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:
- 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[2]
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their 2005 comprehensive overhaul of the classification framework [4][5] so that the term "Research I university" was no longer valid, though many universities continued to use it.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]
- 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."[6] 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."[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 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.
More information Institution, Control ...
Doctoral Universities – Very High Research Activity
Institution |
Control |
City |
State |
Arizona State University | Public | Tempe[a] | AZ |
Auburn University | Public | Auburn | AL |
Baylor University | Private (non-profit) | Waco | TX |
Binghamton University | Public | Vestal[b] | NY |
Boston College | Private (non-profit) | Chestnut Hill | MA |
Boston University | Private (non-profit) | Boston | MA |
Brandeis University | Private (non-profit) | Waltham | MA |
Brown University | Private (non-profit) | Providence | RI |
California Institute of Technology | Private (non-profit) | Pasadena | CA |
Carnegie Mellon University | Private (non-profit) | Pittsburgh | PA |
Case Western Reserve University | Private (non-profit) | Cleveland | OH |
Clemson University | Public | Clemson | SC |
Colorado School of Mines | Public | Golden | CO |
Colorado State University | Public | Fort Collins | CO |
Columbia University | Private (non-profit) | New York City[c] | NY |
Cornell University | Private (non-profit) | Ithaca | NY |
Dartmouth College | Private (non-profit) | Hanover | NH |
Drexel University | Private (non-profit) | Philadelphia | PA |
Duke University | Private (non-profit) | Durham | NC |
Emory University | Private (non-profit) | Atlanta | GA |
Florida International University | Public | Miami[d] | FL |
Florida State University | Public | Tallahassee | FL |
George Mason University | Public | Fairfax[e] | VA |
George Washington University | Private (non-profit) | Washington, D.C. | DC |
Georgetown University | Private (non-profit) | Washington, D.C. | DC |
Georgia State University | Public | Atlanta | GA |
Georgia Tech | Public | Atlanta | GA |
Graduate Center, CUNY | Public | New York City[c] | NY |
Harvard University | Private (non-profit) | Cambridge | MA |
Indiana University Bloomington | Public | Bloomington | IN |
Iowa State University | Public | Ames | IA |
Johns Hopkins University | Private (non-profit) | Baltimore | MD |
Kansas State University | Public | Manhattan | KS |
Kent State University | Public | Kent | OH |
Louisiana State University | Public | Baton Rouge | LA |
Massachusetts Institute of Technology | Private (non-profit) | Cambridge | MA |
Michigan State University | Public | East Lansing | MI |
Mississippi State University | Public | Mississippi State | MS |
Montana State University | Public | Bozeman | MT |
New Jersey Institute of Technology | Public | Newark | NJ |
New York University | Private (non-profit) | New York City[c] | NY |
North Carolina State University | Public | Raleigh | NC |
North Dakota State University | Public | Fargo | ND |
Northeastern University | Private (non-profit) | Boston | MA |
Northwestern University | Private (non-profit) | Evanston | IL |
Ohio State University | Public | Columbus | OH |
Ohio University | Public | Athens | OH |
Oklahoma State University–Stillwater | Public | Stillwater | OK |
Old Dominion University | Public | Norfolk | VA |
Oregon State University | Public | Corvallis | OR |
Pennsylvania State University | Public[f] | University Park | PA |
Princeton University | Private (non-profit) | Princeton | NJ |
Purdue University | Public | West Lafayette | IN |
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute | Private (non-profit) | Troy | NY |
Rice University | Private (non-profit) | Houston | TX |
Rutgers University–New Brunswick | Public | New Brunswick | NJ |
Stanford University | Private (non-profit) | Stanford | CA |
Stony Brook University | Public | Stony Brook | NY |
Syracuse University | Private (non-profit) | Syracuse | NY |
Temple University | Public[f] | Philadelphia | PA |
Texas A&M University | Public | College Station | TX |
Texas Tech University | Public | Lubbock | TX |
Tufts University | Private (non-profit) | Medford | MA |
Tulane University | Private (non-profit) | New Orleans | LA |
University at Albany, SUNY | Public | Albany | NY |
University at Buffalo | Public | Buffalo[g] | NY |
University of Alabama | Public | Tuscaloosa | AL |
University of Alabama at Birmingham | Public | Birmingham | AL |
University of Alabama in Huntsville | Public | Huntsville | AL |
University of Arizona | Public | Tucson | AZ |
University of Arkansas | Public | Fayetteville | AR |
University of California, Berkeley | Public | Berkeley | CA |
University of California, Davis | Public | Davis | CA |
University of California, Irvine | Public | Irvine | CA |
University of California, Los Angeles | Public | Los Angeles | CA |
University of California, Riverside | Public | Riverside | CA |
University of California, San Diego | Public | San Diego[h] | CA |
University of California, Santa Barbara | Public | Santa Barbara[i] | CA |
University of California, Santa Cruz | Public | Santa Cruz | CA |
University of Central Florida | Public | Orlando[j] | FL |
University of Chicago | Private (non-profit) | Chicago | IL |
University of Cincinnati | Public | Cincinnati | OH |
University of Colorado Boulder | Public | Boulder | CO |
University of Colorado Denver | Public | Denver | CO |
University of Connecticut | Public | Storrs | CT |
University of Delaware | Public[k] | Newark | DE |
University of Denver | Private (non-profit) | Denver | CO |
University of Florida | Public | Gainesville | FL |
University of Georgia | Public | Athens | GA |
University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa | Public | Honolulu | HI |
University of Houston | Public | Houston | TX |
University of Illinois Chicago | Public | Chicago | IL |
