
The Association of American Universities (AAU) is an organization of predominantly 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.
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Formation | February 28, 1900 |
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Founded at | Chicago, Illinois, U.S. |
Type | 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization |
Tax ID no. | 52-1945674 |
Headquarters | William T. Golden Center for Science and Engineering, Washington, D.C., U.S. |
Location |
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Coordinates | 38°54′01″N 77°01′42″W / 38.90028°N 77.02833°W |
Membership | 71 |
President | Barbara Snyder |
Chair | Robert J. Jones |
Website | www |
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 six newest members, added in 2023, are: Arizona State University; George Washington University; the University of California, Riverside; the University of Miami; the University of Notre Dame; and the University of South Florida. 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, D.C., 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[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
- Non professional master's degrees awarded: 106,971; 19 percent nationally
- Professional doctorate and masters degrees awarded: 20,859; 25 percent nationally
- Research 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 71 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 four of the five former AAU members.[citation needed]
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 | 309,094 | |||
Boston University | Massachusetts | Private | 1839 | 2012 | 36,729 | 413,102 | |||
Brandeis University | Massachusetts | Private | 1948 | 1985 | 5,808 | 44,205 | |||
Brown University | Rhode Island | Private | 1764 | 1933 | 8,619 | 215,067 | |||
California Institute of Technology | California | Private | 1891 | 1934 | 2,231 | 326,401 | |||
Carnegie Mellon University | Pennsylvania | Private | 1900 | 1982 | 12,908 | 259,160 | |||
Case Western Reserve University | Ohio | Private | 1826 | 1969 | 12,201 | 380,423 | |||
Columbia University | New York | Private | 1754 | 1900 | 29,250 | 904,346 | |||
Cornell University | New York | Private | 1865 | 1900 | 21,904 | 636,481 | |||
Dartmouth College | New Hampshire | Private | 1769 | 2019 | 6,571 | 155,445 | |||
Duke University | North Carolina | Private | 1838 | 1938 | 14,600 | 901,807 | |||
Emory University | Georgia | Private | 1836 | 1995 | 14,513 | 568,149 | |||
George Washington University | District of Columbia | Private | 1821 | 2023 | 26,457 | 161,867 | |||
Georgia Institute of Technology | Georgia | Public | 1885 | 2010 | 29,370 | 940,488 | |||
Harvard University | Massachusetts | Private | 1636 | 1900 | 21,000 | 628,683 | |||
Indiana University Bloomington | Indiana | Public | 1820 | 1909 | 42,731 | 360,300 | |||
Johns Hopkins University | Maryland | Private | 1876 | 1900 | 23,073 | 2,971,816 | |||
Massachusetts Institute of Technology | Massachusetts | Private | 1861 | 1934 | 11,319 | 531,056 | |||
McGill University | Quebec | Public | 1821 | 1926 | 36,904 | N/A | |||
Michigan State University | Michigan | Public | 1855 | 1964 | 51,316 | 381,504 | |||
New York University | New York | Private | 1831 | 1950 | 61,950 | 668,381 | |||
Northwestern University | Illinois | Private | 1851 | 1917 | 21,208 | 618,771 | |||
Ohio State University | Ohio | Public | 1870 | 1916 | 60,540 | 636,902 | |||
Pennsylvania State University | Pennsylvania | Quasi-public | 1855 | 1958 | 45,518 | 681,159 | |||
Princeton University | New Jersey | Private | 1746 | 1900 | 8,010 | 218,390 | |||
Purdue University | Indiana | Public | 1869 | 1958 | 52,211 | 352,890 | |||
Rice University | Texas | Private | 1912 | 1985 | 8,212 | 125,106 | |||
Rutgers University–New Brunswick | New Jersey | Public | 1766 | 1989 | 41,565 | 351,660 | |||
Stanford University | California | Private | 1891 | 1900 | 15,877 | 860,125 | |||
Stony Brook University | New York | Public | 1957 | 2001 | 26,814 | 184,154 | |||
Texas A&M University | Texas | Public | 1876 | 2001 | 77,491 | 505,355 | |||
Tufts University | Massachusetts | Private | 1852 | 2021 | 11,024 | 150,081 | |||
