IMPORTANT: AIESEP Fee Structure Change

Dear AIESEP members, 

As we being a new year, we wanted to reach out to our members regarding some changes we are making, which will start in early 2023. These changes have been influenced by our drive for Equity Diversity and Inclusion in this wonderful global organization.

We believe strongly that in order for AIESEP to be a truly global organization, we need to take into consideration significant global factors, such as cost of living in different countries. Although AIESEP already brings scholars together from around the world, we believe that we can do better and to be much more inclusive of scholars from middle and low-income countries. To address this, the AIESEP Board made some immediate changes in 2022 regarding our conference. We have re-structured conference registration for AIESEP 2023 in Chile to include different pricings for high GDP (high-income) and low GDP (low-income) countries (see link for registration fees for AIESEP 2023). Scholars from low GDP (low-income) countries who attend AIESEP Chile in Santiago July 4-7^th 2023 will also receive one free full-year membership of AIESEP.

And now, again in the spirit of inclusion, we wish to make a much more significant change, this time to membership categories and the fees associated with these. Therefore, the Board has ratified the re-structure of our membership across three bands – (Category A) low-income countries, (Category B) middle-income countries, and (Category C) high-income countries. The vast majority of AIESEP members come from high-income countries, and according to our survey most members are from the global north (n.p). We based our re-structure from The World Bank definitions (see table at the end).

The Board had a long discussion about raising rates for high income countries in particular, taking into account the considerable financial stress many families and universities are going through currently. Therefore, we voted to increase the high-income country rate marginally. We gauged the remaining categories such that AIESEP is more accessible for low and middle-income countries. In conducting this review, the Board having cross-compared membership fees of other similar organisations (AERA, AARE, SHAPE America, BERA, EERA, etc.) notes that the new AIESEP membership fees are still well below those of other professional organisations. Note that this will be the first membership fee increase in close to a decade.

Below you will see the new membership fee breakdown which will be effective as of Friday February 10^th  2023. The table at the very end of this blog shows how countries will be categorised.

Going forward, annual memberships will end on the 1^st of January each year. However, there are some exceptions for this year:

• If you renewed  after 18^th June 2022, we will honor your rate for the upcoming year. In this case, no need for you to renew on the 10^th of February 2023.
• If you renewed your membership before the 2022 Gold Coast conference, your membership will be up for renewal on 10^th of February 2023
• For those who paid for 3-year memberships, the pricing will be honored until the 3-year period ends.  

We hope to see you in Chile, July 4-7^th, 2023! Remember, the call for conference abstracts closes on February 14th. We look forward to reviewing your submissions for what promises to be the most wonderful conference – our first in Latin America in our 60-year history.

NEW MEMBERSHIP FEE CATEGORIES

One-year individual membership:

• Category A – High income* countries: €40 (currently €30) 
• Category B – Middle income countries: €15 (= 35% of the full fee) 
• Category C – Low-income countries: €5 (= 12% of the full fee) 

Three-year individual membership:

• Category A – High income countries: €110 (currently €80) 
• Category B – Middle income countries: €40 
• Category C – Low-income countries: €12

One-year institutional membership:

• Category A – High income countries: €100 (currently €70) 
• Category B – Middle income countries: €30 (= 30% of the full fee) 
• Category C – Low-income countries: €10 (= 10% of the full fee) 

Three-year institutional membership:

• Category A – High income countries: €240 (currently €175) 
• Category B – Middle income countries: €75 
• Category C – Low-income countries: €24

 *Note country classification (i.e., low, middle, high GDP(income)) is determined by the country in which the AIESEP member’s institution resides.

Sincerely, 

The AIESEP Board of Directors

Category A: high income countries

Category B: upper middle-income countries

Category C: low and lower middle-income countries

Source: The World Bank’s classification of low, lower and upper middle and high income countries (calculated using the World Bank atlas method), September 2022