Which colleges got R1 status during the renewed Carnegie classifications?

The American Council On Education On Thursday, the latest list of research school college designations released under the renewed Carnegie classifications that felt 187 institutions such as Research 1 institutions.

The coveted R1 designation is given to universities with the highest levels of research activity. The number of colleges appointed as R1 institutions in 2025 increased 28% compared to the last time the list was released in 2022.

The updated list of research institutions is the first that the ACE and Carnegie Foundation for Advancement of Teaching have released since updating their methodology to the classifications. The new method was partially created to simplify a previous complex formula that left institutions afraid of losing their status.

“We hope that this more modernized version of Carnegie classifications will answer more questions in a more sophisticated way about institutions and their position in the ecosystem and will allow decisions to be made much more precisely by philanthropists, by governments and by students and families, ” Ted Mitchell, president of ACE, Higher Ed Dive told.

32 institutions moved from the second highest level of research in 2022-Ofte called Research 2 or R2-to R1 designation. This group includes Howard University, a historic black college in Washington, DC T.He private college – which advertised a record $ 122 million In research fellowships and contracts in 2022 – is the only HCBU with the term.

Other colleges moving from R2 to R1 include public institutions such as the University of Idaho, University of North Dakota, University of Rhode Island, University of Vermont and University of Wyoming, along with private colleges such as Lehigh University, in Pennsylvania and American University, In Washington, DC

Just an institution fell from R1 to R2 status – University of Alabama in Huntsville.

In order for universities to achieve R1 status under the new method, they need to spend an average of $ 50 million on research and development each year and award 70 or more research doctorate.

R2 institutions have to spend an average of $ 5 million per year. Years on research and awarding 20 or more research doctorate.

In the past, the methodology was more complicated. To keep the R1 and R2 groups of the same size determined classifiers line between the two names with each cycle. They also looked at 10 different variables to determine the R1 status.

“The previous method was uninhabited Timothy Knowles, President of Carnegie Foundation. “Institutions that are close to the bar will just be much clearer about what to do to get over the bar.”

The latest crop of R1 institutions each spent $ 748.4 million on research and development on average annually from the financial year 2021 to the financial year 2023. During the same period, they have awarded an average of 297 research doctorate annually.

Texas led the list of states with the most R1 institutions with 16. California and New York followed closely with 14 and 12 institutions respectively.

The 139 R2 institutions on this latest list spent each average of $ 55.17 million annually over three years on research and development -just beat the threshold for the R1 status. However, on average, they produced only 49 research doctorate a year.

This year also marks the classifications for the first time has included a new term: RCU or research schools and universities. The new category is intended to recognize institutions that regularly do research but do not give a doctorate. These colleges need to spend more than an average of $ 2.5 million annually on research to be recognized as RCUs.

This year, 215 colleges and universities have reached this status. Many are the master and baccalaureate level institutions. And some are four-year-old colleges with a “special focus”, such as medical schools and centers.

Two tribal schools have also reached RCU -Status: Diné College, in Arizona, and Northwest Indian College, in Washington.