Tulane University | Louisiana | Private | 1834 | 1958 | 13,462 | 127,544 | |||
University at Buffalo | New York | Public | 1846 | 1989 | 30,183 | 218,231 | |||
University of Arizona | Arizona | Public | 1885 | 1985 | 40,223 | 374,936 | |||
University of California, Berkeley | California | Public | 1868 | 1900 | 36,204 | 468,542 | |||
University of California, Davis | California | Public | 1905 | 1996 | 34,175 | 468,468 | |||
University of California, Irvine | California | Public | 1965 | 1996 | 29,588 | 291,393 | |||
University of California, Los Angeles | California | Public | 1919 | 1974 | 42,163 | 848,138 | |||
University of California, Riverside | California | Public | 1954 | 2023 | 26,809 | 114,257 | |||
University of California, San Diego | California | Public | 1960 | 1982 | 30,310 | 970,696 | |||
University of California, Santa Barbara | California | Public | 1944 | 1995 | 25,057 | 161,241 | |||
University of California, Santa Cruz | California | Public | 1965 | 2019 | 19,457 | 107,082 | |||
University of Chicago | Illinois | Private | 1890 | 1900 | 14,954 | 456,806 | |||
University of Colorado Boulder | Colorado | Public | 1876 | 1966 | 32,775 | 507,892 | |||
University of Florida | Florida | Public | 1853 | 1985 | 55,781 | 467,739 | |||
University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign | Illinois | Public | 1867 | 1908 | 44,520 | 420,953 | |||
University of Iowa | Iowa | Public | 1847 | 1909 | 31,065 | 314,346 | |||
University of Kansas | Kansas | Public | 1865 | 1909 | 27,983 | 200,117 | |||
University of Maryland, College Park | Maryland | Public | 1856 | 1969 | 37,631 | 750,447 | |||
University of Miami | Florida | Private | 1925 | 2023 | 19,402 | 265,212 | |||
University of Michigan | Michigan | Public | 1817 | 1900 | 43,426 | 970,636 | |||
University of Minnesota, Twin Cities | Minnesota | Public | 1851 | 1908 | 52,376 | 652,384 | |||
University of Missouri | Missouri | Public | 1839 | 1908 | 35,441 | 182,432 | |||
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill | North Carolina | Public | 1789 | 1922 | 29,390 | 827,158 | |||
University of Notre Dame | Indiana | Private | 1842 | 2023 | 12,809 | 124,411 | |||
University of Oregon | Oregon | Public | 1876 | 1969 | 22,980 | 97,238 | |||
University of Pennsylvania | Pennsylvania | Private | 1740 | 1900 | 24,630 | 873,318 | |||
University of Pittsburgh | Pennsylvania | Quasi-public | 1787 | 1974 | 28,649 | 814,647 | |||
University of Rochester | New York | Private | 1850 | 1941 | 10,290 | 334,503 | |||
University of South Florida | Florida | Public | 1956 | 2023 | 49,766 | 206,552 | |||
University of Southern California | California | Private | 1880 | 1969 | 48,500 | 601,747 | |||
University of Texas at Austin | Texas | Public | 1883 | 1929 | 51,913 | 536,296 | |||
University of Toronto | Ontario | Public | 1827 | 1926 | 97,678 | N/A | |||
University of Utah | Utah | Public | 1850 | 2019 | 32,994 | 367,040 | |||
University of Virginia | Virginia | Public | 1819 | 1904 | 24,360 | 332,993 | |||
University of Washington | Washington | Public | 1861 | 1950 | 43,762 | 1,083,090 | |||
University of Wisconsin–Madison | Wisconsin | Public | 1848 | 1900 | 43,275 | 740,854 | |||
Vanderbilt University | Tennessee | Private | 1873 | 1950 | 12,795 | 666,282 | |||
Washington University in St. Louis | Missouri | Private | 1853 | 1923 | 14,117 | 681,353 | |||
Yale University | Connecticut | Private | 1701 | 1900 | 13,609 | 689,270 |
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
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).[citation needed]
See also
- List of higher education associations and alliances
- List of research universities in the United States
Notes
- The Association of American Universities was founded by the University of California, the University of Chicago, Catholic University of America, Clark University, Columbia University, Cornell University, Harvard University, Johns Hopkins University, the University of Michigan, Princeton University, the University of Pennsylvania, Stanford University, the University of Wisconsin, and Yale University, all of which were its first members.
