The American Association Of Colleges For Teacher Education

What The American Association Of Colleges For Teacher Education does

The American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education (AACTE) is a nonprofit professional membership association founded in 1948, headquartered in Washington, D.C., and serving as the national advocate for educator preparation programs in the United States. It represents nearly 800 member institutions — public and private colleges, universities, and schools of education across all 50 states, the District of Columbia, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and Guam — with a total addressable market of approximately 1,700 schools, colleges, and departments of education nationwide. AACTE delivers its value through a portfolio of member services including policy advocacy at federal and state levels, the Journal of Teacher Education (a peer-reviewed publication with a 4.5 impact factor ranked in the top 7% of 760 education journals, published via a partnership with SAGE Publications), the AACTE Data Dashboards drawing on U.S. Department of Education Title II data, the Connect360 online member community, the Holmes Scholars diversity-pipeline program, and signature in-person events (Annual Meeting, Washington Week, Leadership Academy, New Deans Institute).

The association operates a multi-revenue-stream business model dominated by recurring annual institutional membership dues (billed annually, with voting representatives allocated 4–14 per institution based on productivity), supplemented by event registration fees, publication and research report sales (with a public $19.99 bundle price point for non-members), advertising and sponsorships, and limited mailing-list rentals. Distribution is primarily direct-to-institution with self-serve elements through the members.aacte.org portal, and a third-party publishing partnership with SAGE for the journal. AACTE's technology stack is conventional association infrastructure — a member portal, online community platform, digital publications, and data dashboards — with no disclosed proprietary platform or AI capabilities.

AACTE's customer base is concentrated in a single vertical (higher education institutions with educator preparation programs), with secondary demand from individual education professionals and graduate students engaged through the Holmes Scholars Program. The organization has no parent company, no private equity backing, no public listing, and no subsidiaries, operating as an independent nonprofit governed by a Board of Directors and programmatic committees. Its competitive positioning rests on incumbency (77-year operating history), scale of its membership base, federal policy access, and the brand recognition of its journal and advocacy outputs.

Name

The American Association Of Colleges For Teacher Education

Legal name

American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education

Website

https://aacte.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1948

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

The American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education (AACTE) is a nonprofit professional membership association serving nearly 800 U.S. colleges and universities with educator preparation programs, delivering policy advocacy, the peer-reviewed Journal of Teacher Education, data dashboards, the Connect360 community, and signature events including the Annual Meeting and Washington Week.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Professional Association Services for Educator Preparation

NAICS

Professional Organizations (81392), Business Associations (813910), Professional and Management Development Training (611430), Religious, Grantmaking, Civic, Professional, and Similar Organizations (813)

SIC

Services-Membership Organizations (8600), Services-Educational Services (8200), Miscellaneous Publishing (2741)

akta.pro primary industry

Programmatic Accreditors (Discipline/Profession-Specific) (EDADACAC)

akta.pro secondary industry

Accreditation Standards, Benchmarking & Framework Organizations (EDADACAJ)

Keywords

• Educator preparation programs
• Teacher education research
• Education policy advocacy
• Professional association membership
• Education workforce development

Headquarters

HQ city

Washington

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Membership Dues: AACTE generates primary revenue through annual membership dues from colleges and universities with educator preparation programs. Members receive access to publications, events, advocacy resources, and the online community.
2. Event Registration: Revenue from registration fees for Annual Meeting, preconference sessions, Leadership Academy, Washington Week, and other professional development events.
3. Publications and Research: Sale of research reports, data briefs, and the Journal of Teacher Education subscriptions. Bundled reports available for $19.99 for non-members.
4. Mailing List Rental: AACTE rents USPS mailing lists to organizations for educational purposes. Each rental is valid for 2 mailings.
5. Advertising and Sponsorships: Digital advertising opportunities on Ed Prep Matters news site, event sponsorships, and partnerships with companies seeking access to the educator preparation community.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

AACTE is a nonprofit professional membership association that serves as the leading national voice for educator preparation programs at colleges and universities. It delivers its value through annual institutional memberships (nearly 800 member institutions), federal and state policy advocacy, peer-reviewed research publications including the Journal of Teacher Education, signature events such as the Annual Meeting and Washington Week, the Holmes Scholars Program, interactive data dashboards, and member-only online community and resources.

Product overview

AACTE operates as a professional association offering a portfolio of member-focused products and services rather than a unified software platform. The core offerings include the AACTE Tools member portal (event registration, membership directory, Connect360 community, profile management, resource library, voting system), the Ed Prep Matters news platform, the Journal of Teacher Education (published with SAGE Publications), interactive AACTE Data Dashboards, and the Holmes Scholars Program for diversifying the education leadership pipeline. Additional programs include the Annual Meeting conference, Washington Week advocacy event, Career Center job board, and a library of research reports and briefs on educator preparation. The organization also provides member-specific tools such as the Profile Manager for institutional representatives and AACTE Store for merchandise.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Institutional Membership Annual membership program for colleges and universities with educator preparation programs, providing designated voting representatives, faculty access, the Journal of Teacher Education, Connect360 community, event registration, and member-only resources.
• Journal of Teacher Education (JTE) Flagship peer-reviewed journal published in partnership with SAGE Publications, featuring research on teacher education with a 4.5 impact factor ranked in the top 7% of education journals; published five issues per year.
• AACTE Data Dashboards Interactive data visualization tool providing customizable displays of educator preparation trends, degrees and certificates conferred, and program data sourced from the U.S. Department of Education's Title II data series.
• Holmes Scholars Program Pipeline program supporting graduate students in education from underrepresented backgrounds at AACTE member institutions through mentorship, peer support, and professional development; celebrating 35 years of operation.
• AACTE Annual Meeting Flagship annual conference featuring preconference sessions, awards program, networking opportunities, and professional development for educator preparation professionals.
• Washington Week Annual advocacy event in Washington, D.C. offering briefings, Capitol Hill meetings, and policy engagement for educator preparation leaders.
• AACTE Research Reports and Briefs Collection of research publications including the Colleges of Education: A National Portrait report, data updates on teacher preparation trends, alternative certification studies, and policy briefs on educator workforce issues.
• AACTE Career Center Job board and career resources connecting educator preparation professionals with positions in PK-12, higher education, and related education organizations.

