This is a list of universities in the United States classified as research universities in the Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education. Research institutions are a subset of doctoral degree-granting institutions and conduct research. These institutions "conferred at least 20 research/scholarship doctorates in 2019-20 and reported at least $5 million in total research expenditures in FY20 were assigned to one of two categories based on a measure of research activity." [1]
The 1994 edition of the Carnegie Classification defined Research I universities as those that:
The Carnegie Foundation reported that 59 institutions met these criteria in 1994. [3]
In their interim 2000 edition of the classification, the Carnegie Foundation renamed the category to Doctoral/research universities-extensive in order to avoid the inference that the categories signify quality differences." [4] The foundation replaced their single classification system with a multiple classification system in their 2005 comprehensive overhaul of the classification framework [4] [5] so that the term "Research I university" was no longer valid, though many universities continued to use it.
In 2015, the Carnegie Classification System reinstated the "Research I university" designations along with "Research II" and "Research III." The current system, introduced in 2018, includes the following three categories for doctoral universities: [6]
In the 2018 classification, institutions were classified as either R1 or R2 if they "conferred at least 20 research/scholarship doctorates in 2016-17 and reported at least $5 million in total research expenditures." [6] A "research activity index" was then calculated that included the following measures:
These four measures were combined using principal component analysis to create two indices of research activity, one representing an aggregate level of research activity and the other representing per-capita research activity. Institutions that were high on both indices were classified among "R1: Doctoral Universities – Very high research activity." [6]
In 2023, it was announced that the Carnegie Classification System would again be revised for the 2025 classifications. R1 institutions will be defined as those that (1) have $50 million USD in research expenditures, and (2) grant 70 research doctorates. Other changes to the classification system include multiple labels to identify institutions, and recognition for non-doctoral universities. [7]
There are 146 institutions that are classified as "R1: Doctoral Universities – Very high research activity" in the Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education as of the 2021 update. [8]
These universities have a very high level of both research activity and per capita in such research activity, using aggregate data to determine both measurements. In other words, these institutions provide a lot of resources for research and have a lot of people conducting research at their respective institution. These two classifications can be seen as the aggregate supply and demand for research, respectively. [9]
Among the 50 U.S. states and the national capital of Washington, D.C., only five states do not have an R1 level university: Alaska, Idaho, South Dakota, Vermont, and Wyoming.
There are 133 institutions that are classified as "R2: Doctoral Universities – High research activity" in the Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education as of the 2021 update. [10]
These universities have a very high level of either research activity or per capita in such research activity, using aggregate data to determine both measurements, while having a very low level on the other qualification. In other words, these institutions either lack research facilities or do not have a lot of people conducting research at their respective institution. These two classifications can be seen as the aggregate supply and demand for research, respectively. [9]
There are 23 institutions that are classified as "Special Focus – Research Institutions" in the Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education as of the 2021 update.
This new category has the same threshold for inclusion as R1 and R2 schools do (At least twenty research doctorates awarded and five million dollars in research expenditures), but unlike R1 and R2 schools, they only award degrees in a single academic area. [11]
The California State University is a public university system in California, and the largest public university system in the United States. It consists of 23 campuses and seven off-campus centers, which together enroll 457,992 students and employ 56,256 faculty and staff members. In California, it is one of the three public higher education systems, along with the University of California and the California Community Colleges systems. The CSU system is officially incorporated as The Trustees of the California State University, and is headquartered in Long Beach, California.
Boise State University (BSU) is a public research university in Boise, Idaho. Founded in 1932 by the Episcopal Church, it became an independent junior college in 1934 and has been awarding baccalaureate and master's degrees since 1965. It became a public institution in 1969.
The University of Massachusetts Lowell is a public research university in Lowell, Massachusetts, with a satellite campus in Haverhill, Massachusetts. It is the northernmost member of the University of Massachusetts public university system and has been accredited by the New England Commission of Higher Education (NECHE) since 1975. With 1,110 faculty members and over 18,000 students, it is the largest university in the Merrimack Valley and the second-largest public institution in the state. It is classified among "R2: Doctoral Universities – High research activity".
Cleveland State University (CSU) is a public research university in Cleveland, Ohio, United States. It was established in 1964 and opened for classes in 1965 after acquiring the entirety of Fenn College, a private school that had been in operation since 1923. CSU absorbed the Cleveland-Marshall School of Law in 1969. Today it is part of the University System of Ohio, has more than 120,000 alumni, and offers over 200 academic programs amongst eight colleges. It is classified among "R2: Doctoral Universities – High research activity".
The University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) is a public research university in El Paso, Texas. It is a member of the University of Texas System. UTEP is the second-largest university in the United States to have a majority Mexican American student population after the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley. It is classified among "R1: Doctoral Universities – Very high research activity." The university's School of Engineering is the nation's top producer of Hispanic engineers with M.S. and Ph.D. degrees.