- Over $15.9 billion: NIH: $9.1 billion, 60 percent of total academic research funding. Research Funding: National Science Foundation: $2.0 billion, 63 percent of total academic research funding Department of Defense: $1.2 billion, 56 percent of total academic research funding Department of Energy: $505.2 million, 63 percent of total academic research funding NASA: $673.2 million, 57 percent of total academic research funding Department of Agriculture: $271.9 million, 41 percent of total academic research funding.
- Although Emory shares a joint engineering department with Georgia Tech, the program is accredited through Georgia Tech.
- While the funding numbers of the Indiana University School of Medicine are reported through IUB, IUSM is accredited through its main campus at Indiana University Indianapolis
- USDA has confirmed that MIT is eligible to apply for grants that are available only to land-grant institutions, the State of Massachusetts chooses to allocate its federal capacity appropriations to the University of Massachusetts, Amherst.
- As members of the Commonwealth System of Higher Education, Penn State and Pittsburgh are privately governed but receive funding from the Pennsylvania state government.
- The University of California, Berkeley is closely tied with the LCME-accredited University of California, San Francisco, which only provides graduate-level courses. The two universities share a joint program.
- The University of Colorado School of Medicine, a LCME accredited school of medicine, is affiliated with the University of Colorado Boulder.
- UNC Chapel Hill offers an ABET accredited Biomedical Engineering degree jointly with North Carolina State University. The engineering courses are offered through the NC State College of Engineering, while the medical courses are offered through UNC Chapel Hill.
- Departed as a result of "institutional emphases and energies" that differed from the other AAU members.
- Departed because of a shift in the AAU's emphasis to large research universities.
- Iowa State departed claiming that AAU's internal ranking indicators unfairly favor institutions with high levels of NIH funding and noted that its strength is not in biomedical research because the school does not have a medical school.
- Because of a dispute over how to count nonfederal grants, Syracuse voluntarily withdrew from the AAU in 2011. The Chronicle of Higher Education reported that after "it became clear that Syracuse wouldn't meet the association's revised membership criteria, university officials decided that they would leave the organization voluntarily, rather than face a vote like Nebraska's, and notified the leadership of their intentions."
- Removed from the AAU. Chancellor Harvey Perlman said that the lack of an on-campus medical school (the Medical Center is a separate campus of the University of Nebraska system) and the AAU's disregarding of USDA-funded agricultural research in its metrics hurt the university's performance in the association's internal ranking system. In 2010 Perlman stated that had Nebraska not been part of the AAU, the Big Ten Conference would likely not have invited it to become the athletic conference's 12th member.
References
- "Colleges Will Co-operate: Organization of the Association of American Universities". The Washington Post. March 1, 1900. p. 2.
- "Association Of American Colleges And Universities. Archived December 21, 2018, at the Wayback Machine". Tax Exempt Organization Search. Internal Revenue Service. December 20, 2018.
- "Case Western President Named Head of AAU". Inside Higher Ed. Archived from the original on February 19, 2020. Retrieved February 19, 2020.
- "AAU Elects University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign Chancellor Robert J. Jones as Next Chair". Association of American Universities. Archived from the original on March 1, 2024. Retrieved June 12, 2024.
- "Editorial: Association of American Universities". Educational Review. 19: 404–405. April 1900. Archived from the original on May 11, 2022. Retrieved November 5, 2021.
- "For Uniform Requirements: Universities Will Fix Standard For Higher Degrees". The Baltimore Sun;. March 1, 1900. p. 2.
- "The Association of American Universities: A Century of Service to Higher Education 1900–2000". Association of American Universities. Archived from the original on March 8, 2018. Retrieved February 25, 2018.
- Rosenzweig, Robert M. (2001). The Political University: Policy, Politics, and Presidential Leadership in the American Research University. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. p. 20. ISBN 9780801868191. Archived from the original on July 13, 2021. Retrieved August 4, 2020.
- Rosenzweig, Robert M. (2001). The Political University: Policy, Politics, and Presidential Leadership in the American Research University. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. p. 21. ISBN 9780801868191. Archived from the original on May 11, 2022. Retrieved August 4, 2020.
- "Membership Policy | Association of American Universities (AAU)". www.aau.edu. Retrieved January 16, 2025.
