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).

History

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.

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.

The Carnegie Classifications underwent a significant update in 2025, overhauling their Basic Classification and replacing it with a new Institutional Classification. This new structure evaluates institutions based on multiple factors instead of categorizing institutions based on the highest degree awarded as was done under the prior framework.

Information used in these classifications comes primarily from IPEDS

Associate colleges

Associate's colleges are institutions that primarily award associate degrees.

  • Mixed Associate Large (78)
  • Mixed Associate Medium (265)
  • Mixed Associate Small (204)
  • Professions-focused Associate Large/Medium (193)
  • Professions-focused Associate Small (168)

Associate/Baccalaureate

Institutions that primarily award associate degrees, but that also award bachelor’s or graduate degrees.

  • Research 1: Very high spending and doctorate production (187)
  • Research 2: High spending and doctorate production (139)
  • Research colleges and universities (216)

Size and setting

Size and Setting classifies institutions according to (a) size of their student body and (b) percentage of students who reside on campus.

Size

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.

  • Primarily nonresidential (NR)—fewer than 25 percent of degree-seeking undergraduates or fewer than 50 percent enrolled full-time live on campus. 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.

Revisions in the basic classification

The 2005 revision also introduced the "basic classification", an update of the original classification scheme that: