The Aga Khan Program for Islamic Architecture at Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) works to educate architects, planners, teachers and researchers who can contribute to meeting the building and design needs of Muslim communities.

The Program’s faculty, students and alumni have played a substantial role in advancing the practice, analysis and understanding of Islamic architecture as a discipline and cultural force. Established in 1979, the Program is supported by a series of endowments from His Highness the Aga Khan. It aims to improve the teaching of Islamic art and architecture, enhance the understanding of Islamic architecture, urbanism and visual culture, and increase the visibility of Islamic cultural heritage.

Archnet.org aims to be the most comprehensive archive of online resources on architecture, urban design and development in the Muslim world.

It features collections, resources and documentation from the Aga Khan Trust for Culture, the Aga Khan Program for Islamic Architecture at Harvard and MIT, and donated collections of historic archives and documentation.

Texas Governor Rick Perry and His Highness the Aga Khan signed an Agreement of Cooperation in 2009 to expand collaboration in the areas of education, health sciences, natural disaster preparedness and recovery, culture and the environment.

Examples of such collaboration include with the Aga Khan University (AKU), on the Muslim Histories and Cultures programme at the University of Texas at Austin, and with Texas A&M University, regarding faculty exchange opportunities.

An Agreement of Cooperation was entered into by the State of California and the Ismaili Imamat, in November 2009. It provides for cooperation in education, environmental stewardship and management, health sciences, seismic risk management and better cross-cultural understanding.

Collaboration continues between the California Office of Emergency Services and partner agencies in the areas of Emergency Management Training, Mass Casualty Management and Curricula Development. The Memorandum of Understanding between AKU and the University of California, San Francisco, focuses on cooperation on primary healthcare models across East Africa and Asia, with the goal of reducing maternal, newborn and child mortality. The Memorandum of Understanding between the Aga Khan Health Services (AKHS) and David Geffen School of Medicine at the University of California, Los Angeles covers collaboration in research, knowledge exchange and joint conferences in areas of mutual interest.

In 2011, the Agreement of Cooperation with the State of Illinois was signed. It provides for collaboration between the State of Illinois and AKDN in the areas of education, environmental stewardship and management, health sciences, library and information sciences, infrastructure development, agricultural sustainability and culture.

Examples of collaboration include discussions between the Aga Khan Education Services and the Chicago Public Schools in the area of STEM integration. In health care, AKHS and the Shirley Ryan AbilityLab, the premier rehabilitation hospital in the USA (ranked first by U.S. News & World Report for 26 years in a row), have entered into a formal collaboration. Under this partnership, Shirley Ryan has given AKHS access to its Global Learning Group on-demand modules that align with the learning objectives of the rehabilitation staff of the Aga Khan Hospital Mombasa.