ACUE
ACUE delivers the only ACE-endorsed Certification in Effective Teaching for higher education faculty, serving 600+ colleges and universities with evidence-based courses, certifications, and community-based professional development programs.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2014
- HeadquartersNew York, United States
- Headcount51–100
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingServices
What ACUE does
ACUE (Association of College and University Educators), operating as EdCERT, LLC, is a private higher education faculty development company founded in 2014 and headquartered in New York. The company delivers the only nationally recognized Certification in Effective Teaching, endorsed by the American Council on Education (ACE), built on its proprietary Effective Teaching Framework covering five core competencies across 24-25 modules. Its product ecosystem includes the Certification in Effective Teaching, Advanced Teaching Certification, Effective Teaching Practices and Effective Online Teaching Practices courses, a Nursing Pathway specialization aligned with AACN Essentials, ACUE Commons community platform with Quick Studies and Endorsements (including AI for Higher Ed, Workforce Readiness, Civic Skills, and Holistic Student Support), and packaged deployments such as ACUE Complete, Institutional Cohorts, and National Cohorts.
ACUE's technology stack comprises a cloud-based learning management system delivered through Canvas (acue.instructure.com), an ACUE Commons community platform at learn.acue.org, and the Effective Teaching Framework and Bias-Free Student Evaluation Survey as proprietary differentiators. The company makes money primarily through institutional subscription agreements with colleges, universities, and higher education systems (multi-year contracts, pricing negotiated by scope), supplemented by individual course enrollment at $679 per course ($2,716 for full four-course certification), small-group enrollment with tiered volume pricing, and ACUE Commons subscriptions. Distribution combines enterprise field sales to academic leadership (provosts, chief academic officers, teaching center directors), system-wide partnerships with state higher ed systems (Texas A&M System, PASSHE, CSCU), self-service individual enrollment through national cohorts, and community-led growth via ACUE Commons.
ACUE serves 600+ institutional partners and has certified over 100,000 faculty cumulatively, with evidence of measurable outcomes including up to 7% higher student grades, 16% fewer D/F/Withdrawal rates, and 6% higher first-to-second-year retention at partner institutions. Independent research validation spans nearly 1,800 courses analyzed by Sam Houston State University, with the largest study published in the Journal on Excellence in College Teaching.
ACUE firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- ACUE
- Legal name
- EdCERT, LLC
- Website
- https://acue.org
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2014
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 51–100 employees
- Short description
- ACUE delivers the only ACE-endorsed Certification in Effective Teaching for higher education faculty, serving 600+ colleges and universities with evidence-based courses, certifications, and community-based professional development programs.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
ACUE industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Higher Education Faculty Development
- NAICS
- Educational Services (611), All Other Schools and Instruction (61169)
- SIC
- Services-Educational Services (8200), Services-Prepackaged Software (7372)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Certification & Exam Prep Course Marketplaces (EDAFAIAJ)
- akta.pro secondary industry
- Open Educational Resources (OER) & Curriculum Repositories (EDAFACAJ)
Keywords
Where ACUE is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- New York
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Offices1 record
Markets served
ACUE business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Services
- Cost components
- Personnel, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Operations
Revenue model
- Individual Course Enrollment: Individual faculty members purchase pathway courses directly at $679 per course. Four pathway courses complete the certification. Enrollment is processed through an application followed by payment confirmation before course start dates. The individual market serves faculty not covered by institutional partnerships.
- Institutional Partnership Programs: ACUE partners with colleges, universities, and higher education systems to deliver faculty development at scale. Institutional packages include ACUE Complete (full ecosystem access), Institutional Cohorts (dedicated group enrollment), and system-wide deployments. Pricing is negotiated based on institutional size and scope. Programs include academic support, advanced reporting, impact research, and campus culture support.
- National Cohort Enrollment: Faculty from multiple institutions join scheduled cohorts with set start dates. Individual course enrollment, course bundles, and small group pricing (with volume discounts) are available. Small groups contact ACUE directly for scalable, tiered pricing.
- ACUE Commons Subscription: Institutions can join ACUE Commons to access core community features even without faculty pursuing certification. The full suite of tools and resources is unlocked once certification courses are added. Individual enrollment in Commons is available through direct purchase.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Unit Pricing | Pay-as-you-go | Individual Pathway Course - Single course enrollment for individual faculty |
| Unit Pricing | Pay-as-you-go | Course Bundles - Multiple courses purchased together for the same participant |
| Subscription | Multi-year contract | Small Group Enrollment - Tiered pricing with volume discounts for small groups from institutions |
| Subscription | Annual | Institutional Partnership - ACUE Complete ecosystem for full institutional access |
Go-to-market motion4 records
Distribution channels4 records
Marketing channels8 records
ACUE product offering
Product offeringCore offering
ACUE develops and delivers evidence-based faculty development courses, micro-credentials, and certifications for college and university educators. Its flagship offering is the nationally recognized Certification in Effective Teaching, endorsed by the American Council on Education (ACE), supported by pathway courses in Effective Teaching Practices and Effective Online Teaching Practices, a Nursing Pathway, ACUE Commons community platform, Quick Studies, and ACUE Endorsements. Institutional buyers receive bundled packages (ACUE Complete, Institutional Cohorts) that scale implementation across departments or entire systems.