- Fain, Paul (April 21, 2010). "As AAU Admits Georgia Tech to Its Exclusive Club, Other Universities Await the Call". Chronicle of Higher Education. Archived from the original on June 11, 2011. Retrieved April 29, 2011.
- Hine, Chris (June 13, 2010). "Nebraska has it all to attract Big Ten, most importantly AAU membership". Chicago Tribune. Archived from the original on September 6, 2011. Retrieved April 29, 2011.
- UMass Amherst: Kumble R. Subbaswamy – Feature Story Archived July 11, 2012, at the Wayback Machine. Umass.edu (May 13, 2012). Retrieved on 2013-07-15.
- AAU Facts and Figures Archived September 12, 2008, at the Wayback Machine. Accessed August 24, 2008.
- "Membership Policy | Association of American Universities (AAU)". Archived from the original on March 16, 2022. Retrieved March 15, 2022.
- Abourezk, Kevin (April 29, 2011). "Research universities group ends UNL's membership". Lincoln Journal Star. Archived from the original on May 3, 2011. Retrieved April 29, 2011.
- Selingo, Jeffrey J. (April 29, 2011). "U. of Nebraska-Lincoln Is Voted Out of Assn. of American Universities". Chronicle of Higher Education. Archived from the original on May 2, 2011. Retrieved April 29, 2011.
- "ISU ends membership with prestigious Association of American Universities". thegazette.com. Retrieved April 12, 2023.
- "Our Members". Associate of American Universities.
- "Accredited MD Programs in the United States". LCME. Liaison Committee on Medical Education. Archived from the original on May 16, 2018. Retrieved May 18, 2018.
- "AAU Peer Institutions". Data Analytics. August 10, 2016. Archived from the original on May 14, 2018. Retrieved May 14, 2018.
- "ABET ACCREDITED PROGRAM SEARCH". ABET. Archived from the original on May 17, 2018. Retrieved May 17, 2018.
- "Land-Grant Colleges and Universities". National Institute of Food and Agriculture.
- "Higher Education Research and Development (HERD) Survey". National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics.
- "Dartmouth Joins the Association of American Universities | Dartmouth News". news.dartmouth.edu. November 6, 2019. Archived from the original on November 7, 2019. Retrieved November 7, 2019.
- "Accreditation and Assessment". Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering Georgia Institute of Technology & Emory University School of Medicine. Archived from the original on May 17, 2018. Retrieved May 17, 2018.
- Keag, Kelsey (September 15, 2022). "Luddy's B.S. in Intelligent Systems Engineering program achieves ABET accreditation". Retrieved December 26, 2023.
- "The U.S. Land-Grant University System: Overview and Role in Agricultural Research" (PDF). The U.S. Land-Grant University System: Overview and Role in Agricultural Research Congressional Research Service. Retrieved December 7, 2022.
- "Accredited U.S. Programs". LCME. Retrieved March 16, 2023.
- Hernandez-Jason, Scott (November 6, 2019). "Radical excellence: UC Santa Cruz joins Association of American Universities". UC Santa Cruz. Archived from the original on November 6, 2019. Retrieved November 6, 2019.
- "Accredited U.S. Programs". LCME. Retrieved March 16, 2023.
- "Joint Department of Biomedical Engineering". Joint Department of Biomedical Engineering. Joint Department of Biomedical Engineering @ UNC & NC State. Archived from the original on May 17, 2018. Retrieved May 17, 2018.
- "The U invited to join the Association of American Universities | @theU". Archived from the original on November 7, 2019. Retrieved November 7, 2019.
- "Three Leading Research Universities Join the Association of American Universities (AAU)". Archived from the original on April 29, 2020. Retrieved November 7, 2019.
- O'Connell, The Most Rev. David M. (2002). "From the President's Desk". The Catholic University of America. Archived from the original on June 1, 2013. Retrieved August 25, 2013.
- Peter Schmidt, "Clark U. Leaves Association of American Universities; Others May Follow" (September 10, 1999). Chronicle of Higher Education.
- "Iowa State concludes its AAU membership". Iowa State University (Press release). Archived from the original on April 21, 2022. Retrieved October 8, 2013.
- Jaschik, Scott (April 22, 2022). "Iowa State announces its departure from AAU". Inside Higher Ed. Retrieved May 15, 2022.
