The University of Kansas'​ (KU) mission is to lift students and society by educating leaders, building healthy communities and making discoveries that change the world.KU is a major comprehensive research and teaching university and a center for learning, scholarship, and creative endeavor. KU is the only Kansas Regents university to hold membership in the prestigious Association of American Universities (AAU), a select group of public and private research universities that represent excellence in graduate and professional education and the highest achievements in research internationally.KU has 50 ranked academic programs, offers more than 130 study abroad programs, and provides more than $72 million in scholarships and grants to students each year.KU students have won more Rhodes Scholarships, and more federally sponsored research is conducted at KU, than at all other Kansas universities combined.The main campus is located on beautiful Mount Oread in Lawrence, while the KU Medical Center is located in Kansas City, KS.There are also campuses in Overland Park, Salina, and Wichita, as well as KU facilities in Garden City, Hays, Hutchinson Parsons and Pittsburg.