Can anyone give their thoughts on the actual significance of a university being a member of the AAU for an Undergrad in Psych/non-technical major? Especially if said non-AAU school is designated a Tier-1 research institution with over $1 billion in endowments?
The Association of American Universities (AAU ) is an organization of American research universities devoted to maintaining a strong system of academic research and education.
https://www.aau.edu/who-we-are/membership-policy
AAU membership is based on an idea of a very comprehensive, large-scale research university.
Nebraska lost AAU status in 2011. The issue was that a lot of their research was not “competitive”, such as agricultural research that was automatically allocated. But it didn’t really affect what Nebraska’s profile is all about, which is ag-heavy.
I would say AAU is one indicator, but is not directly tied to strength in a particular field.
Carnegie Classification is another indicator to use. I am not sure where the “Tier-1” terminology comes from, but Carnegie Classification R1 (Very High Research Intensive) Universities are considered the strongest in the research dimension.
AAU functions as an educational policy, lobbying organization. It is not a “club” that would translate into any direct benefits for undergrad majors. The strength/reputation of the particular major/program at the University is more important. Same goes for endowments. Does the program you are interested in benefit from those large endowments? Or are they tied to some other part of the university, like the med school?
AAU is primarily about research, so it has little relevance for undergraduate decisions IMO.
While research opportunities on the undergraduate level can be very important to a student’s development, institutional research volume may represent a poor way of estimating opportunities that would be available to you. As an example, if you were to consider a top program for the undergraduate study of psychology, such as, say, Pitzer’s, you would see that it that it thrives without an AAU designation. You could find counter-examples too, of course. But in any case, you wouldn’t want the presence or absence of an AAU label to limit you in your search for the best possible program and experience.