- Selingo, Jeffrey J. (May 2, 2011). "Facing an Ouster From an Elite Group of Universities, Syracuse U. Says It Will Withdraw". Chronicle of Higher Education. Archived from the original on May 4, 2011. Retrieved May 3, 2011.
- Lewin, Tamar (May 3, 2011). "American Universities Group Votes to Expel Nebraska". The New York Times. Retrieved May 15, 2022.
- "AAU Statement on the Research and Development Efficiency Act". Association of American Universities. July 14, 2014. Archived from the original on July 25, 2014. Retrieved July 17, 2014.
External links
- Official website
The Association of American Universities AAU is an organization of predominantly 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 Association of American UniversitiesFormationFebruary 28 1900 124 years ago 1900 02 28 Founded atChicago Illinois U S Type501 c 3 nonprofit organizationTax ID no 52 1945674HeadquartersWilliam T Golden Center for Science and Engineering Washington D C U S LocationUnited StatesCanadaCoordinates38 54 01 N 77 01 42 W 38 90028 N 77 02833 W 38 90028 77 02833Membership71PresidentBarbara SnyderChairRobert J JonesWebsitewww wbr aau wbr eduOrganizationThe 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 six newest members added in 2023 are Arizona State University George Washington University the University of California Riverside the University of Miami the University of Notre Dame and the University of South Florida 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 D C 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 TermThomas A Bartlett 1977 1982Robert M Rosenzweig 1983 1993Cornelius J Pings 1993 1998Nils Hasselmo 1998 2006Robert M Berdahl 2006 2011Hunter R Rawlings III 2011 2016Mary Sue Coleman 2016 2020Barbara Snyder 2020 presentStatistics 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 Non professional master s degrees awarded 106 971 19 percent nationally Professional doctorate and masters degrees awarded 20 859 25 percent nationally Research 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 000MembershipAAU 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 71 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 four of the five former AAU members citation needed 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 amp D exp Dollars in thousands Arizona State University Arizona Public 1885 2023 144 800 N Y N 309 094Boston University Massachusetts Private 1839 2012 36 729 Y Y N 413 102Brandeis University Massachusetts Private 1948 1985 5 808 N N N 44 205Brown University Rhode Island Private 1764 1933 8 619 Y Y N 215 067California Institute of Technology California Private 1891 1934 2 231 N Y N 326 401Carnegie Mellon University Pennsylvania Private 1900 1982 12 908 N Y N 259 160Case Western Reserve University Ohio Private 1826 1969 12 201 Y Y N 380 423Columbia University New York Private 1754 1900 29 250 Y Y N 904 346Cornell University New York Private 1865 1900 21 904 Y Y Y 636 481Dartmouth College New Hampshire Private 1769 2019 6 571 Y Y N 155 445Duke University North Carolina Private 1838 1938 14 600 Y Y N 901 807Emory University Georgia Private 1836 1995 14 513 Y N N 568 149George Washington University District of Columbia Private 1821 2023 26 457 Y Y N 161 867Georgia Institute of Technology Georgia Public 1885 2010 29 370 N Y N 940 488Harvard University Massachusetts Private 1636 1900 21 000 Y Y N 628 683Indiana University Bloomington Indiana Public 1820 1909 42 731 N Y N 360 300Johns Hopkins University Maryland Private 1876 1900 23 073 Y Y N 2 971 816Massachusetts Institute of Technology Massachusetts Private 1861 1934 11 319 N Y Y 531 056McGill University Quebec Public 1821 1926 36 904 Y Y N N AMichigan State University Michigan Public 1855 1964 51 316 Y Y Y 381 504New York University New York Private 1831 1950 61 950 Y Y N 668 381Northwestern University Illinois Private 1851 1917 21 208 Y Y N 618 771Ohio State University Ohio Public 1870 1916 60 540 Y Y Y 636 902Pennsylvania State University Pennsylvania Quasi public 1855 1958 45 518 Y Y Y 681 159Princeton University New Jersey Private 1746 1900 8 010 N Y N 218 390Purdue University Indiana Public 1869 1958 52 211 N Y Y 352 890Rice University Texas Private 1912 1985 8 212 N Y N 125 106Rutgers University New Brunswick New Jersey Public 1766 1989 41 565 Y Y Y 351 660Stanford University California Private 1891 1900 15 877 Y Y N 860 125Stony Brook University New York Public 1957 2001 26 814 Y Y N 184 154Texas A amp M University Texas Public 1876 2001 77 491 Y Y Y 505 355Tufts University Massachusetts Private 1852 2021 11 024 Y Y N 150 081Tulane