America's Leading Research Universities: The Official AAU Member List

List produced by the Facts

* Green "Yes, connect me!" buttons indicate a featured school

Arizona State University—Tempe (Tempe, AZ): 2023
Boston University (Boston, MA): 2012

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Brandeis University (Waltham, MA): 1985
Brown University (Providence, RI): 1933

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California Institute of Technology (Pasadena, CA): 1934
Carnegie Mellon University (Pittsburgh, PA): 1982
Case Western Reserve University (Cleveland, OH): 1969

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Columbia University (New York, NY): 1900

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Cornell University (Ithaca, NY): 1900
Duke University (Durham, NC): 1938

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Emory University (Atlanta, GA): 1995
Georgia Institute of Technology (Atlanta, GA): 2010
Harvard University (Cambridge, MA): 1900
Indiana University Bloomington (Bloomington, IN): 1909
Iowa State University (Ames, IA): 1958
Johns Hopkins University (Baltimore, MD): 1900

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Massachusetts Institute of Technology (Cambridge, MA): 1934
McGill University (Montreal, CAN): 1926
Michigan State University (East Lansing, MI): 1964

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New York University (New York, NY): 1950

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Northwestern University (Evanston, IL): 1917

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Pennsylvania State University — University Park (University Park, PA): 1958
Princeton University (Princeton, NJ): 1900

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Purdue University — West Lafayette (West Lafayette, IN): 1958
Rice University (Houston, TX): 1985
Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey — New Brunswick (Piscataway, NJ): 1989

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Stanford University (Stanford, CA): 1900

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Stony Brook University (Stony Brook, NY): 2001
Texas A&M University — College Station (College Station, TX): 2001
The Ohio State University — Columbus (Columbus, OH): 1916

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The University of Arizona (Tucson, AZ): 1985
The University of Texas at Austin (Austin, TX): 1929
Tulane University (New Orleans, LA): 1958
University at Buffalo (Buffalo, NY): 1989
University of California — Los Angeles (Los Angeles, CA): 1974
University of California, Berkeley (Berkeley, CA): 1900
University of California, Davis (Davis, CA): 1996
University of California, Irvine (Irvine, CA): 1996
University of California, San Diego (La Jolla, CA): 1982
University of California, Santa Barbara (Santa Barbara, CA): 1995
University of Chicago (Chicago, IL): 1900

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University of Colorado, Boulder (Boulder, CO): 1966

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University of Florida (Gainesville, FL): 1985
University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign (Champaign, IL): 1908
University of Iowa (Iowa City, IA): 1909
University of Kansas (Lawrence, KS): 1909
University of Maryland, College Park (College Park, MD): 1969
University of Michigan — Ann Arbor (Ann Arbor, MI): 1900

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University of Minnesota — Twin Cities (Minneapolis, MN): 1908
University of Missouri — Columbia (Columbia, MO): 1908

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University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (Chapel Hill, NC): 1922
University of Oregon (Eugene, OR): 1969
University of Pennsylvania (Philadelphia, PA): 1900
University of Pittsburgh (Pittsburgh, PA): 1974

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University of Rochester (Rochester, NY): 1941
University of Southern California (Los Angeles, CA): 1969
University of Toronto (Toronto, Ontario, CAN): 1926
University of Virginia (Charlottesville, VA): 1904
University of Washington, Seattle (Seattle, WA): 1950
University of Wisconsin — Madison (Madison, WI): 1900
Vanderbilt University (Nashville, TN): 1950

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Washington University in St. Louis (St. Louis, MO): 1923
Yale University (New Haven, CT): 1900

Source: American Association of Universities

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About This List

A lot of universities crank out tons of research, but the schools on this list are true research powerhouses. They are all members of the American Association of Universities (AAU)—aka America's Leading Research Universities! The date listed is when the school was admitted.