Sonoma State University joined more than half of the 23 California State University campuses in receiving a new Carnegie designation known as “Research Colleges and Universities” or “RCU,” announced today by the American Council on Education and the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching.
Twenty-one of 23 CSU universities have now been recognized by the classification framework.
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).
The 12 CSU institutions receiving this new RCU designation include:
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CSU Bakersfield
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CSU Channel Islands
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Chico State
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CSU Dominguez Hills
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Cal State East Bay
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Cal Poly Humboldt
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Cal State Monterey Bay
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CSU Northridge
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Cal State San Bernardino
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Cal Poly San Luis Obispo
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Cal State San Marcos
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Sonoma State University
Additionally, eight CSU institutions are now included in the R2 category. This classification is assigned to universities that spend at least $5 million on research and development and award at least 20 research doctorates on average in a single year (and are not in the R1 classification). Cal State LA, Cal Poly Pomona, Sacramento State and San José State are new to the Carnegie R2 list this year.
The CSU’s R2 institutions include:
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Fresno State
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Cal State Fullerton
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Cal State Long Beach
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Cal State LA
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Cal Poly Pomona
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Sacramento State
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San Francisco State
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San José State
Additionally, San Diego State is now part of the Carnegie R1 category of institutions. To move into this category, a university must spend at least $50 million on research and development and award at least 70 research doctorates on average in a single year.
“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.