University Louisiana Private 1834 1958 13 462 Y Y N 127 544University at Buffalo New York Public 1846 1989 30 183 Y Y N 218 231University of Arizona Arizona Public 1885 1985 40 223 Y Y Y 374 936University of California Berkeley California Public 1868 1900 36 204 N Y Y 468 542University of California Davis California Public 1905 1996 34 175 Y Y Y 468 468University of California Irvine California Public 1965 1996 29 588 Y Y Y 291 393University of California Los Angeles California Public 1919 1974 42 163 Y Y Y 848 138University of California Riverside California Public 1954 2023 26 809 Y Y Y 114 257University of California San Diego California Public 1960 1982 30 310 Y Y Y 970 696University of California Santa Barbara California Public 1944 1995 25 057 N Y Y 161 241University of California Santa Cruz California Public 1965 2019 19 457 N Y Y 107 082University of Chicago Illinois Private 1890 1900 14 954 Y Y N 456 806University of Colorado Boulder Colorado Public 1876 1966 32 775 Y Y N 507 892University of Florida Florida Public 1853 1985 55 781 Y Y Y 467 739University of Illinois Urbana Champaign Illinois Public 1867 1908 44 520 Y Y Y 420 953University of Iowa Iowa Public 1847 1909 31 065 Y Y N 314 346University of Kansas Kansas Public 1865 1909 27 983 Y Y N 200 117University of Maryland College Park Maryland Public 1856 1969 37 631 N Y Y 750 447University of Miami Florida Private 1925 2023 19 402 Y Y N 265 212University of Michigan Michigan Public 1817 1900 43 426 Y Y N 970 636University of Minnesota Twin Cities Minnesota Public 1851 1908 52 376 Y Y Y 652 384University of Missouri Missouri Public 1839 1908 35 441 Y Y Y 182 432University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill North Carolina Public 1789 1922 29 390 Y N N 827 158University of Notre Dame Indiana Private 1842 2023 12 809 N Y N 124 411University of Oregon Oregon Public 1876 1969 22 980 N N N 97 238University of Pennsylvania Pennsylvania Private 1740 1900 24 630 Y Y N 873 318University of Pittsburgh Pennsylvania Quasi public 1787 1974 28 649 Y Y N 814 647University of Rochester New York Private 1850 1941 10 290 Y Y N 334 503University of South Florida Florida Public 1956 2023 49 766 Y Y N 206 552University of Southern California California Private 1880 1969 48 500 Y Y N 601 747University of Texas at Austin Texas Public 1883 1929 51 913 Y Y N 536 296University of Toronto Ontario Public 1827 1926 97 678 Y Y N N AUniversity of Utah Utah Public 1850 2019 32 994 Y Y N 367 040University of Virginia Virginia Public 1819 1904 24 360 Y Y N 332 993University of Washington Washington Public 1861 1950 43 762 Y Y N 1 083 090University of Wisconsin Madison Wisconsin Public 1848 1900 43 275 Y Y Y 740 854Vanderbilt University Tennessee Private 1873 1950 12 795 Y Y N 666 282Washington University in St Louis Missouri Private 1853 1923 14 117 Y Y N 681 353Yale University Connecticut Private 1701 1900 13 609 Y Y N 689 270Former members State or province Control Established Year joined Year left Total studentsCatholic University of America Washington D C Private 1887 1900 2002 5 771Clark 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 South FloridaArizona StateUC RiversideGeorge WashingtonMiamiNotre DameRiceTulaneBuffaloArizonaUC BerkeleyUCLAOregonUSCStanfordWashingtonColoradoTexas A amp MFloridaVanderbiltMissouriPenn StateRutgersIndianaMichiganMichigan StateOhio StateIllinoisIowaMinnesotaNorthwesternPurdueWisconsinMarylandKansasTexasGa TechVirginiaUNC Chapel HillDukePittBrownColumbiaCornellPennPrincetonYaleCaltechUC DavisUC IrvineUC San DiegoUC Santa BarbaraUC Santa CruzEmoryU ChicagoJohns HopkinsFive schools Wash U NYUStony BrookRochesterCase WesternCarnegie MellonDartmouthTorontoMcGillUtahclass notpageimage 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 AdvocacyIn 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 countriesSimilar 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 citation needed See alsoList of higher education associations and alliances List of research universities in the United StatesNotesThe Association of American Universities was founded by the University of California the University of Chicago Catholic University of America Clark University Columbia University Cornell University Harvard University Johns Hopkins University the University of Michigan Princeton University the University of Pennsylvania Stanford University the University of Wisconsin and Yale University all of which were its first members Over 15 9 billion NIH 9 1 billion 60 percent of total academic research funding Research Funding National Science Foundation 