Research Activity Designations

Where any institution stands against the 2025 Carnegie R1, R2, and Research College thresholds, which measure is further from the next threshold, and where the newest data points for the 2028 cycle. Award Insights
R1 · Very High R2 · High RCU · Research College Selected institution 541 designated institutions · data through FY2024 R&D / AY2024–25 doctorates

Search any of the 541 designated institutions

See exactly where it lands against every 2025 Carnegie research threshold, which criteria it clears (and by which path — its three-year average or its most recent year), and how far it sits from the next tier up. The 2025 designations rest on just two numbers. The next update is in 2028, and Carnegie has said it will use three-year averages only — the "most recent year" path that lifted 57 institutions in 2025 goes away.

R1 — Very High
≥ $50M research spending and ≥ 70 research doctorates per year. 187 institutions.
R2 — High
≥ $5M research spending and ≥ 20 research doctorates per year. 139 institutions.
RCU — Research College
≥ $2.5M research spending (no doctorate requirement). 215 institutions.
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The landscape — spending × doctorates

Control Region State
Sources: Carnegie Classifications 2025 Research Activity Designations public data file. Research spending is total R&D expenditure from the NSF HERD survey (FY2020–24 microdata), joined to IPEDS by UNITID plus a hand-checked crosswalk for HERD reporters with missing or outdated IDs. 516 of 541 institutions match Carnegie's FY2021–23 figures within 2%; the rest are flagged on their pages (combined campus reports, NSF revisions, or units that don't reconcile). Single-year swings over +60% or −40% are treated as likely reporting changes and left out of growth rates. Research doctorates are IPEDS Completions "Doctor's degree – research/scholarship," first major, AY2020–21 to 2024–25; AY2020–21 to 2022–23 reproduce Carnegie's counts for every designated institution exactly. AY2024–25 is IPEDS' first release and may be revised. The 2025 designations used the higher of the three-year average or the most recent year — the rule this tool applies to reproduce every 2025 designation. Private for-profit institutions are excluded (one: Ponce Health Sciences University, RCU). Carnegie has stated that future releases will use the three-year average only; the next update is scheduled for 2028. Cycle windows for 2028 and 2031 assume Carnegie keeps the 2025 data lag. Projections extend recent growth and are not forecasts. Prototype.