Chronicle of Higher Education: According to the annual survey of the Association of University Technology Managers, US universities earned more than $1.4 billion in 2011 from commercializing their academic research. The 153 universities surveyed completed 4082 licenses, filed for 9662 new patents, and created 482 startup companies. Although the numbers lag behind those of the previous year, they indicate an overall trend toward growing entrepreneurship at the university level. As big corporations do less hiring, university faculty and students are increasingly turning to starting their own companies and developing their own products. The largest proportion of the new licensing income, however, belongs to just a handful of institutions. Northwestern University earned the most—$191.5 million.