As part of USRA's governance structure, 121 Ph.D. granting universities oversee USRA to ensure that it meets its public purpose.
Members ensure broad public oversight of the corporation, as it pursues its nonprofit purpose of "development and application of space-related science, technology, and engineering." The members elect an independent Board of Directors, which governs USRA and appoints the USRA President. University members receive no direct benefit from membership. Their oversight is provided solely as a public service, and all USRA activities are conducted without bias or preference.
- Alabama A&M University
- Arizona State University
- Auburn University
- Baylor University
- Boston College
- Boston University
- Brandeis University
- Brown University
- California Institute of Technology
- Case Western Reserve University
- Colorado School of Mines
- Columbia University
- Cornell University
- École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne
- Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University
- Florida Institute of Technology
- Florida State University
- George Mason University
- Georgetown University
- Georgia Institute of Technology
- Hampton University
- Harvard University
- Howard University
- Indian Institute of Space Science and Technology
- Indiana University
- Iowa State University
- Johns Hopkins University
- Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology
- Lehigh University
- Louisiana State University
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology
- Michigan Technological University
- Mississippi State University
- Montana State University
- New Jersey Institute of Technology
- New Mexico State University
- New York University
- North Carolina A&T State University
- North Carolina State University
- Northwestern University
- Ohio University
- Oklahoma State University
- Old Dominion University
- Polytechnic University of Turin
- Princeton University
- Purdue University
- Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
- Rice University
- Rochester Institute of Technology
- Seoul National University
- Stanford University
- Stony Brook University, SUNY
- Technion - Israel Institute of Technology
- Tel Aviv University
- Texas A&M University
- Texas Tech University
- The Chinese University of Hong Kong
- The George Washington University
- The Ohio State University
- The Pennsylvania State University
- The Rockefeller University
- The University of Alabama in Huntsville
- The University of Arizona
- The University of British Columbia
- The University of Kansas
- The University of New Mexico
- The University of Oklahoma
- The University of Sheffield
- The University of Sydney
- Tufts University
- University at Buffalo, SUNY
- University of Alaska - Fairbanks
- University of Arkansas
- University of Bern
- University of California - Berkeley
- University of California, Los Angeles
- University of California, San Diego
- University of California, Santa Barbara
- University of Canterbury
- University of Central Florida
- University of Chicago
- University of Cologne
- University of Colorado Boulder
- University of Connecticut
- University of Delaware
- University of Denver
- University of Florida - Gainesville
- University of Hawaii
- University of Houston
- University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
- University of Iowa
- University of Leicester
- University of Maryland
- University of Michigan
- University of Minnesota
- University of Nebraska - Lincoln
- University of New Hampshire
- University of Notre Dame
- University of Padua
- University of Pittsburgh
- University of Rochester
- University of Southern California
- University of Stuttgart
- University of Tennessee, Knoxville
- University of Texas at Arlington
- University of Texas at Austin
- University of Texas at Dallas
- University of Texas at El Paso
- University of Texas at San Antonio
- University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston
- University of Toronto
- University of Virginia
- University of Washington
- University of Wisconsin - Madison
- University of Zurich
- Utah State University
- Vanderbilt University
- Virginia Polytechnic Institute & State University
- Washington University in St. Louis
- William & Mary
- Yale University
