American Council on Education  The American Council on Education (ACE) is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) U.S. higher education association established in 1918. ACE's members are the leaders of approximately 1,700 accredited, degree-granting colleges and universities and higher education-related associations, organizations, and corporations. The organization, located in Washington, DC, conducts public policy advocacy, research, and other initiatives related to key higher education issues and offers leadership development programs to its members and others in the higher education community. Ted Mitchell became president of ACE on September 1, 2017. Prior to coming to ACE, Mitchell served as the U.S. Department of Education’s undersecretary of education in the Obama administration from 2014 to January 2017. He also served as president of Occidental College (CA) from 1999 to 2005. The current board chair is Barbara R. Snyder, president of Case Western Reserve University (OH). The vice chair is Mark P. Becker, president of Georgia State University. The secretary is Paul J. LeBlanc, president of Southern New Hampshire University. ACE coordinates programs and activities in a number of areas related to higher education, including policy and advocacy, leadership, attainment and innovation, internationalization, and research. Representatives from 14 higher education associations formed the Emergency Council on Education in 1918 in Washington, DC. They soon changed the name to the American Council on Education and appointed Donald J. Cowling, the head of the Association of American Colleges and president of Carlton College (MN), to be the first president. After World War I ended on November 11, 1918, ACE redirected itself to more expansive peacetime roles. ACE President Samuel P. Capen reexamined the missions, objectives, and processes of various institutions and helped spearhead a standardized, professional evaluation and accreditation system for institutions of higher learning in the United States. ACE assisted in drafting and adopting criteria that reflected the basic standards of a sound postsecondary education and developed peer evaluation procedures to ensure an institution's academic quality. In 1920, the Council published the first official listing of accredited higher education institutions. In 1920, ACE established the Committee on the Training of Women for Professional Service to raise the status of working women to professional levels. The committee published its research of women in the workplace in T"he Educational Record" in 1922. In 1927, ACE became the first educational organization to promote standard measures of achievement and potential through psychological exams for high school students and college freshmen. The Council published "American Universities and Colleges" in 1928, which offered information to students, parents, advisors, and educators on all accredited colleges and universities that offered a baccalaureate degree.