Product overview
ACUE (Association of College and University Educators) offers a comprehensive faculty development ecosystem focused on evidence-based teaching practices for higher education. The core offering is the Certification in Effective Teaching (endorsed by ACE), which can be earned through the Effective Teaching Practices and Effective Online Teaching Practices pathway courses. Supporting offerings include Effective Teaching 101 for foundational training, the Nursing Pathway for discipline-specific applications, and ACUE Commons as a community platform for ongoing learning through Quick Studies and Endorsements. ACUE Complete packages provide institutions with full ecosystem access, while Institutional and National Cohorts enable collaborative learning. The Effective Teaching Framework serves as the research-backed foundation for all programs.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Brands
- ACUE Commons: A dynamic online community and platform designed to deepen and sustain faculty growth through ongoing learning, collaboration, and timely professional development aligned with emerging priorities in higher education.
- ACUE Endorsements
- Nursing Pathway
Products and services
- Certification in Effective Teaching The flagship, nationally recognized certification in effective teaching, endorsed by the American Council on Education (ACE). It is earned by completing four pathway courses and equips college and university faculty with evidence-based teaching practices shown to improve student outcomes.
- Advanced Teaching Certification Credential awarded to faculty who complete both the Effective Teaching Practices and Effective Online Teaching Practices pathways, demonstrating dual expertise in in-person and virtual learning environments.
- Effective Teaching Practices Evidence-based faculty development course, taken as four pathway courses or as a single comprehensive course, covering topics such as creating productive learning environments, promoting active learning, inspiring inquiry, and designing learner-centered courses.
- Effective Online Teaching Practices Course that prepares faculty to design engaging, student-centered online learning experiences across synchronous, asynchronous, and hybrid modalities, including effective module development, active learning online, and online discussion facilitation.
- Effective Teaching 101 Self-paced foundational teaching essentials course that equips faculty to create engaging learning environments from day one and jumpstarts the path to ACUE Certification.
- Nursing Pathway Nursing-specific edition of the Certification in Effective Teaching that connects proven pedagogy directly to AACN Essentials, helping nursing faculty strengthen clinical reasoning, professionalism, and self-directed learning.
- ACUE Commons Online teaching and learning community platform providing curated content, resources, events, peer networking, endorsements, badges, and Quick Studies to sustain ongoing faculty professional development.
- Quick Studies One-hour, self-paced micro-credential courses covering emerging instructional topics such as AI for Higher Ed, Cultivating Civic and Social Skills, Holistic Student Support, and Preparing Workforce-Ready Students.
- ACUE Endorsements Specialized one-year credentials recognizing faculty expertise in timely topics including AI for Higher Ed, Preparing Workforce-Ready Students, Cultivating Civic and Social Skills, and Holistic Student Support; earned through Quick Studies and ACUE Commons engagement.
- ACUE Complete Comprehensive institutional faculty development bundle uniting courses, certifications, ACUE Commons community access, and ongoing professional learning to enable teaching excellence across an entire institution.
- Institutional Cohorts Dedicated faculty cohorts organized within a single institution, fostering collaboration, community, and collective growth as faculty progress through ACUE courses together.
- National Cohorts National, multi-institution faculty cohorts that connect educators across institutions as they work toward certification, providing diverse perspectives, discipline-spanning discussions, and expanded professional networks.
Quantifiable outcome
- Students taught by ACUE-certified faculty achieve up to 7% higher grades
- +9 more outcomes
Companies that use ACUE
Customer profileNamed customers21 records
Segments4 records
Ideal customer profiles2 records
ACUE technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Integration1 record
Feature4 records
ACUE partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Seven partnerships are on record, tiered core, secondary and minor.
- Thurgood Marshall College Fund (TMCF)coreTMCF and ACUE expanded their partnership through the CHANGE Initiative (Community for HBCU Advancement Through Networked Growth and Excellence), launching a 2026 cohort of 10 HBCU institutions focused on faculty and staff professional development. The nationwide initiative is fully funded by TMCF and scales participation beyond faculty to include academic leadership, student-facing teams, and instructional support staff, with a new research focus and well-being component. HBCU partners include North Carolina Central University, Alabama State University, and Morgan State University.
- TurnitinsecondaryTurnitin and ACUE partnered to equip educators with AI insights and skills. The partnership focuses on helping faculty integrate AI tools in the college classroom to advance rigor, integrity, and student success.
- Connecticut State Colleges and Universities (CSCU)secondaryCSCU partnered with ACUE on the Excellence in Teacher Residency project to address teacher shortages and retention, as well as supporting instructional quality. The project supports K-12 teacher preparation through evidence-based faculty development.
- National Association of Higher Education Systems (NASH)coreNASH and ACUE announced a strategic partnership to strengthen teaching in higher education. The partnership aims to advance teaching excellence across higher education systems through ACUE's evidence-based faculty development programs.
