American Academy for Liberal Education
| Formation | 1992 |
|---|---|
| Type | Nonprofit |
| Location | |
|
President
|
Charles E. Butterworth |
| Website | www |
The American Academy for Liberal Education (AALE) is a United States-based educational accreditation organization with a focus on fostering liberal arts education, both in higher education and in earlier schooling.
AALE does not currently have U.S. Department of Education recognition as a higher education accreditor.
AALE was formed in 1992 with the stated purpose of "supporting and recognizing excellence in undergraduate liberal arts teaching and learning through accreditation." Founders included Jacques Barzun, retired philosophy professor from Columbia University, E.O. Wilson of Harvard University, historian Elizabeth Fox-Genovese of Emory University, and Lynne Cheney, former U.S. Secretary of Education. Its initial focus was on undergraduate education, which Barzun said had become "confused, misdirected or not directed at all."
In July 1995, the U.S. Department of Education granted AALE official recognition as an institutional accreditor for colleges and universities. This recognition allowed AALE-accredited institutions in the United States to participate in student financial aid programs authorized under the Higher Education Act and other U.S. federal programs.
In December 2006, the U.S. Department of Education suspended AALE's authority to accredit new institutions and programs. This restriction was lifted in December 2007. In the ruling that lifted the restrictions for a period of three years (expiring in December, 2010), Education Secretary Margaret Spellings wrote of "continued concerns stemming from AALE's being cited consistently since 2001 for either not having clear standards with respect to measuring student outcomes or not collecting and reviewing data on how institutions it accredits measures student outcomes."
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