List of research universities in the United States

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]

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^[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their 2005 comprehensive overhaul of the classification framework ^[4][5] so that the term "Research I university" was no longer valid, though many universities continued to use it.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. The labels for R1 and R2 were changed, with the words "research activity" replaced by "research spending and doctorate production". All institutions with more than $2.5 million in research expenditures that were not classified as R1 or R2 were placed in the new classification of "Research Colleges and Universities".^[7]

Universities classified as "R1: Doctoral Universities – Very high research spending and doctorate production"

There are 187 institutions that are classified as "R1: Doctoral Universities – Very high research spending and doctorate production" in the Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education as of the 2025 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]

In 2025, 187 institutions have been given a designation of R1, up from the previous 146 in the 2021 classification.

Doctoral Universities – Very high research spending and doctorate production

Name	City	State	Control
American University	Washington	DC	Private not-for-profit
Arizona State University	Tempe	AZ	Public
Auburn University	Auburn	AL	Public
Baylor College of Medicine	Houston	TX	Private not-for-profit
Baylor University	Waco	TX	Private not-for-profit
Binghamton University	Binghamton[a]	NY	Public
Boston College	Chestnut Hill	MA	Private not-for-profit
Boston University	Boston	MA	Private not-for-profit
Brandeis University	Waltham	MA	Private not-for-profit
Brigham Young University	Provo	UT	Private not-for-profit
Brown University	Providence	RI	Private not-for-profit
California Institute of Technology	Pasadena	CA	Private not-for-profit
Carnegie Mellon University	Pittsburgh	PA	Private not-for-profit
Case Western Reserve University	Cleveland	OH	Private not-for-profit
Catholic University of America	Washington	DC	Private not-for-profit
Clemson University	Clemson	SC	Public
Colorado School of Mines	Golden	CO	Public
Colorado State University-Fort Collins	Fort Collins	CO	Public
Columbia University in the City of New York	New York[b]	NY	Private not-for-profit
Cornell University	Ithaca	NY	Private not-for-profit
CUNY Graduate School and University Center	New York[b]	NY	Public
Dartmouth College	Hanover	NH	Private not-for-profit
Drexel University	Philadelphia	PA	Private not-for-profit
Duke University	Durham	NC	Private not-for-profit
East Carolina University	Greenville	NC	Public
Emory University	Atlanta	GA	Private not-for-profit
Florida Atlantic University	Boca Raton	FL	Public
Florida International University	Miami[c]	FL	Public
Florida State University	Tallahassee	FL	Public
George Mason University	Fairfax[d]	VA	Public
George Washington University	Washington	DC	Private not-for-profit
Georgetown University	Washington	DC	Private not-for-profit
Georgia Institute of Technology-Main Campus	Atlanta	GA	Public
Georgia State University	Atlanta	GA	Public
Harvard University	Cambridge	MA	Private not-for-profit
Howard University	Washington	DC	Private not-for-profit
Indiana University Bloomington	Bloomington	IN	Public
Indiana University Indianapolis	Indianapolis	IN	Public
Iowa State University	Ames	IA	Public
Johns Hopkins University	Baltimore	MD	Private not-for-profit
Kansas State University	Manhattan	KS	Public
Kent State University at Kent	Kent	OH	Public
Lehigh University	Bethlehem	PA	Private not-for-profit
Louisiana State University and Agricultural & Mechanical College	Baton Rouge	LA	Public
Loyola University Chicago	Chicago	IL	Private not-for-profit
Massachusetts Institute of Technology	Cambridge	MA	Private not-for-profit
Medical University of South Carolina	Charleston	SC	Public
Michigan State University	East Lansing	MI	Public
Michigan Technological University	Houghton	MI	Public
Mississippi State University	Mississippi State	MS	Public
Missouri University of Science and Technology	Rolla	MO	Public
Montana State University	Bozeman	MT	Public
New Jersey Institute of Technology	Newark	NJ	Public
New Mexico State University-Main Campus	Las Cruces	NM	Public
New York University	New York[b]	NY	Private not-for-profit
North Carolina State University at Raleigh	Raleigh	NC	Public
North Dakota State University-Main Campus	Fargo	ND	Public
Northeastern University	Boston	MA	Private not-for-profit
Northern Arizona University	Flagstaff	AZ	Public
Northwestern University	Evanston	IL	Private not-for-profit
Nova Southeastern University	Fort Lauderdale	FL	Private not-for-profit
Ohio State University-Main Campus	Columbus	OH	Public
Ohio University-Main Campus	Athens	OH	Public
Oklahoma State University	Stillwater	OK	Public
Old Dominion University	Norfolk	VA	Public
Oregon State University	Corvallis	OR	Public
Princeton University	Princeton	NJ	Private not-for-profit
Purdue University	West Lafayette	IN	Public
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute	Troy	NY	Private not-for-profit
Rice University	Houston	TX	Private not-for-profit
Rutgers University-New Brunswick	New Brunswick	NJ	Public
Saint Louis University	St. Louis	MO	Private not-for-profit
San Diego State University	San Diego	CA	Public
Southern Illinois University-Carbondale	Carbondale	IL	Public
Southern Methodist University	Dallas[e]	TX	Private not-for-profit
Stanford University	Stanford	CA	Private not-for-profit
Stony Brook University	Stony Brook	NY	Public
Syracuse University	Syracuse	NY	Private not-for-profit
Temple University	Philadelphia	PA	Public
Texas A & M University-College Station	College Station	TX	Public
