Association of American Universities

The Association of American Universities (AAU) is a group of important research universities. It started in 1900 to help schools work together on research and teaching. Today, it has 69 universities in the United States, including both public and private schools. There are also 2 universities in Canada that belong to the AAU.

Only special schools can join the AAU. They must be invited, and then three-quarters of the schools already in the group must agree to let them join. This makes sure that only the best research universities are part of the AAU. The group works to make sure that research and education stay strong and helpful to everyone.

History

The Association of American Universities (AAU) began on February 28, 1900, with 14 universities in the United States. These schools wanted to make doctor-level studies stronger and more consistent across the country. They were inspired by universities in Germany, which focused more on research. By creating the AAU, they hoped to improve how American schools were seen and to keep students from having to go to Europe for advanced studies. The first leaders included Charles William Eliot from Harvard University and David Starr Jordan from Stanford University.

In 1914, the AAU began looking at undergraduate education too. Later, in the 1970s, it started working more actively to support its members, raising money and hiring more staff. By 2025, the AAU had grown to include 71 universities in the United States and Canada. Its main goal is to help create and apply policies that improve research and education at all levels, from undergraduate to professional studies.

Being part of the AAU is seen as a mark of prestige. Many university leaders aim to join the group because it shows the quality of their school. The AAU has an office in Washington, D.C., where it works on research funding and policies that affect universities. It holds meetings twice a year for university leaders to discuss important issues privately.

As of 2004, AAU members were responsible for most research grants and doctorates in the United States. Many Nobel Prize winners have been connected to AAU universities.

Membership

The Association of American Universities (AAU) has special rules for joining. A university can only join if invited, and then it needs a big majority—three out of every four current members—to agree. Universities get invited based on how good they are at research, teaching students at college, and helping students get ready for college life.

The AAU looks at a few things to decide if a school is good enough: how much money they spend on research, how many of their teachers are part of special groups for really smart people, awards teachers get, and how often their work gets noticed by other smart people citations. If a school is doing really well but isn’t a member yet, they might get asked to join. If a member isn’t doing as well as others, they might have to leave. Every two years, the group votes to decide if any members should leave because they aren’t doing well enough. In 2022, each member paid about $140,000 each year to be part of the group. All the schools in the United States that are members are also known for being very good at research.

Current members

Former members

Map of schools

!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. Chicago

U. 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 Association of American Universities spoke up for a bill named the Research and Development Efficiency Act. They thought this bill could help make rules easier for universities and researchers who work for the government. The AAU said some government rules about tracking money were confusing, not useful, or repeated too much. They felt these rules took time away from research and cost universities extra money.

Similar organizations in other countries

Many countries have groups like the Association of American Universities. In the United Kingdom, there is the Russell Group. In Germany, there is U15. In Europe, there is the League of European Research Universities. Other groups include the BRICS Universities League for countries in BRICS, the Association of East Asian Research Universities for mainland China, Japan, South Korea, Hong Kong, and Taiwan, the C9 League in China, the Group of Eight in Australia, RU11 in Japan, and the U15 Group of Canadian Research Universities in Canada.