California State University, Dominguez Hills has received the new Carnegie designation Research Colleges and Universities (RCU), the American Council on Education and the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching announced.
The new RCU category recognizes institutions that typically do not offer many or any doctoral degrees, and that spend at least $2.5 million on research on average in a single year (and are not in the R1 or R2 classifications).
“This designation is an important acknowledgment of the cutting-edge research, scholarship, and new knowledge being produced by our faculty each year,” said CSUDH Dean of Graduate Studies and Research Sheree Schrager.
“It is also an indicator of our institutional commitment to research, which helps to attract research-oriented students and faculty and enhances the university’s reputation with external funders. Down the road, that can mean more paid research opportunities for students, more faculty mentoring students in research, and more innovative programming to engage students and help them succeed.”
CSUDH is one of 12 universities in the CSU system to receive this new RCU designation. “Congratulations to all of the CSU institutions recognized by the Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education,” said CSU Chancellor Mildred García.
“These classifications underscore the CSU’s commitment to engaging our undergraduate students in applied research that lifts communities and addresses our state’s most pressing challenges across fields of study – and they wonderfully reflect the CSU’s mission and core values.”
About the Carnegie Classifications
The Carnegie Classifications are the nation’s leading framework for categorizing and describing colleges and universities in the United States. Utilized frequently by policymakers, funders, and researchers, the classifications are a critical benchmarking tool for postsecondary institutions. ACE and the Carnegie Foundation announced a partnership in February 2022 to reimagine the classifications to reflect the diversity and impact today’s institutions have on society.
Previously, the Carnegie Foundation used what is referred to as the Basic Classification, which generally placed all U.S. colleges and universities into groups based on the highest degree awarded.
The new classifications, announced by the American Council on Education and the Carnegie Foundation in November 2023, created multi-dimensional groupings of institutions that now go beyond a single label and reflect significant changes to how research is recognized, including the methodology that determines whether an institution is classified.
The new classification categories have been expanded to more accurately describe the “richness and multifaceted nature of today’s colleges and universities,” according to the ACE and the Carnegie Foundation, and attempt to capture additional aspects of institutions’ missions.
