APPA was founded in Chicago in 1914 by representatives from fourteen Midwest institutions. Over the past 35 years, membership has grown - from 100 in 1970 to the current membership levels which exceeds 5,200 individuals in over 1,500 learning institutions throughout the United States, Canada, and abroad.

Two-year institutions were admitted to membership in 1969. The headquarters was established in Washington, D.C. in June 1972 and moved to Alexandria, Virginia in July 1984. APPA expanded its global outreach in 1993 with the creation of its first international region. In 2003, APPA embraced the philosophy of international outreach rather than membership, to allow international regions and other sovereign countries to organize and relate to APPA in new and different ways.

Organized originally as the Association of Superintendents of Buildings and Grounds, the association later became the Association of Physical Plant Administrators of Universities and Colleges. In 1991, the name APPA: The Association of Higher Education Facilities Officers was adopted to reflect increased higher education-based campus responsibilities. In 2005, the association began to identify itself simply as APPA, to pay homage to its long history, but to be inclusive of all types of educational institutions.

At the APPA 2007 conference in Baltimore on July 15, the association introduced the organization’s new logo and tagline, representative of APPA’s new brand personality. The new APPA brand logo and tagline are meant to capture what our organization is all about and are the foundations for the accomplishment of the first of APPA’s 7 Key Strategies – the development of a clear brand personality.