Association of American Universities facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
Association of American Universities

Formation	February 28, 1900; 125 years ago (1900-02-28)
Founded at	Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
Type	501(c)(3) nonprofit organization
Headquarters	William T. Golden Center for Science and Engineering, Washington, D.C., U.S.
Location	United States Canada
Membership	71
President	Barbara Snyder
Chair	Carol Folt

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 public and private universities in the United States as well as 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

Statistics

As of 2004^[update], 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^[update] 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	144,800		Y		309,094
Boston University	Massachusetts	Private	1839	2012	36,729	Y	Y		413,102
Brandeis University	Massachusetts	Private	1948	1985	5,808				44,205
Brown University	Rhode Island	Private	1764	1933	8,619	Y	Y		215,067
California Institute of Technology	California	Private	1891	1934	2,231		Y		326,401
Carnegie Mellon University	Pennsylvania	Private	1900	1982	12,908		Y		259,160
Case Western Reserve University	Ohio	Private	1826	1969	12,201	Y	Y		380,423
Columbia University	New York	Private	1754	1900	29,250	Y	Y		904,346
Cornell University	New York	Private	1865	1900	21,904	Y	Y	Y	636,481
Dartmouth College	New Hampshire	Private	1769	2019	6,571	Y	Y		155,445
Duke University	North Carolina	Private	1838	1938	14,600	Y	Y		901,807
Emory University	Georgia	Private	1836	1995	14,513	Y			568,149
George Washington University	District of Columbia	Private	1821	2023	26,457	Y	Y		161,867
Georgia Institute of Technology	Georgia	Public	1885	2010	29,370		Y		940,488
Harvard University	Massachusetts	Private	1636	1900	21,000	Y	Y		628,683
Indiana University Bloomington	Indiana	Public	1820	1909	42,731		Y		360,300
Johns Hopkins University	Maryland	Private	1876	1900	23,073	Y	Y		2,971,816
Massachusetts Institute of Technology	Massachusetts	Private	1861	1934	11,319		Y	Y	531,056
McGill University	Quebec	Public	1821	1926	36,904	Y	Y		N/A
Michigan State University	Michigan	Public	1855	1964	51,316	Y	Y	Y	381,504
New York University	New York	Private	1831	1950	61,950	Y	Y		668,381
Northwestern University	Illinois	Private	1851	1917	21,208	Y	Y		618,771
Ohio State University	Ohio	Public	1870	1916	60,540	Y	Y	Y	636,902
Pennsylvania State University	Pennsylvania	Quasi-public	1855	1958	45,518	Y	Y	Y	681,159
Princeton University	New Jersey	Private	1746	1900	8,010		Y		218,390
Purdue University	Indiana	Public	1869	1958	52,211		Y	Y	352,890
Rice University	Texas	Private	1912	1985	8,212		Y		105,345
Rutgers University–New Brunswick	New Jersey	Public	1766	1989	41,565	Y	Y	Y	351,660
Stanford University	California	Private	1891	1900	15,877	Y	Y		860,125
Stony Brook University	New York	Public	1957	2001	26,814	Y	Y		184,154
Texas A&M University	Texas	Public	1876	2001	77,491	Y	Y	Y	505,355
Tufts University	Massachusetts	Private	1852	2021	11,024	Y	Y		150,081
Tulane University	Louisiana	Private	1834	1958	13,462	Y	Y		127,544
University at Buffalo	New York	Public	1846	1989	30,183	Y	Y		218,231
University of Arizona	Arizona	Public	1885	1985	40,223	Y	Y	Y	374,936
University of California, Berkeley	California	Public	1868	1900	36,204		Y	Y	468,542
University of California, Davis	California	Public	1905	1996	34,175	Y	Y	Y	468,468
University of California, Irvine	California	Public	1965	1996	29,588	Y	Y	Y	291,393
University of California, Los Angeles	California	Public	1919	1974	42,163	Y	Y	Y	848,138
University of California, Riverside	California	Public	1907	2023	26,809	Y	Y	Y	114,257
University of California, San Diego	California	Public	1960	1982	30,310	Y	Y	Y	970,696
University of California, Santa Barbara	California	Public	1944	1995	25,057		Y	Y	161,241
University of California, Santa Cruz	California	Public	1965	2019	19,457		Y	Y	107,082
University of Chicago	Illinois	Private	1890	1900	14,954	Y	Y		456,806
University of Colorado Boulder	Colorado	Public	1876	1966	32,775	Y	Y		507,892
University of Florida	Florida	Public	1853	1985	55,781	Y	Y	Y	467,739
University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign	Illinois	Public	1867	1908	44,520	Y	Y	Y	420,953
University of Iowa	Iowa	Public	1847	1909	31,065	Y	Y		314,346
University of Kansas	Kansas	Public	1865	1909	27,983	Y	Y		200,117
University of Maryland, College Park	Maryland	Public	1856	1969	37,631		Y	Y	750,447
University of Miami	Florida	Private	1925	2023	19,402	Y	Y		265,212
University of Michigan	Michigan	Public	1817	1900	43,426	Y	Y		970,636
University of Minnesota, Twin Cities	Minnesota	Public	1851	1908	52,376	Y	Y	Y	652,384
University of Missouri	Missouri	Public	1839	1908	35,441	Y	Y	Y	182,432
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill	North Carolina	Public	1789	1922	29,390	Y			827,158
University of Notre Dame	Indiana	Private	1842	2023	12,809		Y		124,411
University of Oregon	Oregon	Public	1876	1969	22,980				97,238
University of Pennsylvania	Pennsylvania	Private	1740	1900	24,630	Y	Y		873,318
University of Pittsburgh	Pennsylvania	Quasi-public	1787	1974	28,649	Y	Y		814,647
University of Rochester	New York	Private	1850	1941	10,290	Y	Y		334,503
University of South Florida	Florida	Public	1956	2023	49,766	Y	Y		206,552
University of Southern California	California	Private	1880	1969	48,500	Y	Y		601,747
University of Texas at Austin	Texas	Public	1883	1929	51,913	Y	Y		536,296
University of Toronto	Ontario	Public	1827	1926	97,678	Y	Y		N/A
University of Utah	Utah	Public	1850	2019	32,994	Y	Y		367,040
University of Virginia	Virginia	Public	1819	1904	24,360	Y	Y		332,993
University of Washington	Washington	Public	1861	1950	43,762	Y	Y		1,083,090
University of Wisconsin–Madison	Wisconsin	Public	1848	1900	43,275	Y	Y	Y	740,854
Vanderbilt University	Tennessee	Private	1873	1950	12,795	Y	Y		666,282
Washington University in St. Louis	Missouri	Private	1853	1923	14,117	Y	Y		681,353
Yale University	Connecticut	Private	1701	1900	13,609	Y	Y		689,270

Former members

Map of schools

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

• List of higher education associations and alliances
• List of research universities in the United States