Texas Tech University	Lubbock	TX	Public
The Pennsylvania State University	University Park[f]	PA	Public
The University of Alabama	Tuscaloosa	AL	Public
The University of Montana	Missoula	MT	Public
The University of Tennessee Health Science Center	Memphis	TN	Public
The University of Tennessee-Knoxville	Knoxville	TN	Public
The University of Texas at Arlington	Arlington	TX	Public
The University of Texas at Austin	Austin	TX	Public
The University of Texas at Dallas	Richardson	TX	Public
The University of Texas at El Paso	El Paso	TX	Public
The University of Texas at San Antonio	San Antonio	TX	Public
The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston	Houston	TX	Public
The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio	San Antonio	TX	Public
Tufts University	Medford	MA	Private not-for-profit
Tulane University of Louisiana	New Orleans	LA	Private not-for-profit
University at Albany	Albany	NY	Public
University at Buffalo	Buffalo[g]	NY	Public
University of Alabama at Birmingham	Birmingham	AL	Public
University of Arizona	Tucson	AZ	Public
University of Arkansas	Fayetteville	AR	Public
University of California, Berkeley	Berkeley	CA	Public
University of California, Davis	Davis	CA	Public
University of California, Irvine	Irvine	CA	Public
University of California, Los Angeles	Los Angeles	CA	Public
University of California, Merced	Merced	CA	Public
University of California, Riverside	Riverside	CA	Public
University of California, San Diego	La Jolla[h]	CA	Public
University of California, San Francisco	San Francisco	CA	Public
University of California, Santa Barbara	Santa Barbara[i]	CA	Public
University of California, Santa Cruz	Santa Cruz	CA	Public
University of Central Florida	Orlando[j]	FL	Public
University of Chicago	Chicago	IL	Private not-for-profit
University of Cincinnati	Cincinnati	OH	Public
University of Colorado Boulder	Boulder	CO	Public
University of Colorado Denver/Anschutz Medical Campus	Denver	CO	Public
University of Connecticut	Storrs	CT	Public
University of Dayton	Dayton	OH	Private not-for-profit
University of Delaware	Newark	DE	Public
University of Denver	Denver	CO	Private not-for-profit
University of Florida	Gainesville	FL	Public
University of Georgia	Athens	GA	Public
University of Hawaii at Manoa	Honolulu	HI	Public
University of Houston	Houston	TX	Public
University of Idaho	Moscow	ID	Public
University of Illinois Chicago	Chicago	IL	Public
University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign	Champaign[k]	IL	Public
University of Iowa	Iowa City	IA	Public
University of Kansas	Lawrence	KS	Public
University of Kentucky	Lexington	KY	Public
University of Louisiana at Lafayette	Lafayette	LA	Public
University of Louisville	Louisville	KY	Public
University of Maine	Orono	ME	Public
University of Maryland-Baltimore County	Baltimore	MD	Public
University of Maryland-College Park	College Park	MD	Public
University of Maryland, Baltimore	Baltimore	MD	Public
University of Massachusetts-Amherst	Amherst	MA	Public
University of Massachusetts-Boston	Boston	MA	Public
University of Massachusetts-Lowell	Lowell	MA	Public
University of Memphis	Memphis	TN	Public
University of Miami	Coral Gables	FL	Private not-for-profit
University of Michigan-Ann Arbor	Ann Arbor	MI	Public
University of Minnesota-Twin Cities	Minneapolis	MN	Public
University of Mississippi	University	MS	Public
University of Missouri-Columbia	Columbia	MO	Public
University of Missouri-Kansas City	Kansas City	MO	Public
University of Nebraska Medical Center	Omaha	NE	Public
University of Nebraska-Lincoln	Lincoln	NE	Public
University of Nevada-Las Vegas	Las Vegas[l]	NV	Public
University of Nevada-Reno	Reno	NV	Public
University of New Hampshire-Main Campus	Durham	NH	Public
University of New Mexico-Main Campus	Albuquerque	NM	Public
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill	Chapel Hill	NC	Public
University of North Carolina at Charlotte	Charlotte	NC	Public
University of North Dakota	Grand Forks	ND	Public
University of North Texas	Denton	TX	Public
University of Notre Dame	Notre Dame	IN	Private not-for-profit
University of Oklahoma-Norman Campus	Norman	OK	Public
University of Oregon	Eugene	OR	Public
University of Pennsylvania	Philadelphia	PA	Private not-for-profit
University of Pittsburgh-Pittsburgh Campus	Pittsburgh	PA	Public
University of Rhode Island	Kingston	RI	Public
University of Rochester	Rochester	NY	Private not-for-profit
University of South Carolina-Columbia	Columbia	SC	Public
University of South Florida	Tampa	FL	Public
University of Southern California	Los Angeles	CA	Private not-for-profit
University of Southern Mississippi	Hattiesburg	MS	Public
University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center	Dallas	TX	Public
University of Toledo	Toledo	OH	Public
University of Utah	Salt Lake City	UT	Public
University of Vermont	Burlington	VT	Public
University of Virginia-Main Campus	Charlottesville	VA	Public
University of Washington-Seattle Campus	Seattle	WA	Public
University of Wisconsin-Madison	Madison	WI	Public
University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee	Milwaukee	WI	Public
University of Wyoming	Laramie	WY	Public
Utah State University	Logan	UT	Public
Vanderbilt University	Nashville	TN	Private not-for-profit
Virginia Commonwealth University	Richmond	VA	Public
Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University	Blacksburg	VA	Public
Washington State University	Pullman	WA	Public
Washington University in St Louis	St. Louis	MO	Private not-for-profit
Wayne State University	Detroit	MI	Public
Weill Cornell Medicine	New York[b]	NY	Private not-for-profit
West Virginia University	Morgantown	WV	Public
William & Mary	Williamsburg	VA	Public
Worcester Polytechnic Institute	Worcester	MA	Private not-for-profit
Yale University	New Haven	CT	Private not-for-profit

