In June, the AERA Council voted a dues increase for the 2015 membership year. After evaluating the financial base of the Association and the resources required to accomplish AERA’s strategic mission and goals, Council concluded that a dues increase was prudent. Annual dues will increase to $180 for regular members and $55 for students. 

The 2015 dues increase is only the third over the past decade.

In coming to this decision, Council emphasized the important leadership role of the Association to advance education research as a field and a profession. AERA is investing the Association’s resources in such activities as wide dissemination of research through the website and media, funds for small research conferences proposed by members, and support of the AERA Minority Fellowship Program, to name just a few. Another member benefit is the new open access journal, AERA Open, which launches this month with AERA contributing material resources to make published content freely available.

AERA periodically undertakes an analysis of annual dues schedules for research associations. Council reviewed the latest figures that showed that AERA’s dues are low compared to societies of comparable size and programming. The analysis also indicated that AERA adjusts dues far less frequently than most research associations. At Council’s request, the Executive Director reviews the dues biennially.

Based on the state of the economy and its potential impact on members over the past few years, AERA Executive Director Felice J. Levine has not recommended a dues adjustment since the 2011 membership year.

“AERA strives to keep dues as low as possible, while providing excellent member services and programming,” said Levine. “With the additional financial resources provided by the dues increase, AERA will be poised to expand efforts to strengthen its voice with external audiences, constituents, and the public on issues related to education research, research and scholarly activities, and national research policy, as well as our profile for linking research to policy efforts.”

Levine noted that AERA would continue to:

• Expand its leadership role in advocating for sustained federal investment in education research, defending attacks on the National Science Foundation (NSF) merit review, and working with Congress to fully support the work of the Institute of Education Sciences (IES) and the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES).
  
  
• Broaden effective and timely communication with its members, the news media, and other vital constituents. AERA will continue to be aggressive in improving its infrastructure to facilitate this.  For example, the AERA website is currently being redesigned to accommodate more robust content and to enhance navigation. 

In addition to the dues increase for regular member and student dues, Council also agreed to retain the Hardship Provision originally put in place in 2011. The provision is available to any AERA member whose financial condition has changed drastically and sufficiently so that a member would have difficulty renewing membership. A member must be in good standing for at least three previous years to qualify. The provision allows a one year dues waiver. Complete details on the Hardship Provision are available at www.aera.net/membership.

Members’ support of the new dues structure and commitment to the mission of AERA is vital to the field and profession of education research. With a sound fiscal foundation, AERA will continue to advance knowledge about education, to encourage scholarly inquiry related to education, and to promote the use of research to improve education and serve the public good. AERA President Joyce King ([email protected]) and Executive Director Felice J. Levine ([email protected]) welcome feedback from members as AERA moves ahead.