The Council of Colleges of Arts and Sciences (CCAS) is an American association of college and university deans promoting the arts and sciences as a leading influence in higher education. CCAS was founded in 1965 after the National Association of State Universities and Land-Grant Colleges (now the Association of Public and Land-Grant Universities) voted to include engineering and agricultural deans, but not arts and sciences deans, in their legislative advocacy programs. Arts and sciences deans withdrew and formed a new organization with the mission of providing networking and training opportunities, political advocacy, and a forum for discussion of contemporary challenges in higher education.