AACRAO Public Policy and
Education Agenda
Founded in 1910, the American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers (AACRAO) is a nonprofit association of approximately 11,000 higher education admissions and registration professionals who represent more than 2,600 institutions and agencies in the United States and 33 other countries. The association seeks to serve and advance higher education through leadership in academic and enrollment services. It provides extensive resources to support its members in the practice of their profession, including programs, conferences, publications, consulting, and research services. At the same time, AACRAO offers a forum for discussion on policy initiation, development, interpretation, and implementation within institutions and in the global educational community.
Preamble
As a member-based nonprofit advocacy association, AACRAO has the right – and the
responsibility – to help shape public policies and programs that recognize and support higher
education as a positive force in ensuring the nation’s economic competitiveness, its cultural
and intellectual strength, and the quality of life of all of its citizens.
AACRAO is the public voice expressing the views and concerns of its members. It supports
policies and practices that advance access to post-secondary education for students from all
socio-economic and ethnic backgrounds, while also strongly asserting the primacy of each
institution of higher education in defining its mission and governing itself in order to best
serve the pursuit and promotion of learning.
AACRAO is a strictly non-partisan association that advocates for its members and higher
education overall by:
- Working closely with policymakers, regardless of their political affiliation, to serve its members and help the nation’s students
- Taking positions on public policy issues, including those that may be or become contested issues among political groups
- Encouraging its members, as campus professionals who work with faculty, administrators and students every day, to share their valuable insights on policy issues related to their work with local, state and national policymakers.
AACRAO does not:
- Favor or oppose political candidates, groups of candidates, or political parties and, as a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt association, is legally prohibited from doing so
- Participate in fundraising for candidates or political parties
- Support, oppose, or participate in any candidate’s campaign
- Share contact information of its members with any political party or candidate
The AACRAO Public Policy Agenda outlines major issues impacting AACRAO members and presents a framework for AACRAO’s involvement in the public policy arena.
I. Federal Funding of Higher Education
AACRAO supports federal funding for financial aid to ensure that all qualified students have access to higher education, and for research to advance knowledge and innovation. In an increasingly competitive global marketplace, a higher education infrastructure and a well-educated population are more important than ever to ensure economic innovation and competitiveness and a better quality of life for all.
II. Accountability and Program Integrity
Maintaining the nation’s system of top quality higher education relies upon ensuring the integrity of participating institutions as well as the integrity and accountability of the Higher Education Act’s gatekeeping system of federal recognition, accreditation and state licensure policies. At their own institutions, AACRAO members protect academic integrity by serving as admissions gatekeepers and as codifiers and enforcers of institutional academic policies that govern the awarding of credits and credentials. They also monitor threats to academic integrity across the spectrum of educational institutions, since they must make decisions based upon credits and credentials given to students by their high schools and previously attended colleges and universities. AACRAO is alarmed by threats to the reputation and integrity of all academic institutions posed by the rise of “diploma mills” and instances of uneven and lax standards for accreditation and state licensure.
III. Curricular Alignment between Higher Education and K-12
Academic alignment between K-12 programs and the colleges and universities that their graduates will attend is an important and desirable goal. In achieving this alignment, however, it is critical that efforts to reform high school core curricula for college-bound students are pursued with the clear understanding that the faculty members of each college or university are responsible for setting its academic policies. Thus, the development of “college ready” high school curricula must be done in close consultation with college faculty and admission officers. Otherwise, these high school curricula may not, in fact, meet the academic policies set by varying institutions.
IV. Privacy and Data
AACRAO is deeply committed to promotion of privacy policies that maintain the confidentiality of the highly sensitive data that students willingly entrust to educational institutions. In 1974, the passage of the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) ushered in a new era for educational privacy rights through its application of fair information practices to educational records. The culture of privacy is so deep-rooted within the education community that there have been few violations of FERPA over the past four decades.
V. Access and Equal Opportunity
AACRAO firmly supports the principle that the doors of higher education must be open to all qualified students regardless of their financial resources and that, in fact, access and equal opportunity for all are the bulwarks of a thriving democracy.
