2015 Demographics

In 1970, if we were to picture the person behind the desks of our members, chances are high that we would see an American Causasian male over 40 years of age… A female would appear only one time in 4. Today, as it has been for many years, the opposite is true; females now comprise 69% of our membership.

Throughout the growth and adjustments of the past 100 years, AACRAO’s paramount objective has remained unchanged. AACRAO was formed with the purposed of providing for the spread of information on problems of common interest and to promote the professional welfare of its members.

When polled in 1972 on their primary responsibility,57% of AACRAO members selected Registration, and 48% selected Admissions. The high representation in those categories remains similar today. There can be little doubt that we are an Association of Registrars and Admissions Officers.

There were only 571 institutions with fewer than 1000 students listed as AACRAO members in Fall 1972; today there are about 760. This size code is the largest portion of our membership.

In the early 70’s AACRAO had 1800 institutional memberships that comprised some 5400 names of active members. Today we have almost 2,700 institutions and over 11,000 members!

In 1972, AACRAO did not have a single for-profit institution listed as a member. Now that we have opened membership up to all accredited universities and colleges, for-profit institutions comprise nearly 10% of our membership.

Today all 50 states and several US Territories are represented by our membership. While no state has fewer than four member institutions, some of the larger states have as many as 200 member institutions. The six states with over 100 members represent more than 30% of our member institutions!

One significant change from the 70’s to today is the number of countries represented by AACRAO members. 40 years ago, fewer than 10 countries were represented. Today almost 40 countries around the world have at least one AACRAO member!