Carol Geary Schneider

Carol Geary Schneider leads the Civic Learning and Democracy Engagement (CLDE) Coalition, which launched in 2021 to make college civic learning expected, inclusive, and high impact. The CLDE Coalition brings together education and policy organizations committed to making college CLDE a priority across higher education and in public policy. The coalition works in partnership with more than 75 higher education and student success organizations, including many state systems, and all seven institutional accreditation commissions. In 2025, the CLDE Coalition joined American University’s Democracy Innovation Lab at the Sine Institute of Policy & Politics with a mission to accelerate the college civic and democracy learning movement across all parts of higher education.

Schneider served for 18 years as president of the American Association of Colleges and Universities (AAC&U). Under her leadership, AAC&U launched Liberal Education and America’s Promise, a public advocacy and campus action initiative designed to engage educators and the public with the civic and economic power of students’ liberal learning across all fields of study.