2 0 billion 63 percent of total academic research funding Department of Defense 1 2 billion 56 percent of total academic research funding Department of Energy 505 2 million 63 percent of total academic research funding NASA 673 2 million 57 percent of total academic research funding Department of Agriculture 271 9 million 41 percent of total academic research funding Although Emory shares a joint engineering department with Georgia Tech the program is accredited through Georgia Tech While the funding numbers of the Indiana University School of Medicine are reported through IUB IUSM is accredited through its main campus at Indiana University Indianapolis USDA has confirmed that MIT is eligible to apply for grants that are available only to land grant institutions the State of Massachusetts chooses to allocate its federal capacity appropriations to the University of Massachusetts Amherst As members of the Commonwealth System of Higher Education Penn State and Pittsburgh are privately governed but receive funding from the Pennsylvania state government The University of California Berkeley is closely tied with the LCME accredited University of California San Francisco which only provides graduate level courses The two universities share a joint program The University of Colorado School of Medicine a LCME accredited school of medicine is affiliated with the University of Colorado Boulder UNC Chapel Hill offers an ABET accredited Biomedical Engineering degree jointly with North Carolina State University The engineering courses are offered through the NC State College of Engineering while the medical courses are offered through UNC Chapel Hill Departed as a result of institutional emphases and energies that differed from the other AAU members Departed because of a shift in the AAU s emphasis to large research universities Iowa State departed claiming that AAU s internal ranking indicators unfairly favor institutions with high levels of NIH funding and noted that its strength is not in biomedical research because the school does not have a medical school Because of a dispute over how to count nonfederal grants Syracuse voluntarily withdrew from the AAU in 2011 The Chronicle of Higher Education reported that after it became clear that Syracuse wouldn t meet the association s revised membership criteria university officials decided that they would leave the organization voluntarily rather than face a vote like Nebraska s and notified the leadership of their intentions Removed from the AAU Chancellor Harvey Perlman said that the lack of an on campus medical school the Medical Center is a separate campus of the University of Nebraska system and the AAU s disregarding of USDA funded agricultural research in its metrics hurt the university s performance in the association s internal ranking system In 2010 Perlman stated that had Nebraska not been part of the AAU the Big Ten Conference would likely not have invited it to become the athletic conference s 12th member References Colleges Will Co operate Organization of the Association of American Universities The Washington Post March 1 1900 p 2 Association Of American Colleges And Universities Archived December 21 2018 at the Wayback Machine Tax Exempt Organization Search Internal Revenue Service December 20 2018 Case Western President Named Head of AAU Inside Higher Ed Archived from the original on February 19 2020 Retrieved February 19 2020 AAU Elects University of Illinois Urbana Champaign Chancellor Robert J Jones as Next Chair Association of American Universities Archived from the original on March 1 2024 Retrieved June 12 2024 Editorial Association of American Universities Educational Review 19 404 405 April 1900 Archived from the original on May 11 2022 Retrieved November 5 2021 For Uniform Requirements Universities Will Fix Standard For Higher Degrees The Baltimore Sun March 1 1900 p 2 The Association of American Universities A Century of Service to Higher Education 1900 2000 Association of American Universities Archived from the original on March 8 2018 Retrieved February 25 2018 Rosenzweig Robert M 2001 The Political University Policy Politics and Presidential Leadership in the American Research University Baltimore Johns Hopkins University Press p 20 ISBN 9780801868191 Archived from the original on July 13 2021 Retrieved August 4 2020 Rosenzweig Robert M 2001 The Political University Policy Politics and Presidential Leadership in the American Research University Baltimore Johns Hopkins University Press p 21 ISBN 9780801868191 Archived from the original on May 11 2022 Retrieved