History of the Institute
AAHEA HAS A VERY OLD AND DISTIGUSHED PAST
American Association for Higher Education (AAHEA) is the oldest non-profit association in the United States dedicated to the advancement of higher education.
The AAHEA history began in 1870 when the National Education Association established a department of higher education. The department was disbanded in 1924, then reactivated in 1945 and in 1958 was renamed the Association for Higher Education. In 1968, the NEA voted to move into collective bargaining and the higher education department in turn voted to become an "NEA associated organization." In February 1969 the NEA Board voted not to support the new associated organization and in March 1969 a group of 300 members of the department pledged to take out life memberships to raise funds so the department could continue as an independent organization. AAHE was incorporated as a self-governing, non-profit organization in the District of Columbia in March 1969.
In May of 2005, the president, who was hired a few years earlier to turn around the organization, which was going through a temporary slump, as all non-profits do from time to time. She decided it could not continue on as it was, only taking in 7.5 million and so she and the board of directors simply walked away. Yes, this is true. The organization laid idle for a short time and was reinvigorated by a new team headed up by a few of AAHE's voting members who were not interested in receiving money to operate the organization but recognized that the organization was an entity unto itself with a very rich history and could not allow such a grand old organization that had produced hundreds of leading books and thousands of publications over the years, that have become the best source for colleges and universities in many cases, as well as being the leader in education and accreditation fields, to lay dormant or worse just cease to exist, so they swung into action as the call went out.
You see under the corporate law in DC and the by-laws of AAHE, you must ask for and receive a majority vote from the voting members of the non-profit membership organization in order to close it. This was too much bother for the president at the time so she and the board of directors just walked away. This left almost 10,000 paid members holding the bag, some of which of course felt cheated. This turned out to be a very good law as it allowed the people who cared about the organization, its voting members, who legally in fact make up the organization, to step in and operate the organization.
The reinvigorated team consisting of a group of very distinguished individuals including; MD's, PhD's, a dean of a very distinguished college, teachers, professors and business leaders, all working in concert to make this great old prestigious organization that millions of people have come to rely upon for so long, even better.
In February 2007, the name was changed to AAHEA, The American Association For Higher Education and Accreditation, to better reflect its mission.
Many great new things are happening each year, including educator of the year awards, adding several new disciplines and departments including: Law Enforcement, Alternative Health, Mental Health, and a Department of Health, an interactive web site, a book store, producing builletins once again, a new blog, and a new building of our own to hold conventions, (this will give us locations in three states), last and certainly not least, doing accreditation which will be approved by the US Government.
For the past 4 years no salaries have been paid, that’s right not a single dime in payroll. Now it is a work of love, by a group of 18 very dedicated, highly educated people. These very dedicated people care passionately about one thing and that is to have AAHEA the primary source of information on education and accreditation and the number one organization of its kind in the world with the ability to do accreditation across the board and all while enjoying an impeccable reputation for all non-profits to follow.
We invite you to join with us and our thousands of dedicated colleges, universities and their staff, our members, and this prestigious 140-year-old organization. Join and become a voting member, have a voice, as you see here, you too can make a difference!
NOTE: We have had a couple of people over the last few years, people who are attempting to spread untruths and who have personal agendas, such as a bitter former board member, a competitor and a blogger who is a friend of the competitor who is looking to make a reputation for himself, say that the organization went bankrupt, closed and went out of business or what have you in 2005. Of course they provide only lip service. This could not be further from the truth as this is the same organization, corporation, non-profit 501-C3 federal tax exempt number and all. All anyone needs to do is do a little research to see the truth. Click here for more information and the steps we have taken to correct this. The only changes were the people at the top who were only interested in taking home fat pay checks like the $250,000 being paid to the president at the time to save the organization.