- American Council on Education (ACE)coreACE officially endorses ACUE's Certification in Effective Teaching as the only nationally recognized teaching certification. ACE President Ted Mitchell has repeatedly endorsed ACUE's impact on student outcomes, stating that investing in faculty development through ACUE produces measurably better results for students.
- AASCU (American Association State Colleges and Universities)coreAASCU President Charles L. Welch has publicly endorsed ACUE's approach to faculty development, noting that AASCU member institutions serve students who depend on transformative learning experiences and ACUE ensures faculty have the tools to deliver that. AASCU institutions are featured prominently in ACUE's partner network.
- Lumina FoundationminorLumina Foundation is listed among ACUE's partner supporters and institutional network, though specific partnership details are not detailed in available sources.
Scale indicators15 records
Recent moves5 records
Expansion highlights6 records
ACUE competitors and assessment
Company assessmentBroad incumbents
- edX (2U): University-founded MOOC and credentialing platform owned by 2U offering micro-credentials, certificates, and degree pathways. Comparable in delivering instructor-facing professional development and university-issued credentials at scale.
- 2U: Online program manager and digital education provider that partners with universities to deliver degree and short-form programs. Directly comparable to ACUE's institutional partnership model and is a logical adjacent — ACUE's CEO previously served as 2U's CAO and President.
- Skillsoft: Enterprise learning and talent development platform offering courses, certifications, and learning paths. Comparable in selling structured, certified professional development content to institutional buyers in higher education and adjacent verticals.
- Instructure (Canvas): Maker of the Canvas LMS that ACUE integrates with (acue.instructure.com). Comparable as an institutional buyer of instructional-improvement content and as a potential bundle competitor for faculty development resources embedded in the LMS.
- D2L (Brightspace): Learning management system provider serving higher education and K-12 with built-in competency-based frameworks and faculty tools. Comparable as an LMS-based alternative channel for structured faculty development programs.
- Coursera: Online learning platform offering courses, certificates, and degree programs with deep university partnerships and a Coursera for Campus product. Comparable as an institutional buyer of professional-development and faculty credentials content and as an indirect competitor for instructional-improvement budgets.
- LinkedIn Learning: Subscription-based professional development library often bundled into institutional licenses for faculty upskilling. Comparable as a competing source of asynchronous professional-development content for the same higher-ed buyer.
Direct peers
- Magna Publications: Publisher of teaching-focused resources, newsletters, and professional development programs for college faculty. Directly comparable as a competitor for faculty-development content and subscriptions within higher education.
- NISOD (National Institute for Staff and Organizational Development): Higher-education professional development organization affiliated with UT Austin offering conferences, publications, and faculty programs. Directly comparable as a faculty-development content provider serving community and technical colleges.
Others
- HBCU Change / TMCF: Strategic partner of ACUE rather than a competitor, but the Thurgood Marshall College Fund's role in funding HBCU faculty development through the CHANGE Initiative makes it functionally adjacent as a channel and ecosystem influencer in higher-ed professional development.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat5 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
ACUE social profiles
Digital presenceACUE compliance and trust
Trust signalCompliance1 record
ACUE financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
ACUE leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles13 records
ACUE funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
ACUE M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about ACUE
What does ACUE do?
ACUE develops and delivers evidence-based faculty development courses, micro-credentials, and certifications for college and university educators. Its flagship offering is the nationally recognized Certification in Effective Teaching, endorsed by the American Council on Education (ACE), supported by pathway courses in Effective Teaching Practices and Effective Online Teaching Practices, a Nursing Pathway, ACUE Commons community platform, Quick Studies, and ACUE Endorsements. Institutional buyers receive bundled packages (ACUE Complete, Institutional Cohorts) that scale implementation across departments or entire systems.
Is ACUE a public or private company?
ACUE is a private company. It is classified as private equity controlled and is currently operating.
When was ACUE founded?
ACUE was founded in 2014. It employs 51 to 100 people.
Where is ACUE based?
ACUE is headquartered in New York, United States, in the North America region.
How does ACUE make money?
Four revenue lines are on record. Individual Course Enrollment is the primary driver. The others are institutional Partnership Programs, national Cohort Enrollment and ACUE Commons Subscription.
Who are ACUE's main competitors?
Broad incumbents on record are edX (2U), 2U, Skillsoft, Instructure (Canvas), D2L (Brightspace), Coursera and LinkedIn Learning. Direct peers are Magna Publications and NISOD (National Institute for Staff and Organizational Development). HBCU Change / TMCF is listed as an others.
Does ACUE have an API?
No public API is recorded for ACUE.
What industry is ACUE in?
ACUE's product category is Higher Education Faculty Development. Its primary akta.pro industry code is EDAFAIAJ, Certification & Exam Prep Course Marketplaces, with a secondary code of EDAFACAJ, Open Educational Resources (OER) & Curriculum Repositories. Its NAICS code is 611 and its SIC code is 8200.