AACRAO members represent the most diverse educational system in the world, from open-access community colleges to large research universities. Yet, all are united by a commitment to expand the number of qualified students who attend college, to increase completion and graduation rates for all students, and to support at-risk students so that they may have the tools and skills to succeed.
VI. Veterans’ Issues
AACRAO recognizes and honors the sacrifices these men and women have made and its members are proud to assist them and meet their educational needs.
Veterans and students on active military duty and their families face special circumstances and challenges. Active-duty students, who may be reassigned or activated with little notice, benefit from maximum administrative flexibility, such as providing full tuition refunds and accommodate re-enrollment upon the student’s return. Veterans receive administrative support to navigate VA eligibility and reporting issues, which can be both cumbersome and confusing.
Because veterans and those on active duty have often been the targets of unscrupulous providers who enroll them in sub-par programs and consume their hard-earned benefits, AACRAO is strongly supportive of improved efforts to safeguard these students. These include improved gatekeeping by the agencies of jurisdiction, consistency in language across legislation and branches of service, better counseling by competent advisors, and stepped-up disclosure requirements to ensure that veterans and active military can make well-informed choices. Agency oversight and enforcement should place primary emphasis on areas where military students and tax dollars are now disproportionately concentrated.
VII. Immigration Policy
AACRAO urges the passage of the Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors Act of 2011. Commonly referred to as the DREAM Act, the legislation would provide a path to legal status for young undocumented immigrants who were brought to the United States as children by their parents and are pursuing college degrees or serving in the military. It would remove barriers to higher education for students who have grown up in the United States, attended school here, and consider themselves American.
Public Policy Advisory Group
The group provides an essential practitioner perspective on emerging legislation and public policy matters and serves as a practical resource to AACRAO’s Executive Director and Government Relations staff as they craft responses to proposed legislation or regulation. Areas of expertise may include admissions, enrollment services, financial aid, access and equity, serving veterans and service members, community colleges, graduate and professional education, competency based education, credit for prior learning, and others.
The Public Policy Advisory Group (PPAG) is composed of 12 members. Each member of PPAG serves a 3-year term; appointments are staggered, so each year, 4 individuals complete their term, and 4 new members are added. After their term, individuals must be removed from the group and wait at least one year before re-applying to PPAG. A single chair will be selected from members of the group who will serve a 3-year term, independent from the 3-year term for regular group members. An individual may serve more than one term as chair, but those terms cannot be back-to-back.
AACRAO members are selected based on their areas of expertise and type of institution with consideration for how the group reflects the diversity of the association’s membership. Areas of expertise may include:
- Admissions,
- Enrollment services,
- Financial aid,
- Access and equity,
- Serving veterans and service members,
- Community colleges,
- Graduate and professional education,
- Competency-based education,
- Credit for prior learning, and others.
2026 – 2027 Members:
Alana Davis (Chair)
Associate Provost and University Registrar
William & Mary University
Candace Boeninger
Vice President for Enrollment Management
Ohio University – Main Campus
Catharine Punchello
Vice Provost and University Registrar
Thomas Edison State University
Elias DuBose
Admissions Officer
Anne Arundel College
Isaiah Vance
Assistant Vice Chancellor of Advising and Transfer Initiatives
Texas A&M University
Jonathan Breaker
Program Officer
American Indian College Fund
Joseph Redington
University Registrar
University of Scranton
Josh Hibbard
Vice President for Enrollment Management and Dean of Graduate Enrollment Services
Whitworth University
Luis Alarcon
Director of Recruitment & Admissions
Lincoln Land Community College
Tara Kent
Director, Enrollment Registrar
CUNY – Brooklyn College
Tonaya Shaffer
Director of Institutional Research and Assessment
York College of Pennsylvania
Vanessa Jackson
Associate Registrar
Campbell University School of Law
Download the AACRAO Public Policy and Education Agenda.