Quantifiable outcome

• AACTE member institutions prepare the greatest number of professional educators in the United States and its territories.
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers2 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Four partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• CEEDAR CentercoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe CEEDAR Center partners with AACTE to support the infusion of disability-related programming and messaging into AACTE's work. Together they developed resources including the Special Education Task Force report, research-to-practice videos, and the Reducing the Shortage of Special Education Teachers Networked Improvement Community.
• SAGE PublicationscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerSAGE Publications produces and publishes the Journal of Teacher Education (JTE) in association with AACTE. JTE has a 4.5 impact factor and publishes 5 issues per year. SAGE handles distribution, subscriptions, and the online platform (jte.sagepub.com).
• GoReactminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerGoReact collaborated with AACTE on a panel webinar about using ESSER funds for educator preparation, featuring Tennessee's statewide Grow Your Own Program.
• Center for American Progress (CAP)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerAACTE partnered with CAP to update and extend analysis of alternative teacher certification programs. CAP originally published a study on alternative teacher certification programs, and AACTE collaborated on extending that analysis for the non-IHE sector and produced a companion report on IHE-based alternative programs.

Scale indicators5 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• American Association of State Colleges and Universities (AASCU): AASCU represents public colleges and universities including many that house schools of education. It is a DIRECT_PEER at the institutional-membership level — AASCU and AACTE overlap significantly in member institutions and both advocate for federal higher-education funding and policy on behalf of those institutions.
• Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO): CCSSO represents the public officials who lead state education agencies and shape teacher licensure and preparation policy. It is a DIRECT_PEER because CCSSO and AACTE jointly influence federal and state policy on educator preparation and certification, and both serve overlapping institutional stakeholders.
• National Council for Teacher Quality (NCTQ): NCTQ is a research and policy organization that evaluates teacher preparation programs and publishes influential national reviews. It is a DIRECT_PEER because it competes with AACTE in shaping the national narrative on teacher prep quality and recently released a "Decoding Progress in Reading Preparation" report that AACTE publicly responded to.
• National Association of State Directors of Teacher Education and Certification (NASDTEC): NASDTEC represents state officials responsible for teacher education and certification. It is a DIRECT_PEER because its members shape the regulatory framework for teacher preparation that AACTE's member institutions must navigate, and the organizations operate in overlapping policy and standards-setting spaces.
• Council for the Accreditation of Educator Preparation (CAEP): CAEP is the specialized accreditor for educator preparation providers in the U.S. It is the closest DIRECT_PEER to AACTE: the two organizations share the same member institutions (schools/colleges of education) and CAEP's accreditation standards directly shape what AACTE advocates for and what its data dashboards benchmark.
• American Council on Education (ACE): ACE is the major coordinating body for U.S. higher education institutions, providing federal advocacy, leadership development, and policy research. It is a DIRECT_PEER because AACTE and ACE share a higher-ed membership-association model targeting the same institutional buyers with overlapping advocacy agendas (e.g., federal student aid, workforce policy).

Others

• Center for American Progress (CAP): CAP is a public-policy think tank that has collaborated with AACTE on alternative-certification research. It is classified as OTHERS because it is a research and advocacy partner rather than a direct competitor, but its education policy work shapes the same national conversation AACTE seeks to influence.

Broad incumbents

• American Federation of Teachers (AFT): AFT is a national union representing 1.7 million educators, including teachers and higher-ed faculty. It is a BROAD_INCUMBENT because it operates across the full educator workforce rather than specializing in preparation programs, but it wields substantial influence over the same policy and labor issues AACTE addresses.
• National Education Association (NEA): NEA is the largest U.S. professional employee organization, representing educators from pre-K through higher education. It is a BROAD_INCUMBENT because, like AFT, it influences teacher preparation policy and educator workforce issues but from a broader, practicing-educator membership base rather than preparation-program institutions.

Emerging players

• Teach For America: Teach For America is a nontraditional pipeline that places teachers in underserved schools and is one of the most visible alternative-certification providers. It is an EMERGING_PLAYER because, while AACTE has published research on alternative certification in partnership with CAP, TFA represents a competing model of educator preparation that can pull prospective educators away from AACTE's member institutions.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks7 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xtwitter.com/aacte
• YouTubeyoutube.com/@aactevideos1743
• Facebookfacebook.com/aacte
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/american-association-of-colleges-for-teacher-education
• Instagraminstagram.com/aacte

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles4 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about The American Association Of Colleges For Teacher Education