1. The campus has a Binghamton mailing address, but is mostly located in the adjacent town of Vestal.
2. "New York" is the U.S. Postal Service designation for the New York City borough of Manhattan.
3. The campus has a Miami mailing address, but is in the unincorporated Miami-Dade County community of Westchester.
4. The main campus has a Fairfax mailing address, but is in unincorporated Fairfax County.
5. The campus has a Dallas mailing address, but is almost entirely located in the separate city of University Park.
6. "University Park" is the postal designation for the main Penn State campus, which is divided between the communities of State College and College Township.
7. The campus has a Buffalo mailing address, but is mostly located in the adjacent town of Amherst.
8. La Jolla is a San Diego neighborhood served by a separate post office from most of the city.
9. The campus has a Santa Barbara mailing address, but is mostly located in the adjacent community of Isla Vista.
10. The main campus has an Orlando mailing address, but is located in unincorporated Orange County.
11. The campus is almost evenly divided between Champaign and Urbana. The main administration building for the campus is in Champaign.
12. The campus has a Las Vegas mailing address, but is located outside the city limits in the unincorporated community of Paradise.

Map of institutions

UAB

AU

UA

UA

ASU

UA

NAU

UCSF

UCD

UCB

Stanford

UCSC

UCSB

UCLA/USC

UCI

UCM

Caltech

UCR

UCSD

SDSU

CSU

CUB

CUD

UND

DU

Mines

UConn

Yale

American/GWU/Georgetown

UDel

FIU

FSU

UF

UCF

FAU

NSU

USF

UMiami

Emory/
GA Tech/GSU

UGA

U Hawaiʻi

U of Idaho

NU

UChicago/UIC

UIUC

SIU

IU

Purdue

ND

IU Indy

UIowa

ISU

KU

KSU

UK

U of L

UL

LSU

Tulane

UMaine

JHU/UMB

UMBC

UMD

UMass

UMass Lowell

BC/BU/Harv./MIT/NEU/Tufts/Umass B

WPI

WSU

UMich

Mich. St.

