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Since you specifically mentioned either the UK or the USA, I’m not really sure whether you would find this relevant, but I thought I would mention it anyway. I’m a Celtic / English (with an emphasis on Old and Medieval English) student at a Dutch university and though Tolkien is often mentioned in relation to Anglo Saxon and Medieval English texts, his Middle Earth and Lord of the Rings are not considered part of the Academic canon and discussing him during sessions can be risky if you have the wrong professor.
However, I am planning to continue my studies somewhere in England, Ireland or Scotland next year and for example, UC Dublin offers a seminar on Tolkien (Twentieth-Century Epic and Romance: The Lord of the Rings and Gormenghast), and so do several other universities I briefly glanced at, but on the other hand at Trinity college it is considered as ‘Popular Literature’ again (though that does not necessarily mean it is less worth looking at).
Perhaps there are simply much more American academics than British ones (which would be rather logical in terms of population). Or the stereotype that Americans more easily except modern and particular genre works as literature than the British might just be true. But I would say that what The Squatter of Amon Rûdh says is quite true; I seem to be hearing more and more Tolkien during lectures and I believe there is actually someone doing their BA thesis on him this year. Though - it could be I’m just getting hyper-sensitive to anything ME related.
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