Association of American Universities

Association of American Universities
FormationFebruary 28, 1900; 123 years ago (1900-02-28)
Founded atChicago, Illinois, U.S.
Type501(c)(3) nonprofit organization
52-1945674
HeadquartersWilliam T. Golden Center for Science and Engineering, Washington, D.C., U.S.
Location
    • United States
    • Canada
Coordinates38°54′01″N 77°01′42″W / 38.90028°N 77.02833°W / 38.90028; -77.02833
Membership
71
President
Barbara Snyder
Chair
Carol Folt
Websitewww.aau.edu Edit this at Wikidata

The Association of American Universities (AAU) is an organization of American research universities devoted to maintaining a strong system of academic research and education. Founded in 1900, it consists of 69 universities in the United States (both public and private) and two universities in Canada. AAU membership is by invitation only and requires an affirmative vote of three-quarters of current members.

Organization

The AAU was founded on February 28, 1900, by a group of 14 Doctor of Philosophy degree-granting universities in the United States to strengthen and standardize American doctoral programs. American universities—starting with University of Michigan and Johns Hopkins University in 1876—were adopting the research-intensive German model of higher education. Lack of standardization damaged European universities' opinions of their American counterparts and many American students attended graduate school in Europe instead of staying in the U.S. The presidents of Harvard University, Columbia University, Johns Hopkins University, the University of Chicago, and the University of California sent a letter of invitation to nine other universities—Clark University, Catholic University of America, Cornell University, the University of Michigan, Princeton University, the University of Pennsylvania, Stanford University, the University of Wisconsin, and Yale University—to meet in Chicago in February 1900 to promote and raise standards. The AAU's founding members elected Harvard's Charles William Eliot as the association's first president and Stanford's David Starr Jordan as its first chairman.

In 1914, the AAU began accrediting undergraduate education at its member and other schools. German universities used the "AAU Accepted List" to determine whether a college's graduates were qualified for graduate programs. Regional accreditation agencies existed in the U.S. by the 1920s, and the AAU ended accrediting schools in 1948.

For its first six decades, the AAU functioned as a club for the presidents and deans of elite research universities to informally discuss educational matters, and its day-to-day operations were managed by an executive secretary. In the 1970s, the AAU shifted to a role of active advocacy on behalf of its members' interests; dues were raised, more staff members were hired, and its chief executive was given the title of president and the duty of becoming far more publicly visible than his predecessors.

Today, the AAU consists of 71 U.S. and Canadian universities of varying sizes and missions that share a commitment to research. The organization's primary purpose is to provide a forum for the development and implementation of institutional and national policies in order to strengthen programs in academic research, scholarship, and education at the undergraduate, graduate, and professional levels.

Benefits

The largest attraction of the AAU for many schools, especially nonmembers, is prestige. Since the AAU's founding, it has "been a grouping of the elite in the American university world", and "[n]ew presidents of nonmember universities often list gaining admission to the AAU as a goal of their administration." For example, in 2010 the chancellor of nonmember North Carolina State University described it as "the pre-eminent research-intensive membership group. To be a part of that organization is something N.C. State aspires to." A spokesman for nonmember University of Connecticut called it "perhaps the most elite organization in higher education. You'd probably be hard-pressed to find a major research university that didn't want to be a member of the AAU." In 2012, the newly elected chancellor of University of Massachusetts Amherst, a nonmember of AAU, reaffirmed the objective of elevating the campus to AAU standards and the hope of becoming a member in the near future, and called it a distinctive status. Because of the lengthy and difficult entrance process, boards of trustees, state legislators, and donors often see membership as evidence of the quality of a university.

The AAU acts as a lobbyist at its headquarters in Washington, DC, for research and higher education funding and for policy and regulatory issues affecting research universities. The association holds two meetings annually, both in Washington. Separate meetings are held for university presidents, provosts, and other officials. Because the meetings are private, they offer the opportunity for discussion without media coverage. Prominent government officials, business leaders, and others often speak to the groups.

Presidents

Executive Term
Thomas A. Bartlett 1977–1982
Robert M. Rosenzweig 1983–1993
Cornelius J. Pings 1993–1998
Nils Hasselmo 1998–2006
Robert M. Berdahl 2006–2011
Hunter R. Rawlings III 2011–2016
Mary Sue Coleman 2016–2020
Barbara Snyder 2020–present

Statistics

As of 2004, AAU members accounted for 58 percent of U.S. universities' research grants and contract income and 52 percent of all doctorates awarded in the United States. Since 1999, 43 percent of all Nobel Prize winners and 74 percent of winners at U.S. institutions have been affiliated with an AAU university. Approximately two-thirds of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences 2006 Class of Fellows are affiliated with an AAU university. The faculties at AAU universities include 2,993 members of the United States National Academies (82 percent of all members): the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, and the Institute of Medicine (2004).

