Find all Leading Research Universities Reports below. The Leading Research Universities report is a free newsletter covering events in higher education and research.
AAU member institutions are once again overrepresented in an annual ranking of universities worldwide that patented the most inventions. The rankings, released by the National Academy of Inventors, are based on the number of utility patents granted to universities by the United States Patent and Trademark Office each year, and demonstrate the crucial role research universities play in the global innovation ecosystem.
A widely recognized list of researchers who are most often cited by their peers shows that the United States, powered by scientists at America’s research universities, continues to produce more highly cited researchers than any other nation. However, U.S. dominance is eroding as China rapidly gains ground.
Colleges spent a substantial portion of their endowment funds on scholarships and groundbreaking research in FY25 despite declining returns on the funds and fewer donations, according to the latest NACUBO-Commonfund Study of Endowments.
The bills fund most scientific research agencies at much higher levels than President Trump proposed in his FY26 budget request, avoiding the draconian cuts to federal research funding that many in the scientific community had feared.
The Fulbright Program recognized the higher education institutions in the United States that produced the most Fulbright students and scholars last year – AAU member institutions again lead the list.
Last December, AAU submitted a response to a request for information by the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) on steps and actions the Trump administration could take to accelerate the American scientific enterprise and enable groundbreaking discoveries.
Small business and intellectual property advocates pressed Congress to protect the Bayh-Dole Act and reauthorize the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) federal grant programs, at a Capitol Hill panel on February 4.
In 2025, hundreds of lawsuits were filed against the Trump administration challenging policies that tested the limits of executive power, many of which directly or indirectly affect the nation’s higher education system and the scientific research enterprise, including colleges and universities’ ability to: enroll students; conduct research vital to our nation’s health, security, and economy; and manage their faculty, staff, and curriculum.
On January 27, the Department of Energy announced that, because of the signing of the FY26 Energy-Water spending bill into law, “the Policy Flashes related to adjusting indirect rates … are no longer in effect.” The bill requires DOE to apply negotiated indirect cost rates as they were applied in FY24.
Costs of Research (F&A Costs) | Leading Research Universities Report | Research Administration & Regulation
On January 20, AAU and 22 other higher education organizations (led by the American Council on Education) submitted a friend-of-the-court brief urging the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to uphold a lower court’s decision to block President Trump’s effort to prevent Harvard University from enrolling international students.