1 HBCU, 8 Hispanic-Serving Institutions Achieve Top Research Status
Credit: arlutz73 / iStock Editorial / Getty Images- The Carnegie Foundation revealed an update to its Research Activity Designations.
- It also outlined a new methodology used to determine which institutions are granted R1 status.
- Previously, no HBCU had ever been designated an R1 research institution.
- Altogether, 42 institutions upgraded to R1 status in 2025, including nine minority-serving institutions.
Nearly a dozen minority-serving institutions (MSIs) achieved the highest research status for the first time Thursday.
Howard University in Washington, D.C., became the first historically Black college or university (HBCU) to reach R1 research status in the Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education. Eight Hispanic-serving institutions (HSIs) were also upgraded to this same R1 status.
R1 status denotes that an institution has “very high spending and doctorate production.”
Essentially, it’s a way to distinguish which universities spend the most on research projects and produce the most doctoral graduates. Achieving R1 status means these institutions may be in line for lucrative research grants and opportunities moving forward.
| Institution | State | Average Research Spending, 2021-23 | Average Doctorates Awarded, 2020-23 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Florida Atlantic University | Florida | $65.9M | 105 |
| New Mexico State University – Main Campus | New Mexico | $119.5M | 102 |
| Northern Arizona University | Arizona | $71.1M | 86 |
| Nova Southeastern University | Florida | $35.3M | 474 |
| San Diego State University | California | $131.8M | 97 |
| The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston | Texas | $341.9M | 195 |
| The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio | Texas | $246.4M | 110 |
| University of California – Merced | California | $52.1M | 89 |
Howard University reached R1 status spending an average of $68.3 million each year on research initiatives. The HBCU awarded an average of 97 research doctorates annually.
The Carnegie Foundation’s 2025 Research Activity Designations used a new methodology from previous years. Now, the Carnegie Foundation and the American Council on Education (ACE) use the following parameters to determine the research status of each institution in the U.S.:
- R1 — At least $50 million in total research spending, 70 research doctorates awarded
- R2 — At least $5 million in total research spending, 20 research doctorates awarded
- Research Colleges and Universities (RCUs) — At least $2.5 million in research spending, no minimum for research doctorates awarded
Sara Gast, deputy executive director for the Carnegie Classifications, told BestColleges that this updated methodology adds transparency to a 50-year-old process. By removing the cap on the number of R1-level institutions Carnegie identified, all universities now have an equal opportunity to reach this status.
“It was hard to know where the bar was going to be,” she said, “and it was hard to know what the difference between R1 and R2 was.”
Creating a clear definition helps researchers understand the level of research taking place at a given institution, she said.
Mushtaq Gunja, executive director for the Carnegie Classifications, added that the new methodology gave high-achieving R2 institutions the chance to finally be recognized for their research output.
“When we looked at the data, we noticed R2 institutions that by almost any definition were doing tremendous research, but were not classified as R1,” he said.
New Mexico State University might be one example of this.
According to Carnegie’s data, the university spent more than $110 million in 2021 on research and awarded over 100 doctoral degrees in the 2020-21 academic year, but it was classified as R2. Now, it has the R1 designation.
According to ACE and the Carnegie Foundation, 187 institutions now have R1 status. This year, 139 have the R2 designation, and 218 are now considered RCUs.
Gast added that the RCU designation now gives institutions a way to broadcast that they are investing in research, even if they aren’t awarding doctoral degrees. This can be a sign to potential faculty that the institution is a place they should consider if they aspire to take on research projects, which wasn’t apparent through Carnegie’s previous methodology, she said.
The RCU category also allows some tribal colleges and universities (TCUs) and community colleges to be classified as research institutions, Gunja said.
Altogether, 42 institutions upgraded to R1 status from a lower designation in 2025.