofit membership association and union founded in 1915 that serves faculty and academic professionals at U.S. colleges and universities by protecting academic freedom, advancing shared governance, providing legal support and collective bargaining, and publishing research and policy resources.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Washington

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Membership dues and subscriptions: The AAUP operates as a membership organization funded primarily through annual dues paid by faculty and academic professional members. Revenue is supplemented by subscriptions to its scholarly journal Academe, merchandise sales, and event registrations.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

The AAUP is a membership association and faculty union that recruits individual faculty and academic professionals through local chapters at U.S. colleges and universities, providing them with academic-freedom protection, collective bargaining representation, legal assistance, policy advocacy, research on faculty employment conditions, and a portfolio of publications including Academe magazine, the Journal of Academic Freedom, and The Redbook.

Product overview

The AAUP is a union and membership association offering a comprehensive suite of programs and publications for faculty and academic professionals. The organization provides advocacy through programs on Protecting Academic Freedom, Advancing Shared Governance, Legal Program, Research, and Government Relations. Its publication portfolio includes Academe magazine, the Journal of Academic Freedom, The Redbook (policy documents), and the AAUP Podcast. The AAUP Chapters Network provides grassroots organizing at local institutions, while the Legal Program offers member assistance on employment and academic freedom matters.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• AAUP Membership Programs Comprehensive suite of member programs covering Protecting Academic Freedom, Advancing Shared Governance, the Legal Program, Research, Government Relations, and Awards, designed to support faculty and academic professionals at U.S. colleges and universities.
• Academe Magazine
• Journal of Academic Freedom
• The Redbook (Policy Documents and Reports)
• AAUP Podcast (AAUP Presents)
• AAUP Legal Program
• AAUP Research Program

Quantifiable outcome

• Over 2,000 California State University faculty signed a petition on an AAUP-related matter of faculty concern.
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers1 record

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Seven partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• American Federation of Teachers (AFT)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe AAUP and AFT are affiliated organizations with a joint higher education agenda. They have jointly launched policy platforms (e.g., the New Higher Ed Vision and Policy Platform ahead of the 2026 midterms), filed joint statements on issues such as the dismantling of the Department of Education, and coordinated on financial disclosure matters including SEC complaints regarding Apollo Global Management. AFT Higher Ed Members have a dedicated section on the AAUP website.
• Young Democratic Socialists of America (YDSA)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe AAUP partnered with YDSA, Sunrise Movement, and Rutgers University's Workplace Justice Lab to release the 'Schools Drop ICE' toolkit, a campaign aimed at pressuring universities to cut contracts with companies providing services to ICE.
• Sunrise MovementminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnered with the AAUP and YDSA on the 'Schools Drop ICE' toolkit campaign targeting university contracts with ICE-affiliated companies.
• Rutgers University Workplace Justice LabminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnered with the AAUP on the 'Schools Drop ICE' toolkit campaign, providing research and organizational support for the initiative.
• United Auto Workers (UAW)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerUAW joined the AAUP's lawsuit challenging the Trump administration's 'gold card' visa program, adding union support to the legal challenge arguing the program unfairly prioritizes wealthy immigrants over qualified workers.
• AAUP FoundationcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe AAUP Foundation is the affiliated charitable arm of the AAUP, supporting research, advocacy, and initiatives such as the Faculty First Responders project. It is separately incorporated and operates at aaupfoundation.org.
• Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF)minorImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerEFF lawyers are helping three U.S. labor unions, including the AAUP, sue the Trump administration over a social media surveillance program called 'Catch and Revoke' that monitors visa applicants' online activity.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• American Council on Education: ACE represents U.S. college and university presidents and institutional leaders, serving as the coordinating body for higher education policy advocacy. It is comparable in serving the higher education ecosystem through advocacy and research but represents institutions rather than individual faculty.
• American Psychological Association: APA is a large-scale, established academic professional association operating in a similar membership, publications, and advocacy model as AAUP, though much larger and focused on a single applied discipline.
• Association of American Universities: AAU is an association of leading U.S. and Canadian research universities, jointly engaged with AAUP in litigation over the H-1B fee and other federal higher education policy matters. Comparable as a higher education advocacy organization operating at the national policy level.
• National Education Association: NEA is the largest U.S. labor union for educators, spanning K-12 and higher education. It is comparable as a membership-fee-funded educator advocacy organization with collective bargaining, but its center of gravity is K-12 rather than higher education faculty.

Direct peers

• American Sociological Association: ASA is a discipline-based academic association that mirrors AAUP's structure of individual membership, scholarly publications, and engagement on academic labor conditions. Comparable in organizational form and constituency.
• Modern Language Association: MLA is a discipline-specific academic professional association with a comparable operating model: individual membership, scholarly publications, advocacy on academic employment conditions, and conferences. It is one of the closest pure analogues in form, although narrower in disciplinary scope.
• American Economic Association: AEA is a large academic professional association that operates on dues revenue and publications, comparable in form to AAUP. It also engages on academic labor and publishing standards but focuses on a single discipline.
• American Federation of Teachers: AFT is AAUP's affiliated labor federation and the primary vehicle for AAUP's 1.8 million-member aggregate reach. It is directly comparable as a union/membership organization representing higher education professionals with shared policy platforms and joint litigation.
• American Historical Association: AHA is an academic professional association in the same membership-and-publications model as AAUP, with attention to faculty employment conditions, academic freedom, and scholarly publishing. Comparable in organizational structure and constituency type, though narrower in disciplinary scope.
• American Association of University Women: AAUW is a higher-education-focused membership organization with advocacy on equity, academic freedom, and faculty/student issues. Comparable in operating as a dues-funded professional membership body serving higher education communities.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/AAUPNational
• Xx.com/aaup
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/american-association-of-university-professors

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Subsidiaries1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about American Association of University Professors