The Doctoral Student Cohort Program offers institutions a unique opportunity to partner with AERA to offer doctoral students access to AERA membership at a substantially reduced dues rate. Institutions that participate in the program collaborate with AERA to offset the cost of membership for doctoral students who join AERA for the first time.

The program gives students at participating institutions access to AERA membership at a 1-year introductory rate of $25, just a fraction of the regular graduate student dues rate of $80.

This program aims to encourage and support graduate student membership. Early and active graduate student participation in AERA can help them expand their knowledge of the field, engage with the education research community, and make connections that support their professional development and advancement.

Benefits for Doctoral Students:

• Reduced membership dues. Students pay $25 for a year of membership (compared to the full $80 graduate student rate)
• Free membership in one AERA Division and additional Division memberships for just $5 each.
• Access to Special Interest Groups (SIGs) memberships by paying their annual dues; the $7 administrative fee for joining one or more SIG is waived.
• Networking, professional development, and volunteer opportunities through Divisions, SIGs and the AERA Graduate Student Council (GSC). The GSC provides an active listserv and rich newsletter, along with dedicated programming throughout the year and at each AERA Annual Meeting
• Complimentary digital access to all six AERA journals, in addition to the publicly available, AERA Open.
• Purchase mailed AERA journals at the Graduate Student member rate of $10 per journal.
• Discounted registration for the 2026 AERA Annual Meeting in Los Angeles. 

How the AERA Doctoral Student Cohort Program Works
AERA collaborates with participating institutions to subsidize the cost of membership for doctoral students who join AERA for the first time. The regular graduate student rate for 2026 is $80. For each student who joins as part of this program, AERA contributes $30, and the participating institution contributes $25, reducing the student dues rate to $25.

• Institutions complete a short online form, designate a Program Coordinator, recruit eligible participants, and contribute $25 per student.
• AERA provides materials to help institutions with student recruitment and sign-up, and contributes $30 per eligible student.
• Students gain full access to member resources and benefits as soon as they sign up and pay only $25 for membership.

Student Eligibility
The Doctoral Student Cohort Program is open to students who are first-time AERA members and have not been in their doctoral program beyond 8 years. 

First Step for Institutions
If an institution is interested in the AERA Doctoral Student Cohort Program, please contact the Membership Team at members@aera.net or call 202-238-3229.