MTU

UMN

MU

UMKC

S&T

WUSTL

SLU

Ole Miss

USM

MS St.

UM

MT St.

UNMC

UNL

UNR

UNLV

Dartmouth

UNH

NJIT

Rutgers

Princeton

UNM

NMSU

UB

Bing.

UAlbany

RPI

SBU

Syr.

Cornell

UR

Colum./CUNY/NYU/Cornell

UNC

NCSU

Duke

ECU

UNCC

NDSU

UDayton

UToledo

KSU

OSU

Ohio

UC

CWRU

OU

OK St.

UO

OR St.

Drexel/Penn/TU

LU

CMU/Pitt

PSU

Brown

URI

MUSC

USC

Clemson

UTHSC

Memphis

UTK

VU

UTHSCH

Baylor Med

UTHSCSA

UTSW

SMU

Baylor

Rice

UT

TAMU

UNT

TTU

UH

UTA

UTD

UTEP

UTSA

USU

Utah

BYU

ODU

UVA

VT

VCU

GMU

W&M

UW

WSU

UW

UWM

WVU

UVM

UW

A map of all tier one research universities in the United States. Blue dots represent public institutions whereas red dots represent private institutions.

Universities classified as "R2: Doctoral Universities – High research spending and doctorate production"

There are 140 institutions that are classified as "R2: Doctoral Universities – High research spending and doctorate production" in the Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education as of the 2025 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]

