American Association of Colleges of Nursing

The American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN) is the national voice for academic nursing. AACN works to establish quality standards for nursing education; assists schools in implementing those standards; influences the nursing profession to improve health care; and promotes public support for professional nursing education, research, and practice.^[1] It was established in 1969, and represents more than 875 member schools of nursing at public and private universities nationwide.

American Association of Colleges of Nursing

Logo of AACN
Abbreviation	AACN
Formation	1969
Headquarters	655 K Street, NW Suite 750 Washington, D.C., United States
Membership	876 members
Board Chair	Jean Giddens, PhD, RN
President/CEO	Deborah E. Trautman, PhD, RN
Website	www.aacnnursing.org

News & Data

To view AACN's latest news, visit: https://www.aacnnursing.org/news-data.

Board of directors

• Chair: Jean Giddens, University of Kansas
• Chair-Elect: Julie Sanford, The University of Alabama
• Treasurer: Judith Karshmer, Arizona State University
• Secretary: Victoria Niederhauser, University of Tennessee Knoxville

Members-at-Large:

• Stephen Cavanagh, University of California-Davis
• Lorna Finnegan, Loyola University Chicago
• Eileen Fry-Bowers, University of San Francisco
• Mary Ellen Smith Glasgow, Duquesne University
• Rhoberta Haley, Pacific Lutheran University
• Valerie Howard, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
• Kimberly Hunter, University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics
• Shannon Bright Smith, Florida A&M University
• Julie Swann, Emory Saint Joseph Hospital^[1]

President and Chief Executive Officer (ex officio): Deborah E. Trautman

Scholarship Opportunities

The American Association of Colleges of Nursing offers a number of different scholarships to nursing students around the country for outstanding academic performance, students who aspire to leadership positions in academic nursing, and/or those who are committed to making a positive impact on the nation's health and health care. They have partnered with companies like Liaison,^[2] Uniform Advantage,^[3] and Hurst Review^[4] to provide thousands of dollars in scholarships each year to students that apply and meet the requirements. Since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic, they have also started a scholarship program to help students that need financial support in order to complete their nursing programs and/or meet life expenses. Since the program was started in April 2020, they have disbursed a total of 158 awards.