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News & Announcements
2021 Classification Update
The 2021 Carnegie Classification Update is in process. The preliminary version will be available for “public review” in mid-December 2021. We will send out messages to Chief Executive Officers, Chief Administrative Officers, Institutional Research Directors and several others as identified through the Higher Education Directory when we release the classifications for their review. The Public Review will last about 6 weeks. The classification will be announced as official by the end of January 2022.
Data Sources
The 2021 Classification update will be based on the following data sources:
- IPEDS 2019-20 Completions
- IPEDS Fall 2020 Enrollment (preliminary)
- IPEDS Fall 2020 Human Resources (preliminary file)
- FY20 NSF Higher Education Research and Development (HERD) survey*
- FY19 NSF Survey of Graduate Students and Postdoctorates in Science and Engineering (GSS)
*If release of the FY20 HERD survey is delayed beyond early December, we will use the FY19 data.
About the Carnegie Classification®
The Carnegie Classification® has been the leading framework for recognizing and describing institutional diversity in U.S. higher education for the past four and a half decades. Starting in 1970, the Carnegie Commission on Higher Education developed a classification of colleges and universities to support its program of research and policy analysis. Derived from empirical data on colleges and universities, the Carnegie Classification was originally published in 1973, and subsequently updated in 1976, 1987, 1994, 2000, 2005, 2010, 2015 and 2018 to reflect changes among colleges and universities. This framework has been widely used in the study of higher education, both as a way to represent and control for institutional differences, and also in the design of research studies to ensure adequate representation of sampled institutions, students, or faculty.
Elective Community Engagement Classification
The Elective Classification on Community Engagement is under the stewardship of the Public Purpose Institute at Albion College. Click here to access the website.
Using the Site
The menus at the top (in full screen mode) or through the menu icon above right (smaller views) provide access to extensive documentation as well as tools for looking up specific institutions, listing all institutions in a particular classification category, aggregating categories within a classification, and examining points of intersection across two or more classifications.
More Usage Guidelines
Institution Lookup
Access an individual institution's status within each of the six classification schemes. A summary table is provided that allows a user to:
- view the institution display by clicking its name;
- sort the listing according to name, control, or location by clicking the column heading;
- filter the listing according to level, control, or any of the six classifications by clicking "filter results" at the top of the listing;
- render the listing in printer-friendly format (opens in a new window); and
- download the listing in CSV format (which can be opened in a spreadsheet program, such as Excel).
Listings
Standard Listings
Generate a list of institutions organized by single classification category. Users first choose the classification of interest, then the desired category within the selected classification. (For a spreadsheet file containing all institutions and all classifications, see Downloads).
Custom Listings
Generate a list of institutions that combines classifications and/or classification categories. With this tool, users can aggregate categories within a given classification (OR logic within classifications), identify institutions that are similarly classified on two or more classifications (AND logic between classifications), or do both to create a custom listing of institutions.
Definitions
Classification Descriptions
Find descriptions and category definitions for each classification.
Methodology
Access detailed description of the methodologies (logic and data sources) used to assign institutions to the categories. Includes links to supplementary documentation for such things as disciplinary mapping tables and more detailed information on index formulation.
Downloads
Files
Download data files and documents related to revision history.
Summary Tables
Locate summary tables for each classification, detailing the distribution of institutions and enrollments, and average enrollment, by classification category and control. Tables available in PDF (for viewing and printing) and CSV format (which can be opened in a spreadsheet program, such as Excel).
Resources
Links to relevant external resources and references, as well as a place to indicate recommendations for additions to the resource section.
Recommended Citation (APA Format)
Current Version
Indiana University Center for Postsecondary Research (n.d.). The Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education, 2018 edition, Bloomington, IN: Author.
Web Site
The Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education (n.d.). About Carnegie Classification. Retrieved (date optional) from http://carnegieclassifications.iu.edu/.
Prior Editions
Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching (2011). The Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education, 2010 edition, Stanford, CA: Author.
Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching (2006). The Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education, 2005 edition, Stanford, CA: Author.
Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching (2001). The Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education, 2000 edition, Menlo Park, CA: Author.
Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching (1994). A Classification of Institutions of Higher Education, 1994 Edition. Princeton, NJ: Author.
Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching (1987). A Classification of Institutions of Higher Education, 1987 Edition. Princeton, NJ: Author.
Carnegie Council on Policy Studies in Higher Education (1976). A Classification of Institutions of Higher Education, Revised Edition. Berkeley, CA: Author.
Carnegie Commission on Higher Education (1973). A Classification of Institutions of Higher Education. Berkeley, CA: Author.
The Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education ®