Doctoral Universities – High research activity

Institution	Control	City	State
Abilene Christian University	Private (non-profit)	Abilene	TX
Air Force Institute of Technology Graduate School of Engineering & Management	Public	Wright-Patterson AFB	OH
Albert Einstein College of Medicine	Private (non-profit)	Bronx	NY
Appalachian State University	Public	Boone	NC
Arkansas State University	Public	Jonesboro	AR
Augusta University	Public	Augusta	GA
Azusa Pacific University	Private (non-profit)	Azusa	CA
Ball State University	Public	Muncie	IN
Boise State University	Public	Boise	ID
Bowling Green State University	Public	Bowling Green	OH
California State Polytechnic University, Pomona	Public	Pomona	CA
California State University, Fresno	Public	Fresno	CA
California State University, Fullerton	Public	Fullerton	CA
California State University, Long Beach	Public	Long Beach	CA
California State University, Los Angeles	Public	Los Angeles	CA
California State University, Sacramento	Public	Sacramento	CA
Central Michigan University	Public	Mount Pleasant	MI
Chapman University	Private (non-profit)	Orange	CA
Claremont Graduate University	Private (non-profit)	Claremont	CA
Clark Atlanta University	Private (non-profit)	Atlanta	GA
Clark University	Private (non-profit)	Worcester	MA
Clarkson University	Private (non-profit)	Potsdam	NY
Cleveland State University	Public	Cleveland	OH
Creighton University	Private (non-profit)	Omaha	NE
CUNY City College	Public	New York[a]	NY
CUNY Hunter College	Public	New York[a]	NY
Delaware State University	Public	Dover	DE
DePaul University	Private (non-profit)	Chicago	IL
Duquesne University	Private (non-profit)	Pittsburgh	PA
East Tennessee State University	Public	Johnson City	TN
East Texas A&M University	Public	Commerce	TX
Eastern Michigan University	Public	Ypsilanti	MI
Eastern Virginia Medical School (EVMS ceased being a separate institution on July 1, 2024. It is now part of Old Dominion University.)	Public	Norfolk	VA
Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University-Daytona Beach	Private (non-profit)	Daytona Beach	FL
Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University	Public	Tallahassee	FL
Florida Institute of Technology	Private (non-profit)	Melbourne	FL
Fordham University	Private (non-profit)	Bronx	NY
Georgia Southern University	Public	Statesboro	GA
Hampton University	Private (non-profit)	Hampton	VA
Hofstra University	Private (non-profit)	Hempstead	NY
Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai	Private (non-profit)	New York[a]	NY
Idaho State University	Public	Pocatello	ID
Illinois Institute of Technology	Private (non-profit)	Chicago	IL
Illinois State University	Public	Normal	IL
Indiana University of Pennsylvania	Public	Indiana	PA
Jackson State University	Public	Jackson	MS
James Madison University	Public	Harrisonburg	VA
Kean University	Public	Union	NJ
Kennesaw State University	Public	Kennesaw[b]	GA
Lamar University	Public	Beaumont	TX
Loma Linda University	Private (non-profit)	Loma Linda	CA
Long Island University	Private (non-profit)	Brookville[c]	NY
Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center, New Orleans	Public	New Orleans	LA
Louisiana Tech University	Public	Ruston	LA
Loyola Marymount University	Private (non-profit)	Los Angeles	CA
Marquette University	Private (non-profit)	Milwaukee	WI
Marshall University	Public	Huntington	WV
Medical College of Wisconsin	Private (non-profit)	Milwaukee	WI
Mercer University	Private (non-profit)	Macon	GA
Miami University, Oxford	Public	Oxford	OH
Middle Tennessee State University	Public	Murfreesboro	TN
Montclair State University	Public	Montclair	NJ
Morgan State University	Public	Baltimore	MD
North Carolina A&T State University	Public	Greensboro	NC
Northern Illinois University	Public	DeKalb	IL
Oakland University	Public	Rochester[d]	MI
Oklahoma State University Center for Health Sciences	Public	Tulsa	OK
Oregon Health & Science University	Public	Portland	OR
Pepperdine University	Private (non-profit)	Malibu[e]	CA
Portland State University	Public	Portland	OR
Prairie View A&M University	Public	Prairie View	TX
Rochester Institute of Technology	Private (non-profit)	Rochester[f]	NY
Rockefeller University	Private (non-profit)	New York[a]	NY
Rowan University	Public	Glassboro	NJ
Rush University	Private (non-profit)	Chicago	IL
Rutgers University–Camden	Public	Camden	NJ
Rutgers University–Newark	Public	Newark	NJ
Saint Joseph's University	Private (non-profit)	Philadelphia	PA
Sam Houston State University	Public	Huntsville	TX
San Francisco State University	Public	San Francisco	CA
San Jose State University	Public	San Jose	CA
Seton Hall University	Private (non-profit)	South Orange	NJ
South Carolina State University	Public	Orangeburg	SC
South Dakota State University	Public	Brookings	SD
Southern Connecticut State University	Public	New Haven	CT
Southern University	Public	Baton Rouge	LA
Stevens Institute of Technology	Private (non-profit)	Hoboken	NJ
SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry	Public	Syracuse	NY
Tarleton State University	Public	Stephenville	TX
Teachers College, Columbia University	Private (non-profit)	New York[a]	NY
Tennessee State University	Public	Nashville	TN
Tennessee Technological University	Public	Cookeville	TN
Texas A&M University–Corpus Christi	Public	Corpus Christi	TX
Texas A&M University–Kingsville	Public	Kingsville	TX
Texas Christian University	Private (non-profit)	Fort Worth	TX
Texas Southern University	Public	Houston	TX
Texas State University	Public	San Marcos	TX
Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center	Public	Lubbock	TX
Texas Woman's University	Public	Denton	TX
The New School	Private (non-profit)	New York[a]	NY
The University of Texas at Tyler	Public	Tyler	TX
The University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston	Public	Galveston	TX
The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley	Public	Edinburg[g]	TX
The University of West Florida	Public	Pensacola	FL
Thomas Jefferson University	Private (non-profit)	Philadelphia	PA
University of Akron Main Campus	Public	Akron	OH
University of Alabama, Huntsville	Public	Huntsville	AL
University of Alaska Fairbanks	Public	Fairbanks	AK
University of Arkansas at Little Rock	Public	Little Rock	AR
University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences	Public	Little Rock	AR
University of Colorado Colorado Springs	Public	Colorado Springs	CO
University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School	Public	Worcester	MA
University of Massachusetts Dartmouth	Public	North Dartmouth	MA
University of Michigan-Dearborn	Public	Dearborn	MI
University of Missouri–St. Louis	Public	St. Louis	MO
University of Nebraska Omaha	Public	Omaha	NE
University of New England	Private (non-profit)	Biddeford	ME
University of New Orleans	Public	New Orleans	LA
University of North Carolina at Greensboro	Public	Greensboro	NC
University of North Carolina Wilmington	Public	Wilmington	NC
University of North Florida	Public	Jacksonville	FL
University of Northern Colorado	Public	Greeley	CO
University of Oklahoma-Health Sciences Center	Public	Oklahoma City	OK
University of Puerto Rico, Mayaguez	Public	Mayaguez	PR
University of Puerto Rico, Rio Piedras	Public	San Juan	PR
University of San Diego	Private (non-profit)	San Diego	CA
University of San Francisco	Private (non-profit)	San Francisco	CA
University of South Alabama	Public	Mobile	AL
University of South Dakota	Public	Vermillion	SD
University of Tulsa	Private (non-profit)	Tulsa	OK
Upstate Medical University	Public	Syracuse	NY
Villanova University	Private (non-profit)	Villanova	PA
Virginia State University	Public	Petersburg	VA
Wake Forest University	Private (non-profit)	Winston-Salem	NC
West Chester University of Pennsylvania	Public	West Chester	PA
Western Michigan University	Public	Kalamazoo	MI
Wichita State University	Public	Wichita	KS
Wright State University	Public	Dayton[h]	OH
Yeshiva University	Private (non-profit)	New York[a]	NY