August 4 2020 Membership Policy Association of American Universities AAU www aau edu Retrieved January 16 2025 Fain Paul April 21 2010 As AAU Admits Georgia Tech to Its Exclusive Club Other Universities Await the Call Chronicle of Higher Education Archived from the original on June 11 2011 Retrieved April 29 2011 Hine Chris June 13 2010 Nebraska has it all to attract Big Ten most importantly AAU membership Chicago Tribune Archived from the original on September 6 2011 Retrieved April 29 2011 UMass Amherst Kumble R Subbaswamy Feature Story Archived July 11 2012 at the Wayback Machine Umass edu May 13 2012 Retrieved on 2013 07 15 AAU Facts and Figures Archived September 12 2008 at the Wayback Machine Accessed August 24 2008 Membership Policy Association of American Universities AAU Archived from the original on March 16 2022 Retrieved March 15 2022 Abourezk Kevin April 29 2011 Research universities group ends UNL s membership Lincoln Journal Star Archived from the original on May 3 2011 Retrieved April 29 2011 Selingo Jeffrey J April 29 2011 U of Nebraska Lincoln Is Voted Out of Assn of American Universities Chronicle of Higher Education Archived from the original on May 2 2011 Retrieved April 29 2011 ISU ends membership with prestigious Association of American Universities thegazette com Retrieved April 12 2023 Our Members Associate of American Universities Accredited MD Programs in the United States LCME Liaison Committee on Medical Education Archived from the original on May 16 2018 Retrieved May 18 2018 AAU Peer Institutions Data Analytics August 10 2016 Archived from the original on May 14 2018 Retrieved May 14 2018 ABET ACCREDITED PROGRAM SEARCH ABET Archived from the original on May 17 2018 Retrieved May 17 2018 Land Grant Colleges and Universities National Institute of Food and Agriculture Higher Education Research and Development HERD Survey National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics Dartmouth Joins the Association of American Universities Dartmouth News news dartmouth edu November 6 2019 Archived from the original on November 7 2019 Retrieved November 7 2019 Accreditation and Assessment Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering Georgia Institute of Technology amp Emory University School of Medicine Archived from the original on May 17 2018 Retrieved May 17 2018 Keag Kelsey September 15 2022 Luddy s B S in Intelligent Systems Engineering program achieves ABET accreditation Retrieved December 26 2023 The U S Land Grant University System Overview and Role in Agricultural Research PDF The U S Land Grant University System Overview and Role in Agricultural Research Congressional Research Service Retrieved December 7 2022 Accredited U S Programs LCME Retrieved March 16 2023 Hernandez Jason Scott November 6 2019 Radical excellence UC Santa Cruz joins Association of American Universities UC Santa Cruz Archived from the original on November 6 2019 Retrieved November 6 2019 Accredited U S Programs LCME Retrieved March 16 2023 Joint Department of Biomedical Engineering Joint Department of Biomedical Engineering Joint Department of Biomedical Engineering UNC amp NC State Archived from the original on May 17 2018 Retrieved May 17 2018 The U invited to join the Association of American Universities theU Archived from the original on November 7 2019 Retrieved November 7 2019 Three Leading Research Universities Join the Association of American Universities AAU Archived from the original on April 29 2020 Retrieved November 7 2019 O Connell The Most Rev David M 2002 From the President s Desk The Catholic University of America Archived from the original on June 1 2013 Retrieved August 25 2013 Peter Schmidt Clark U Leaves Association of American Universities Others May Follow September 10 1999 Chronicle of Higher Education Iowa State concludes its AAU membership Iowa State University Press release Archived from the original on April 21 2022 Retrieved October 8 2013 Jaschik Scott April 22 2022 Iowa State announces its departure from AAU Inside Higher Ed Retrieved May 15 2022 Selingo Jeffrey J May 2 2011 Facing an Ouster From an Elite Group of Universities Syracuse U Says It Will Withdraw Chronicle of Higher Education Archived from the original on May 4 2011 Retrieved May 3 2011 Lewin Tamar May 3 2011 American Universities Group Votes to Expel Nebraska The New York Times Retrieved May 15 2022 AAU Statement on the Research and Development Efficiency Act Association of American Universities July 14 2014 Archived from the original on July 25 2014 Retrieved July 17 2014 External linksOfficial website