In the late 20th and early 21st centuries, universities have increasingly begun to embrace a new model: rather than requiring scholars and students to travel to the home city of the university, they have instead begun to establish new campuses, centers, and programs of their own in other. This profound change in the nature of universities requires…

University research is a vital building block of the nation's research and development (R&D) enterprise. While U.S. universities perform just 13 percent of total national R&D, they perform 31 percent of the nation's total research--basic and applied--and 56 percent of the nation's basic research. Because there is broad consensus that university…

Federal government agencies provide about $33 billion a year to universities to conduct scientific research. That continuing investment expands human knowledge and helps educate the next generation of science and technology leaders. New discoveries from university research also form the basis for many new products and processes that benefit the…

Since World War II, the federal government has maintained a partnership with the nation's research universities, based on the bipartisan consensus that (1) the nation needs to invest its resources in curiosity-driven, competitively awarded basic research, and (2) basic research is best conducted at the nation's universities. As a result of that…

After World War II, the United States decided to support much of its basic research through universities. That decision invigorated research with the energy, abilities, and fresh perspectives of students, while creating a fertile training ground for future researchers. Doctoral education in the U.S.--the education and training of Ph.D.s--became a…

At the request of the National Research Council (NRC) Committee on Research Universities, the Council on Governmental Relations (COGR), the Association of American Universities (AAU), and the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities (APLU) have assembled a set of ten recommendations for regulatory reform that would improve research…

An important factor in the success of America's national research system is that federal funds for university-based research are awarded primarily through peer review, which uses panels of scientific experts, or "peers," to evaluate the quality of grant proposals. In this competitive process, proposals compete for resources based on their…

This guide includes the following: higher education and related associations; advocacy organizations and coalitions of interest to research universities; explanations of acronyms and terms commonly used in the university community; web links to government resources and agencies; Executive and Legislative Branch offices; and key federal…

The next President will make decisions that determine our nation's place in the 21st century. We remain the world's military and economic superpower, yet at home and abroad we face economic and national security challenges to our leadership with serious consequences for future generations of Americans. During the 2008 presidential campaign,…

The Association of American Universities (AAU) calls on the Administration, Congress, and academia, with the help of the business sector, to implement a 21st Century National Defense Education and Innovation Initiative aimed at meeting the economic and security challenges we will face over the next half-century. Government and America's…

This report from the National Task Force on Civic Learning and Democratic Engagement calls on the nation to reclaim higher education's civic mission. Commissioned by the Department of Education and released at a White House convening in January 2012, the report pushes back against a prevailing national dialogue that limits the mission of higher…

From November 8 to December 12, 2007, Peter D. Hart Research Associates, Inc., on behalf of the Association of American Colleges and Universities, interviewed 301 employers whose companies have at least 25 employees and report that 25% or more of their new hires hold at least a bachelor's degree from a four-year college. Employers are satisfied…

This issue of "Diversity Digest" grows out of one recent effort to raise the visibility of science in diversity and global learning initiatives. Articles in this issue include: (1) Science, Diversity, and Global Learning: Untangling Complex Problems (Kevin Hovland); (2) Breaking the Pyramid: Putting Science in the Core (Darcy Kelley); (3) Science…