The University of Massachusetts Dartmouth is a public research university in Dartmouth, Massachusetts. It is the southernmost campus of the University of Massachusetts system. Formerly Southeastern Massachusetts University, it was merged into the University of Massachusetts system in 1991.
The University of Alabama System is a public university system in Alabama that coordinates and oversees three research universities: University of Alabama (UA), University of Alabama at Birmingham, and University of Alabama in Huntsville. These universities enroll more than 70,000 students. The system employs more than 45,000 employees at its three campuses and health system making it one of the largest employers in the state.
The University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) is a public research university in Birmingham, Alabama. Founded in 1969 in the University of Alabama System, UAB has grown to be the state's largest employer, with more than 24,200 faculty and staff and over 53,000 jobs at the university. The university is classified among "R1: Doctoral Universities – Very high research activity".
The Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education, or simply the Carnegie Classification, is a framework for classifying colleges and universities in the United States. It was created in 1970 by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. It is managed by the American Council on Education.
The Nevada System of Higher Education is a state government unit in Nevada that oversees its public system of colleges and universities. It was formed in 1968 to oversee all state-supported higher education in the state. Two doctoral-granting research universities, two state colleges, three community colleges and one research institute comprise the land grant system. About 105,000 students attend the degree-granting campuses.
The Doctor of Business Administration (DBA) or (DrBA) is a terminal degree in business administration. The DBA is classified as a research doctorate or professional doctorate depending on the granting university and country where the degree was awarded. Academically, the DBA is awarded based on advanced study, examinations, project work, and advanced research in the field of business administration.
The Ponce Health Sciences University (PHSU), formerly Ponce School of Medicine & Health Sciences, is a private, for-profit university in Ponce, Puerto Rico and St. Louis, Missouri. It awards graduate degrees in Medicine (MD), Clinical Psychology (PsyD and PhD), Biomedical Sciences (PhD), Medical Sciences (MS), and Public Health (MPH and DrPH). The university has 360 students in its medical school and, as of 11 February 2019, was authorized to increase the student body at the medical school to 600 which, when fully in place, will make it the largest private medical school in Puerto Rico and one of the largest under the American flag.
The Claremont Graduate University (CGU) is a private, all-graduate research university in Claremont, California. Founded in 1925, CGU is a member of the Claremont Colleges consortium which includes five undergraduate and two graduate institutions of higher education.
The California Master Plan for Higher Education of 1960 was developed by a survey team appointed by the Regents of the University of California and the California State Board of Education during the administration of Governor Pat Brown. UC President Clark Kerr was a key figure in its development. The Plan set up a coherent system for public postsecondary education which defined specific roles for the already-existing University of California (UC), the state colleges which were joined together by the Plan into the State College System of California and later renamed the California State University (CSU), and the junior colleges which were later organized in 1967 into the California Community Colleges (CCC) system.
The Drexel University College of Engineering is the university's flagship college, founded in 1891 by banker A.J. Drexel to prepare his hometown Philadelphians to participate in opportunities provided by the Industrial Revolution. The college has six departments, 11 undergraduate programs/majors, and 17 graduate degree programs at its main campus in the University City section of Philadelphia, one block from 30th Street Station.
Kennesaw State University (KSU) is a public research university in the state of Georgia with two campuses in the Atlanta metropolitan area, one in Kennesaw and the other in Marietta on a combined 581 acres (235 ha) of land. The school was founded in 1963 by the Georgia Board of Regents using local bonds and a federal space-grant during a time of major Georgia economic expansion after World War II. KSU also holds classes at the Cobb Galleria Centre, Dalton State College, and in Paulding County (Dallas). The total enrollment exceeds 45,000 students making KSU the third-largest university by enrollment in Georgia.
The Center for Measuring University Performance is a research center at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. The Center is best known for an annual report it produces, The Top American Research Universities, that ranks American universities on nine different measures: Total Research, Federal Research, Endowment Assets, Annual Giving, National Academy Members, Faculty Awards, Doctorates Granted, Postdoctoral Appointees, and SAT/ACT range. The center also produces other scholarly works on ranking and education quality. The raw data used by the researchers at The Center is made available to the public on the web. This ranking's influence within the academic community has been described as being "commonly regarded to be one of three indicators that reflect an institution's rank as a Tier One institution", the other two being the classification of a university with "very high research activity" by the Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education and membership within the Association of American Universities.
The University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee is a doctoral-degree granting public research university that consists of 14 colleges and schools, and 70 academic centers, institutes and laboratory facilities. It offers a total of 180 degree programs, including 94 bachelor's, 53 master's and 32 doctorate degrees. The School of Freshwater Sciences is the only graduate school of freshwater science in the U.S. and the third in the world. The School of Architecture and Urban Planning, the College of Nursing and the College of Health Sciences are the largest in Wisconsin.
The Graduate School provides leadership in graduate education at Montana State University (MSU), a public land-grant university located in Bozeman, Montana.