Research I university
Research I university is a category that the Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education uses to indicate universities in the United States that engage in the highest levels of research activity.
History
The 1994 edition of the Carnegie Classification defined Research I universities as those that:
- Offer a full range of baccalaureate programs
- Are committed to graduate education through the doctorate
- Give high priority to research
- Award 50 or more doctoral degrees each year
- Receive annually $40 million or more in federal support[1]
The Carnegie Foundation reported that 59 institutions met these criteria in 1994.[2]
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."[3] The foundation replaced their single classification system with a multiple classification system in their 2005 comprehensive overhaul of the classification framework [3][4] so that the term "Research I university" was no longer valid, though many universities continued to use it.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:[5]
- R1: Doctoral Universities – Very high research activity
- R2: Doctoral Universities – High research activity
- D/PU: Doctoral/Professional Universities
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."[5] A "research activity index" was then calculated that included the following measures:
- Research & development (R&D) expenditures in science and engineering (S&E)
- R&D expenditures in non-S&E fields
- S&E research staff (postdoctoral appointees and other non-faculty research staff with doctorates)
- Doctoral conferrals in humanities, social science, STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) fields, and in other fields (e.g., business, education, public policy, social work)
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."[5]
Institutions
There are 131 institutions that are classified as "R1: Doctoral Universities – Very high research activity" in the Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education.[6]
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. These two classifications can be seen as the aggregate supply and aggregate demand of research, respectively.[7]
Map of institutions
References
- University of Washington. "Carnegie Research I Universities". Retrieved 2009-03-18.
- David Weerts, State Governments and Research Universities: A Framework for a Renewed Partnership. New York: Routledge, 2002, p. 26.
- Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. "Carnegie Classifications FAQs". Archived from the original on 2013-04-14. Retrieved 2012-02-09.
- Educause. "Appendix E: Carnegie Classification (2000) Definitions" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2009-03-27. Retrieved 2009-03-18.
- "Basic Classification Description". Center for Postsecondary Research. 2019. Retrieved March 18, 2019.
- "Doctoral Universities: Highest Research Activity". Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education. Retrieved 7 May 2018.
- "Basic Classification Methodology". Carnegie Classifications. Retrieved 19 February 2018.