  • Undergraduate students: 1,044,759; 7 percent nationally
  • Undergraduate degrees awarded: 235,328; 17 percent nationally
  • Graduate students: 418,066; 20 percent nationally
  • Master's degrees awarded: 106,971; 19 percent nationally
  • Professional degrees awarded: 20,859; 25 percent nationally
  • Doctorates awarded: 22,747; 52 percent nationally
  • Postdoctoral fellows: 30,430; 67 percent nationally
  • Students studying abroad: 57,205
  • National Merit/Achievement Scholars (2004): 5,434; 63 percent nationally
  • Faculty: approximately 72,000

Membership

AAU membership is by invitation only, which requires an affirmative vote of three-fourths of current members. Invitations are considered periodically, based in part on an assessment of the breadth and quality of university programs of research and graduate education, as well as undergraduate education. The association ranks its members using four criteria: research spending, the percentage of faculty who are members of the National Academies, faculty awards, and citations. Non-member universities whose research and education profile exceeds that of a number of current members may be invited to join the association; current members whose research and education profile falls significantly below that of other current members or below the criteria for admission of new members will be subject to further review and possible discontinuation of membership. A vote by two-thirds of the member institutions can revoke membership for poor rankings. As of 2022 annual dues are $139,500. All 69 U.S. members of the AAU are also classified as Highest Research Activity (R1) Universities by the Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education, as are three of the five former AAU members.

Current members

Institution State or province Control Established Year joined Total students Medical school
(LCME accredited)
Engineering program
(ABET accredited)
Land-Grant Institution
(NIFA)
Federally funded R&D exp.

(Dollars in thousands)

