Why UNC Charlotte will join ranks of America’s top-tier research schools next year
UNC Charlotte has long been classified by a national metric as a school with “high research activity,” but it’s getting an upgrade this year.
The rating, formally known as the Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education, was created in 1970 to help researchers compare, group and study the 3,939 different universities in the U.S. Despite not originally being intended for public use, the classification is now used to determine prestige, attract funding and faculty.
It also informs government policy, and legislators use it to determine government appropriations. It’s also used by U.S. News and World Report in crafting its yearly ranking of the nations best colleges, which is widely used by students around the country considering where to attend.
UNC Charlotte has made a concerted effort to reach the highest ranks of U.S. research universities and, along with East Carolina University, it’s expected to reach the pinnacle in 2025. North Carolina A&T State University could reach the same mark by 2028.
What does UNC Charlotte’s new rating mean?
R1, or “Research 1,” status, is the top designation and reserved for schools with “very high research activity.”
But what does that mean?
Until now, a complicated set of calculations determined universities’ ratings by taking into account factors like school size, setting, enrollment and, most importantly, the highest level of degree awarded.
In 2025, the ranking will start using a standard benchmark to determine research status. It will also remove the cap on how many schools can qualify as R1.
For years, UNC Charlotte has been classified as an R2 university, one rung below the top.
“The number one driver for UNC Charlotte not having R1 status before had everything to do with us not having a humanities PhD program,” UNC Charlotte chief research officer John Daniels told The Observer. “That was the single greatest limiting factor.”
Research at UNC Charlotte
With the new criteria, universities must spend at least $50 million on research and have at least 70 research-based doctoral programs to be an R1 school.
UNC Charlotte has more than doubled its research spending over the last decade and will easily make the mark as a top research university, according to the new standards.
Even with the new standards, it will still be an elite group.
“Right now, there are 146 R1 institutions in the U.S., and with the new system, there will be 168,” said UNC Charlotte Chancellor Sharon Gaber. “So it’s not appreciably growing. Some schools will gain R1 status and others will lose it.”
Of the almost 4,000 schools included in the classifications, 279 are rated as R1 or R2 institutions. Of those, 146 currently have the highest designation.
Currently, there are three schools in North Carolina with R1 status: UNC-Chapel Hill, Duke University and North Carolina State University.
This story was originally published May 9, 2024 at 6:00 AM.
