The Carnegie Classification of Higher Education: A Comprehensive Overview

The Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education, often shortened to the Carnegie Classification, serves as a foundational framework for categorizing colleges and universities in the United States. Established in 1970 by the Carnegie Commission on Higher Education, and currently managed by the American Council on Education (ACE) and the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, it is used for educational and research purposes. The classification helps identify groups of roughly comparable institutions. Policymakers, funders, and researchers frequently utilize the Classifications as a critical benchmarking tool for postsecondary institutions.

Historical Context and Evolution

In 1970, the Carnegie Commission on Higher Education initiated the development of a classification system for colleges and universities to support its research and policy analysis initiatives. Over the years, the classification has undergone several revisions to better reflect the changing landscape of higher education.

Partnership with the American Council on Education (ACE)

The Carnegie Foundation partnered with the American Council on Education (ACE) to reimagine the Classifications to reflect the diversity and impact of today’s institutions on society. This collaboration aimed to bring together various classifications into a suite of indices, providing a broad base of dimensions for universities to define themselves and demonstrate their missions.

Key Aspects of the Carnegie Classification

The Carnegie Classification primarily focuses on the types of degrees awarded and the level of research activity undertaken by institutions. It uses empirical data about students, faculty, and institutional activities to categorize institutions based on their function and mission.

Institutional Classification

The Institutional Classification system uses multiple characteristics, including size, degree types awarded, and fields of study, to group institutions into categories. This approach prevents dissimilar institutions from being placed in the same category. The new Institutional Classification system makes it easier to compare like colleges. By using multidimensional categories to group institutions, the Institutional Classification better reflects the wide variety of institutional missions and organizational structures that exist today.

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Research Designations

Starting in 2025, research designations are awarded separately from institutional classifications. The updated methodology uses a clear threshold to define the highest research designation.

R1: Very High Research Spending and Doctorate Production

Any institution that meets the threshold of $50 million in total research spending and 70 research doctorates will be classified as R1. As of February, obtaining Research-1 status is dependent on just two criteria: spending at least $50 million total on annual research and awarding at least 70 research doctorates a year. Under those guidelines, 40 new institutions received a Research-1 designation this year, making them more competitive for federal grants and recruiting top students and faculty.

R2: High Research Spending and Doctorate Production

The R2 threshold remains at $5 million in research spending and 20 research doctorates.

Research Colleges and Universities

The classification system includes a new designation known as “Research Colleges and Universities” that identifies research happening at colleges and universities that do not offer many or any doctoral degrees. Any institution that spends at least $2.5 million on research will be included in this category, provided they are not in the R1 or R2 classifications. For instance, this designation will capture research underway at institutions that only serve undergraduate students.

Student Access and Earnings Classification

The Student Access and Earnings Classification focuses on student success. This new classification uses the multidimensional groupings of the 2025 Institutional Classification to evaluate student access and earnings between similar colleges and universities. By evaluating student access and earnings among peer campuses, the Classifications aim to foster collaboration and institutional improvement with a focus on how comparable higher education institutions can foster opportunities for student success. The 2025 Student Access and Earnings Classification recognizes a wide variety of institutions of all sizes, locations, and types as drivers of opportunities for students. Those colleges and universities that have higher-than-expected ratios of access and earnings compared to the entire population of the region are designated as Opportunity Colleges and Universities.

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The 2025 Carnegie Classifications: A New Era

The changes announced are part of a series of updates that seek to modernize the Carnegie Classifications. The classification categories will be expanded to more accurately describe the richness and multifaceted nature of today’s colleges and universities and capture additional aspects of institutions’ missions. As a full suite of classifications, the 2025 Carnegie Classifications will recognize and celebrate institutions for a wide range of missions and ways that they serve students.

New Dimensions for Classifying Institutions

Moving forward, institutions will receive a classification based on multiple labels to help group institutions by more characteristics, such as size, location, and the types of academic programs it offers, in addition to a more robust degree and certificate profile. The specific criteria and methodology have not been finalized, and this is an area where feedback from the field is being sought.

A Clearer R1 Threshold

In the 2025 Carnegie Classifications, the updated methodology will use a clear threshold to define the highest research designation: $50 million in total research spending and 70 research doctorates. In the new methodology, any institution that meets the threshold will be classified as R1: Very High Research Spending and Doctorate Production. The R2 threshold, with that classification now called “High Research Spending and Doctorate Production,” will not change from the current level of $5 million in research spending and 20 research doctorates. As opposed to today’s sliding scale that creates unwarranted competition between institutions, the new threshold establishes a clear and transparent target for institutions whose mission supports prioritizing research.

Recognizing Research Beyond Doctoral Institutions

The classification system will include a new designation known as “Research Colleges and Universities” that identifies research happening at colleges and universities that do not offer many or any doctoral degrees. Additionally, the Carnegie Classifications will identify and recognize research contributions made across the vast network of colleges and universities in the country, including at colleges and universities that do not offer doctoral degrees.

Impact and Significance

The Carnegie Classification has a wide-ranging impact on the higher education landscape. It influences institutional missions, public perception, and resource allocation.

Influence on Institutional Missions

For five decades, colleges and universities’ reputations have been defined, in large measure, by the amount of research underway and the highest degree conferred. The revamped Institutional Classification system-which makes it easier to compare like colleges-and the Student Access and Earnings Classification are incentivizing institutions to focus on their student success missions, too.

Public Perception and Ranking

R1: Doctoral Universities, for example, will tend to rank higher on college ranking lists compared to R2 or R3: Doctoral Universities. For many schools, Carnegie Classifications simply describe what they offer students.

Resource Allocation

The research designation had taken on this extra weight and importance, and left out a whole bunch of institutions that were really just focused on if they were moving young people to economic opportunity. Under those guidelines, 40 new institutions received a Research-1 designation this year, making them more competitive for federal grants and recruiting top students and faculty.

Criticisms and Challenges

Despite its widespread use, the Carnegie Classification has faced criticism for its limitations and potential unintended consequences.

Oversimplification

Critics argue that the classification system oversimplifies the complex realities of higher education institutions, reducing them to a single label or category.

Unintended Competition

The old metrics incentivized institutions to compete against each other in pursuit of prestige even if it compromised their core mission. As opposed to today’s sliding scale that creates unwarranted competition between institutions, the new threshold establishes a clear and transparent target for institutions whose mission supports prioritizing research.

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