1. "New York" is the U.S. Postal Service designation for the New York City borough of Manhattan.
2. The campus has a Kennesaw mailing address but is located in unincorporated Cobb County.
3. LIU has two main campuses—one in Brookville and the other in Brooklyn.
4. The main Oakland campus has a Rochester mailing address, but is divided between the separate cities of Auburn Hills and Rochester Hills.
5. The campus has a Malibu mailing address but is located in unincorporated Los Angeles County.
6. RIT has a Rochester mailing address, but is located in the nearby town of Henrietta.
7. UTRGV has multiple campuses within its service area of the Lower Rio Grande Valley; its administration is located at the Edinburg campus it inherited from one of its predecessor institutions, the University of Texas–Pan American.
8. Wright State has a Dayton mailing address but is located in the separate city of Fairborn.

Map of institutions

UAF

USA

UAH

UAMS

UALR

ASU

APU

Cal Poly Pomona

CSU Fullerton

CSU Fresno

CSULB

CU

LLU

CGU

LMU

PU

SFSU

SJSU

USD

USF

UCCS

UNCO

SCSU

DSU

ERAU

FAMU

FIT

UWF

UNF

AU

CAU

GSU

KSU

MU

BSU

ISU

DU

IIT

ISU

RU

NIU

BSU

WSU

LSUHSC

LA Tech

SU A&M

UNO

UMass Med

UMass D

CU

MSU

UNE

OU

CMU

EMU

UoMD

WMU

UMSL

JSU

NC A&T

UNCG

UNCW

ASU

WFU

CU

UNO

KU

MSU

RU

RUN

RUC

SHU

SIT

AECM

CU

CCNY

CHNY

FU

HU

Mount Sinai

LIU

RIT

RU

SUNY ESF

Teachers

New School

UMU

YU

AFIT

BGSU

CSU

WSU

MU

UA

OSUCHS

OUHSC

UT

OHSU

PDX

DU

IUP

SJU

TJU

VU

WCU

UPRM

UPRRP

SCSU

SDSU

USD

ETSU

MTSU

TSU

TTU

ACU

ETAMU

LU

PV A&M

SHSU

TSU

TAMU CC

TAMU K

TCU

TXSO

TXST

TTUHSC

TWU

UTT

UTMB

UTRGV

EVMS

HU

JMU

VSU

UVM

MCW

MU

MU

A map of all tier two research universities in the United States and Territories. Blue dots represent public institutions whereas red dots represent private institutions.

Universities classified as "Special Focus – Research 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]

Special Focus – Research Institutions

Institution	Control	City	State
Mayo Clinic College of Medicine and Science	Private (non-profit)	Rochester	MN
Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences	Public	Bethesda	MD

Both the Mayo Clinic and USUHS objectively qualify as R2 universities in 2025, but the American Council of Education made a choice to only consider IPEDS and HERD data for the 2025 classification.

Mayo Clinic's IPEDS doctoral production qualifies as R2, but HERD did not collect financial data. Historically, the Carnegie Classifications collected that data directly from the Mayo Clinic.

USUHS doctoral production, as obtained from its website also qualifies as R2, but as it is not a Title IV institution, IPEDS did not collect the data. In past classification years, that data was collected directly from the university. Its financial data is available from HERD, and also qualifies USUHS as an R2.

Map of institutions

USUHS

Mayo Clinic

A map of all special focus research universities in the contiguous United States. Blue dots represent public institutions whereas red dots represent private institutions.

Institutions classified as "Research Colleges and Universities"

There are 216 institutions that are classified as "Research Colleges and Universities" in the Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education as of the 2025 update.^[12]

This new category has the requirement that these institutions spend at least $2.5 million on research & development given that they are not included in the R1 or R2 categories.^[13]

See also

• Association of American Universities
• Research university