Arizona State University Arizona Public 1885 2023 80,065 Red XN Green tickY Red XN 274,541
Boston University Massachusetts Private 1839 2012 36,729 Green tickY Green tickY Red XN 402,443
Brandeis University Massachusetts Private 1948 1985 5,808 Red XN Red XN Red XN 52,147
Brown University Rhode Island Private 1764 1933 8,619 Green tickY Green tickY Red XN 198,574
California Institute of Technology California Private 1891 1934 2,231 Red XN Green tickY Red XN 293,197
Carnegie Mellon University Pennsylvania Private 1900 1982 12,908 Red XN Green tickY Red XN 234,993
Case Western Reserve University Ohio Private 1826 1969 12,201 Green tickY Green tickY Red XN 340,438
Columbia University New York Private 1754 1900 29,250 Green tickY Green tickY Red XN 831,648
Cornell University New York Private 1865 1900 21,904 Green tickY Green tickY Green tickY 592,359
Dartmouth College New Hampshire Private 1769 2019 6,571 Green tickY Green tickY Red XN 152,335
Duke University North Carolina Private 1838 1938 14,600 Green tickY Green tickY Red XN 776,632
Emory University Georgia Private 1836 1995 14,513 Green tickY Red XN Red XN 515,940
George Washington University District of Columbia Private 1821 2023 26,457 Green tickY Green tickY Red XN 161,349
Georgia Institute of Technology Georgia Public 1885 2010 29,370 Red XN Green tickY Red XN 852,319
Harvard University Massachusetts Private 1636 1900 21,000 Green tickY Green tickY Red XN 616,589
Indiana University Bloomington Indiana Public 1820 1909 42,731 Red XN Green tickY Red XN 326,326
Johns Hopkins University Maryland Private 1876 1900 23,073 Green tickY Green tickY Red XN 2,774,643
Massachusetts Institute of Technology Massachusetts Private 1861 1934 11,319 Red XN Green tickY Green tickY 483,526
McGill University Quebec Public 1821 1926 36,904 Green tickY Green tickY Red XN N/A
Michigan State University Michigan Public 1855 1964 50,023 Green tickY Green tickY Green tickY 349,889
New York University New York Private 1831 1950 53,711 Green tickY Green tickY Red XN 547,027
Northwestern University Illinois Private 1851 1917 21,208 Green tickY Green tickY Red XN 572,975
Ohio State University Ohio Public 1870 1916 57,466 Green tickY Green tickY Green tickY 559,797
Pennsylvania State University Pennsylvania Public 1855 1958 45,518 Green tickY Green tickY Green tickY 622,532
Princeton University New Jersey Private 1746 1900 8,010 Red XN Green tickY Red XN 205,000
Purdue University Indiana Public 1869 1958 39,256 Red XN Green tickY Green tickY 295,278
Rice University Texas Private 1912 1985 8,212 Red XN Green tickY Red XN 95,648
Rutgers University–New Brunswick New Jersey Public 1766 1989 41,565 Green tickY Green tickY Green tickY 339,015
Stanford University California Private 1891 1900 15,877 Green tickY Green tickY Red XN 811,183
Stony Brook University New York Public 1957 2001 26,814 Green tickY Green tickY Red XN 162,972
Texas A&M University Texas Public 1876 2001 72,982 Green tickY Green tickY Green tickY 528,057
Tufts University Massachusetts Private 1852 2021 11,024 Green tickY Green tickY Red XN 166,809
Tulane University Louisiana Private 1834 1958 13,462 Green tickY Green tickY Red XN 113,819
University at Buffalo New York Public 1846 1989 30,183 Green tickY Green tickY Red XN 210,257
University of Arizona Arizona Public 1885 1985 40,223 Green tickY Green tickY Green tickY 353,117
University of California, Berkeley California Public 1868 1900 36,204 Red XN Green tickY Green tickY 354,478
University of California, Davis California Public 1905 1996 34,175 Green tickY Green tickY Green tickY 373,719
University of California, Irvine California Public 1965 1996 29,588 Green tickY Green tickY Green tickY 255,010
University of California, Los Angeles California Public 1919 1974 42,163 Green tickY Green tickY Green tickY 721,043
University of California, Riverside California Public 1907 2023 26,809 Green tickY Green tickY Green tickY 97,182
University of California, San Diego California Public 1960 1982 30,310 Green tickY Green tickY Green tickY 801,117
University of California, Santa Barbara California Public 1944 1995 25,057 Red XN Green tickY Green tickY 122,168
University of California, Santa Cruz California Public 1965 2019 19,457 Red XN Green tickY Green tickY 86,263
University of Chicago Illinois Private 1890 1900 14,954 Green tickY Green tickY Red XN 394,275
University of Colorado Boulder Colorado Public 1876 1966 32,775 Green tickY Green tickY Red XN 459,816
University of Florida Florida Public 1853 1985 49,042 Green tickY Green tickY Green tickY 423,154
University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign Illinois Public 1867 1908 44,520 Green tickY Green tickY Green tickY 406,612
University of Iowa Iowa Public 1847 1909 31,065 Green tickY Green tickY Red XN 283,763
University of Kansas Kansas Public 1865 1909 27,983 Green tickY Green tickY Red XN 187,249
University of Maryland, College Park Maryland Public 1856 1969 37,631 Red XN Green tickY Green tickY 713,283
University of Miami Florida Private 1925 2023 19,402 Green tickY Green tickY Red XN 231,001
University of Michigan Michigan Public 1817 1900 43,426 Green tickY Green tickY Red XN 891,125
University of Minnesota, Twin Cities Minnesota Public 1851 1908 52,376 Green tickY Green tickY Green tickY 570,946
University of Missouri Missouri Public 1839 1908 35,441 Green tickY Green tickY Green tickY 163,576
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill North Carolina Public 1789 1922 29,390 Green tickY Red XN Red XN 747,895
University of Notre Dame Indiana Private 1842 2023 12,809 Red XN Green tickY Red XN 109,891
University of Oregon Oregon Public 1876 1969 22,980 Red XN Red XN Red XN 82,242
University of Pennsylvania Pennsylvania Private 1740 1900 24,630 Green tickY Green tickY Red XN 792,089
University of Pittsburgh Pennsylvania Public 1787 1974 28,649 Green tickY Green tickY Red XN 724,993
University of Rochester New York Private 1850 1941 10,290 Green tickY Green tickY Red XN 309,647
University of South Florida Florida Public 1956 2023 49,766 Green tickY Green tickY Red XN 185,364
University of Southern California California Private 1880 1969 48,500 Green tickY Green tickY Red XN 574,185
University of Texas at Austin Texas Public 1883 1929 51,000 Green tickY Green tickY Red XN 489,827
University of Toronto Ontario Public 1827 1926 84,000 Green tickY Green tickY Red XN N/A
University of Utah Utah Public 1850 2019 32,994 Green tickY Green tickY Red XN 340,434
University of Virginia Virginia Public 1819 1904 24,360 Green tickY Green tickY Red XN 297,273
University of Washington Washington Public 1861 1950 43,762 Green tickY Green tickY Red XN 1,046,377
University of Wisconsin–Madison Wisconsin Public 1848 1900 43,275 Green tickY Green tickY Green tickY 646,764
Vanderbilt University Tennessee Private 1873 1950 12,795 Green tickY Green tickY Red XN 586,880
Washington University in St. Louis Missouri Private 1853 1923 14,117 Green tickY Green tickY Red XN 606,127
Yale University Connecticut Private 1701 1900 13,609 Green tickY Green tickY Red XN 647,656

