The spirit of the American University Eagle has always been defined by the courage to meet the moment. Now, a new road map ensures that every student who joins our vibrant community is prepared to lead with purpose and curiosity.  

On January 26, AU launched our new five-year strategic plan, Meet Our Moment: American University’s Pledge to Our Students and Our World. 

Reflecting our public service mission and our location in the nation’s capital, the plan is built on a series of pledges that will provide new learning and career opportunities for students, enhance our public impact research, and strengthen community on campus and across Washington, DC. Uniquely, the plan opens with a letter of commitment (see below) to current and future students from President Jon Alger. 

Meet Our Moment “defines our success through the success of our students,” said Alger. “Our goal is to prepare lifelong learners and engaged citizens who are ready to make a difference.”

The strategy is the culmination of a community-led effort that began in 2024. It incorporates insights from Alger’s listening tour, eight community working groups, and more than 600 students, faculty, staff, and alumni who participated in working sessions throughout fall 2025. The plan 

AU’s new five-year strategic plan centers on three defining themes: being ready, together, and curious

To ensure every Eagle is ready for a career of consequence, AU will offer every undergraduate the opportunity for a funded internship or research experience starting in their sophomore year. The university will create a civic transcript to formally document students’ learning and engagement and foster responsible, ethical, and practical AI literacy in all Eagles. AU will also pilot a 90-credit degree program to offer a flexible educational pathway, including for transfer students and nontraditional learners.

“American University prepares students to thrive in a dynamic and competitive world by integrating the liberal arts, research, and experiential learning,” Provost Vicky Wilkins said. “Through study abroad, research fellowships, and internships, our students develop the intellectual rigor, professional readiness, and sense of purpose to advance knowledge and contribute meaningfully to society.”

Fueling a culture that is relentlessly curious, AU is leveraging its recent R1 research designation and investing in faculty expertise to ensure scholarly discoveries lead to public impact. A new Research and Policy Translation Center will connect faculty and student scholars directly to the policymaking process to address grand challenges.

Finally, the university will journey together by pairing every sophomore and transfer student with a mentor, drawing on a global network 160,000 Eagles strong. This sense of community will be anchored by a planned physical transformation of historic Hurst Hall into a centralized Student Success Hub, co-locating career services and global learning at the heart of the quad.

The innovative plan is a continuation of AU’s journey to a bright future. Following our historic investment in student thriving, AU is taking a leap forward to ensure every Eagle is ready for a career of achievement while our research continues to shape the policy, business, and community solutions that improve the human condition. Together, we stand as a relentlessly innovative model for the twenty-first–century university, prepared to meet this moment—and all those yet to come.

To learn more, visit www.american.edu/strategicplan.

Dear American University students of today and tomorrow,

Meet Our Moment exists for you. University strategic plans often plot new levels of growth and success for institutions of higher education. At American University, that success means you. We make these pledges and commitments to you, and we will be accountable to you.

At American University:

• You will be ready for a career of achievement and a life of purpose.
• You will learn in the classroom, across our beautiful campus, throughout our great Washington, DC, community, and around the globe.
• You will discover alongside expert faculty and dedicated staff, finding not just what is new, but what we can do together right now. 
• You will find your place on our vibrant campus in a community that cares deeply about you and your potential. 
• You will develop the skills to civically engage, solve problems, and enhance democracy.

The world needs Eagles like you. Your passion and dreams will be supported and strengthened by American University’s unmatched combination of hands–on learning, skill and career development, entrepreneurial spirit, impactful research that is put to work every day, and focus on community. The Meet Our Moment plan harnesses what distinguishes American University and delivers a more cohesive and comprehensive approach to connect what you want today and what you need tomorrow. 

Throughout our history, American University Eagles have always met the moment. In times of challenge and in dawns of possibility, we act with courage and creativity to break new ground. We shape history. We are dreamers and doers, builders and crafters, innovators and leaders. We thrive wherever change is made and the future is shaped––classrooms, boardrooms, theaters, laboratories, the halls of Congress, and the heart of our communities. From our arboretum campus in Washington, DC, we strive for the type of impact found at few other places. We chose American University because of who we are and what this community represents. We’ve been called wonks, and we’re known to be changemakers thanks to the goals and dreams we pursue and the ways American University helps each of us think, solve, and grow. Now we stand ready for our next moment with you and to meet the grand challenges of our time.

This is the future of your American University: aspirational, entrepreneurial, prepared, globally minded, and deeply connected. Here, readiness meets opportunity, and every Eagle gains tools, skills, and knowledge not just for a job, but for a life of meaning, productivity, and consequence. We will stand together as a model for a twenty-first–century university: relentlessly innovative, inclusive in spirit, and deep in purpose. 

We are ready to meet our moment. Are you?

Sincerely,

Jonathan Alger

President