Appalachian College Association

The Appalachian College Association is a non-profit consortium of 35 private four-year liberal arts institutions located in the central Appalachian Mountains in Kentucky, North Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, and West Virginia. ACA member institutions are critical contributors to their local and regional communities. Each campus serves as a beacon f... or its particular region, providing its students and its surrounding community access to exceptional educational and cultural experiences, often in areas facing serious economic distress. Serving nearly 80,000 students annually, with over 3,000 full-time faculty, ACA schools collectively generate nearly $1.3 billion in direct annual expenditures, further supporting regional communities. The colleges and universities of the Appalachian College Association work diligently to make higher education available to the students of this region. Member institutions are dedicated to making post-secondary education available to groups that have been historically underrepresented. Nearly half of ACA schools have first-year cohorts receiving federal Pell grants at levels greater than 50%; 86% of our institutions had rates of 40% or higher. The mission of the Association is to serve Appalachian communities through the transformational work of its faculty, staff, and students. Programs offered by the Association are designed to promote cooperation and collaboration among member institutions, and to support scholarly and creative activities of faculty and students. The ACA is governed by a board comprised of the presidents of all member institutions, and an executive committee with representation from presidents and chief academic officers.Read More