Academics
The Big Ten Conference is known for its academics as well as its athletics. Prior to the addition of Nebraska on July 1, 2011, it was the only Division I conference to have all its members in the Association of American Universities (AAU). Nebraska was removed from the AAU in April 2011, due to the AAU no longer allowing Nebraska to include their Medical Center in the AAU formula and the decreased weight given to agricultural research. Commissioner Jim Delany stated that Nebraska's removal from the AAU would have no bearing upon their Big Ten membership. However, Nebraska does lead the NCAA with a record of 291 Academic All-Americans (followed by Notre Dame with 221). Currently no Division I conference has all its members in the AAU, but a Division III conference, University Athletic Association, is composed of entirely AAU members.
The Big Ten also runs the Committee on Institutional Cooperation along with the University of Chicago, which allows students at participating institutions to take distance courses at other participating institutions. Students at participating schools are also allowed "in-house" viewing privileges at other participating schools' libraries. They also employ collective purchasing, which has saved member institutions $19 million to date.
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Famous quotes containing the word academics:
“Almost all scholarly research carries practical and political implications. Better that we should spell these out ourselves than leave that task to people with a vested interest in stressing only some of the implications and falsifying others. The idea that academics should remain “above the fray” only gives ideologues license to misuse our work.”
—Stephanie Coontz (b. 1944)
“Our first line of defense in raising children with values is modeling good behavior ourselves. This is critical. How will our kids learn tolerance for others if our hearts are filled with hate? Learn compassion if we are indifferent? Perceive academics as important if soccer practice is a higher priority than homework?”
—Fred G. Gosman (20th century)