University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign | Public | Champaign/Urbana[l] | IL |
University of Iowa | Public | Iowa City | IA |
University of Kansas | Public | Lawrence | KS |
University of Kentucky | Public | Lexington | KY |
University of Louisiana at Lafayette | Public | Lafayette | LA |
University of Louisville | Public | Louisville | KY |
University of Maine | Public | Orono | ME |
University of Maryland, Baltimore County | Public | Baltimore[m] | MD |
University of Maryland, College Park | Public | College Park | MD |
University of Massachusetts Amherst | Public | Amherst | MA |
University of Memphis | Public | Memphis | TN |
University of Miami | Private (non-profit) | Coral Gables | FL |
University of Michigan | Public | Ann Arbor | MI |
University of Minnesota | Public | Minneapolis | MN |
University of Mississippi | Public | University | MS |
University of Missouri | Public | Columbia | MO |
University of Montana | Public | Missoula | MT |
University of Nebraska–Lincoln | Public | Lincoln | NE |
University of Nevada, Las Vegas | Public | Las Vegas[n] | NV |
University of Nevada, Reno | Public | Reno | NV |
University of New Hampshire | Public | Durham | NH |
University of New Mexico | Public | Albuquerque | NM |
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill | Public | Chapel Hill | NC |
University of North Texas | Public | Denton | TX |
University of Notre Dame | Private (non-profit) | Notre Dame | IN |
University of Oklahoma | Public | Norman | OK |
University of Oregon | Public | Eugene | OR |
University of Pennsylvania | Private (non-profit) | Philadelphia | PA |
University of Pittsburgh | Public[f] | Pittsburgh | PA |
University of Rochester | Private (non-profit) | Rochester | NY |
University of South Carolina | Public | Columbia | SC |
University of South Florida | Public | Tampa | FL |
University of Southern California | Private (non-profit) | Los Angeles | CA |
University of Southern Mississippi | Public | Hattiesburg | MS |
University of Tennessee | Public | Knoxville | TN |
University of Texas at Arlington | Public | Arlington | TX |
University of Texas at Austin | Public | Austin | TX |
University of Texas at Dallas | Public | Richardson | TX |
University of Texas at El Paso | Public | El Paso | TX |
University of Texas at San Antonio | Public | San Antonio | TX |
University of Utah | Public | Salt Lake City | UT |
University of Virginia | Public | Charlottesville | VA |
University of Washington | Public | Seattle | WA |
University of Wisconsin–Madison | Public | Madison | WI |
University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee | Public | Milwaukee | WI |
Utah State University | Public | Logan | UT |
Vanderbilt University | Private (non-profit) | Nashville | TN |
Virginia Commonwealth University | Public | Richmond | VA |
Virginia Tech | Public | Blacksburg | VA |
Washington State University | Public | Pullman | WA |
Washington University in St. Louis | Private (non-profit) | St. Louis | MO |
Wayne State University | Public | Detroit | MI |
West Virginia University | Public | Morgantown | WV |
Yale University | Private (non-profit) | New Haven | CT |
Close
Arizona State's main campus and administration are in Tempe. It has three other physical campuses in the Phoenix area.
More specifically Manhattan; all locations on Manhattan Island have a "New York" mailing address.
The campus has a Buffalo mailing address but is mostly located in the adjacent town of Amherst.
Mailing address is La Jolla, a San Diego neighborhood with its own post office.
The campus has a Santa Barbara mailing address but is located in the adjacent community of Isla Vista.
The main campus has an Orlando mailing address but is located in unincorporated Orange County.
Legally chartered as a "privately governed, state-assisted" institution.
The campus is divided between Champaign and Urbana. The main administration building is in Urbana, but multiple university offices are in both cities.
The campus has a Baltimore mailing address, but is located in Catonsville, an unincorporated community in Baltimore County (which encloses but does not include the city of Baltimore).
The UNLV campus is outside the Las Vegas city limits in the unincorporated community of Paradise. All unincorporated areas in the Las Vegas Valley, including Paradise, have a Las Vegas mailing address.
Map of institutions
A map of all tier one research universities in the United States. Blue dots represent
public institutions whereas red dots represent
private institutions.
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]
More information Institution, Control ...
Close
"New York" is the U.S. Postal Service designation for the New York City borough of Manhattan.
The Indiana University and Purdue University systems will dissolve IUPUI at the end of the 2023–24 academic year. The vast majority of IUPUI academic programs will transfer to the new Indiana University Indianapolis, with some programs becoming part of the new Purdue University in Indianapolis.
The campus has a Kennesaw mailing address but is located in unincorporated Cobb County.
The main Oakland campus has a Rochester mailing address, but is divided between the separate cities of Auburn Hills and Rochester Hills.
RIT has a Rochester mailing address, but is located in the nearby town of Henrietta.
SMU has a Dallas mailing address but is located in University Park, a separate city contained within the Dallas city limits.
The campus has a Princess Anne mailing address but is located in unincorporated Somerset County.
Wright State has a Dayton mailing address but is located in the separate city of Fairborn.
Map of institutions
A map of all tier two research universities in the contiguous United States. Not shown above is
ASU Digital Immersion,
Alaska, and
UPR Rio Piedras. Blue dots represent
public institutions whereas red dots represent
private institutions.
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]
More information Institution, Control ...
Close
Map of institutions
A map of all special focus research universities in the contiguous United States. Blue dots represent
public institutions whereas red dots represent
private institutions.