Former members

State or province Control Established Year joined Year left Total students
Catholic University of America Washington, D.C. Private 1887 1900 2002 5,771
Clark University Massachusetts Private 1887 1900 1999 3,498 (2019)
Iowa State University Iowa Public 1858 1958 2022 30,708 (2021)
Syracuse University New York Private 1870 1966 2011 21,322 (2020)
University of Nebraska–Lincoln Nebraska Public 1869 1909 2011 25,820 (Fall 2018)

Map of schools

Association of American Universities is located in the United States
South Florida
South Florida
Arizona State
Arizona State
UC Riverside
UC Riverside
George Washington
George Washington
Miami
Miami
Notre Dame
Notre Dame
Rice
Rice
Tulane
Tulane
Buffalo
Buffalo
Arizona
Arizona
UC Berkeley
UC Berkeley
UCLA
UCLA
Oregon
Oregon
USC
USC
Stanford
Stanford
Washington
Washington
Colorado
Colorado
Texas A&M
Texas A&M
Florida
Florida
Vanderbilt
Vanderbilt
Missouri
Missouri
Penn State
Penn State
Rutgers
Rutgers
Indiana
Indiana
Michigan
Michigan
Michigan State
Michigan State
Ohio State
Ohio State
Illinois
Illinois
Iowa
Iowa
Minnesota
Minnesota
Northwestern
Northwestern
Purdue
Purdue
Wisconsin
Wisconsin
Maryland
Maryland
Kansas
Kansas
Texas
Texas
Ga. Tech
Ga. Tech
Virginia
Virginia
UNC-Chapel Hill
UNC-Chapel Hill
Duke
Duke
Pitt
Pitt
Brown
Brown
Columbia
Columbia
Cornell
Cornell
Penn
Penn
Princeton
Princeton
Yale
Yale
Caltech
Caltech
UC Davis
UC Davis
UC Irvine
UC Irvine
UC San Diego
UC San Diego
UC Santa Barbara
UC Santa Barbara
UC Santa Cruz
UC Santa Cruz
Emory
Emory
U. of Chicago
U. of Chicago
Johns Hopkins
Johns Hopkins
Five schools*
Five schools*
Wash U.
Wash U.
NYU
NYU
Stony Brook
Stony Brook
Rochester
Rochester
Case Western
Case Western
Carnegie Mellon
Carnegie Mellon
Dartmouth
Dartmouth
Toronto
Toronto
McGill
McGill
Utah
Utah
A map of the AAU schools, with private schools marked blue and public schools marked red. Five private schools in Greater Boston are not labeled separately due to their close geographic proximity: Boston University, Brandeis, Harvard, MIT, and Tufts.

 

Advocacy

In 2014, the AAU supported the proposed Research and Development Efficiency Act arguing that the legislation "can lead to a long-needed reduction in the regulatory burden currently imposed on universities and their faculty members who conduct research on behalf of the federal government." According to the AAU, "too often federal requirements" for accounting for federal grant money "are ill-conceived, ineffective, and/or duplicative." This wastes the researchers' times and "reduces the time they can devote to discovery and innovation and increases institutional compliance costs."

Similar organizations in other countries

Similar organizations around the world include the Russell Group (United Kingdom), U15 (Germany), League of European Research Universities (Europe), BRICS Universities League (BRICS), Association of East Asian Research Universities (mainland China, Japan, South Korea, Hong Kong, and Taiwan), C9 League (China), Group of Eight (Australia), RU11 (Japan), and the U15 Group of Canadian Research Universities (Canada).

See also


This page was last updated at 2024-01-29 11:23 UTC. Update now. View original page.

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