The Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education, or simply the Carnegie Classification, is a framework for classifying colleges and universities in the United States. It was created in 1970 by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. It is managed by the American Council on Education.
The framework primarily serves educational and research purposes, where it is often important to identify groups of roughly comparable institutions. The classification generally focuses on types of degrees awarded and related level of activity such as research. The classification includes all accredited, degree-granting colleges and universities in the United States that are represented in the National Center for Education Statistics' Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS).
The Carnegie Classification was created by the Carnegie Commission on Higher Education in 1970. The classification was first published in 1973 with updates in 1976, 1987, 1994, 2000, 2005, 2010, 2015, 2018 and 2021. To ensure continuity of the classification framework and to allow comparison across years, the 2015 Classification update retains the same structure of six parallel classifications, initially adopted in 2005. The 2005 report substantially reworked the classification system, based on data from the 2002âÂÂ2003 and 2003âÂÂ2004 school years.
In 2015, the Carnegie Foundation transferred responsibility for the Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education to the Center for Postsecondary Research of the Indiana University School of Education in Bloomington, Indiana. The voluntary Classification on Community Engagement was managed by the Public Purpose Institute at Albion College in Albion, Michigan. In March 2022, both the universal and elective Carnegie classifications moved to the nonprofit American Council on Education in Washington, D.C.
Information used in these classifications comes primarily from IPEDS and the College Board.
The number of institutions in each category is indicated in parentheses.
Associate's colleges are institutions that primarily award associate degrees.
Institutions that primarily award associate degrees, but that also award bachelorâÂÂs or graduate degrees.
Baccalaureate institutions primarily award bachelor's degrees and do not have notable graduate programs.
These institutions have both graduate and undergraduate programs, but do not have notable doctorate programs.
These institutions have both undergraduate and graduate programs, as well as doctorate programs.
Special Focus institutions focus on or award degrees primarily in a single category.
Beginning in 2025, research designations are awarded separately from institutional classifications. Institutions are classified by their amount of research spending and number of research doctorates awarded.
Size and Setting classifies institutions according to (a) size of their student body and (b) percentage of student who reside on campus. This does not apply to exclusively graduate and professional institutions and special-focus institutions.
The size of institutions is based on their full-time equivalent (FTE) enrollment. FTEs are calculated by adding the number of full-time students to one-third the number of part-time students. Two-year colleges are classified using a different scale than four-year and higher institutions.
Setting is based on the percentage of full-time undergraduates who live in institutionally-managed housing. Two-year institutions are not classified by setting.
The 2005 classification scheme introduced a "set of multiple, parallel classifications" that are "organized around three central questions: 1) What is taught, 2) to whom, and 3) in what setting?" wrote Alexander McCormick, a senior scholar at the Carnegie Foundation and director of the classifications project.
As of 2005, the Carnegie Foundation was developing one or more voluntary classification schemes that rely on data submitted by institutions. The first focuses on outreach and community engagement, and the second on "how institutions seek to analyze, understand, and improve undergraduate education."
The Carnegie Foundation has no plans to issue printed editions of the classifications. Their website has several tools that let researchers and administrators view classifications.
The 2005 revision also introduced the "basic classification", an update of the original classification scheme that: