USF becomes the second Florida university to join the AAU

They have been a research powerhouse for a while.
The best thing about this though is how badly it will be a slap in the face to FSU. Not because they deserve it more (USF has like double their research output), but the prestige that comes with it.

 

Haha, Miami got in too.

UMiami AAU Membership 2023 | NEWS@TheU Special Feature | University of Miami

 

So they are now eligible for the big 10.

 

But, but their football team still sucks so nobody really cares. ( isn't that what we're supposed to say?)

Seriously, congrats to any alums as I have a few in the family.

 

This has been USF’s explicit central goal for many years. I thought it was kind of a pie-in-the-sky thing, despite their impressive advances in research status, but it appears I was wrong. Very well done.

 

Arizona State is an interesting school. Their USNews ranking is never very high, but they always turn up on other lists of good schools. I think they are a mini version of us, they do all the important things right.

 

Nothing specifically against any of these 6 schools, but AAU has always been a mark of prestige. I know all these universities are doing great things.

But it seems to me that expanding the AAU roster by 10% and adding a newer "metro" school like USF and a school with a fairly weak academic reputation like Arizona State kind of takes away from some of that AAU prestige. Seems like having the AAU represent something like top 10% of universities would be more prestigious than adding more members. Maybe that's just me.

 

USF is a top 100 school now with USNWR, and top 50 public. They might have been waiting for that kind of recognition before letting them in. They are still climbing too.
As far as ASU, see my post above, they actually are thought of highly by a lot of other publications’ metrics.
I would also point out that three members left over the past few years -ISU left (semi) voluntarily, and Syracuse and Nebraska were booted, so it’s not really 10 percent from where they were. More like 5 or so.

 

Exactly...USF and UM? There goes the neighborhood. Of course, the AAU lost any status as a respected group of the premiere institutions in the US when UNC set up a totally fake degree program to keep athletes eligible and suffered zero consequences from it.

 

My 10 percent comment is that I believe they added 6 new members and went from 63-69, which is expanding roughly 10%.

I'm sure USF is doing well academically. Most schools are. US News has UF at 29, FSU and Miami tied #55, while USF is #97. ASU is #121. So I don't think US News was part of the equation.

Again, I'm not trashing USF and ASU. I'm sure they are good schools. I'm just saying that adding these schools, in my mind, kind of lowers the bar and diminishes the exclusivity being an AAU member.

 

So, USF shouldn't be in because they're newer and located in a big city? What an odd criteria.

 

UM has always been a good school. One of New Jersey's finest as I hear it.

 

It definitely shows where the priorities lie or have shifted. Research/$$$$$. USF does a lot of cancer research which brings in major research $$$$$.

 

My homage to 5220. Always loved his stuff, especially the moniker of UNJCG for Miami.

 

I am not sure what consequences you would expect the AAU to impose on UNC over this. While the UNC fake degree program for athletes was pretty bad, that affected a very tiny part of UNC's overall academic programs, and only involved athletes. Athletics is a sordid world of its own. The vast majority of college students are not athletes.

UNC has long had an outstanding reputation for academics and research. Saying that the AAU lost any status as a respected group of premiere institutions because of what some dumb jocks and their enablers did is pretty much over the top. UF has proudly touted its admission into the AAU, and rightfully so. Are you suggesting that we are not a respected and premiere institution?

 

Thunderbird School of Global Management at ASU has been recognized for developing International business professionals for almost 80 years.

 

I believe AAU designation is more about research than academics. And while a lot of people, myself include, make jokes at the expense of ASU, the reality is, they have become a very fine research institution with quality academics. Where ASU still trails a bit is acceptance rate, which is very high, alumni donations, and average test scores.

Part of the reason is there are only three state universities in Arizona (UA, ASU, and Northern AZ), and the charter from the ABOR is to provide education to in-state kids first and foremost. Arizona is the most selective, but any kid who graduated an Arizona high school in the top 25 of his/her class is automatically admitted as long as all other minimum classwork is done for admission. ASU and NAU is top 50%.

NAU is smaller with 29,000 students, but ASU has ballooned to over 74,000. Arizona has remained around 38,000, which is a similar number when I arrived there back in 1991. And it's the auto-admits from students who graduated 26% to 50% that really drag down ASU's numbers.

There have been talk about opening up a 4th state school. Grand Canyon U, a private religious school, becoming big has helped a little. So has allowing some of the larger Community Colleges to offer some 4-year degrees. But until a 4th school is open, ASU is going to be forced to take some marginal students.

 

Don’t forget University of Phoenix