AAG Award for Program Excellence

About this program

The American Association of Geographers awards the AAG Award for Program Excellence to recognize outstanding U.S. geography programs at non‑PhD‑granting institutions (associate, baccalaureate, and master’s levels) for leadership, instructional quality, student placement, scholarship, diversity and community engagement; recipients receive a $2,000 cash prize, a certificate, and recognition at the AAG Annual Meeting. Eligibility is limited to non‑PhD‑granting geography programs in the United States; nominations may be submitted by program chairs (self‑nominations) or by AAG Regional Division chairs, and a program may be nominated in only one category and must wait five years before re‑nomination after winning. Preliminary nominations (≤2 pages) are due September 15 (EST); invited finalists submit a single PDF dossier (≤10 pages of text/materials, appendices included) plus up to three letters of support (each ≤2 pages) by January 31 (EST); dossiers exceeding page limits will be disqualified and the Award Committee may name multiple recipients or none.