Queens College has been recently added to the Research Colleges and Universities classification for this year’s update on the Carnegie Classifications of Institutions of Higher Education. This designation, according to the Carnegie Classification website, is for institutions that “spend at least $2.5 million on research & development” in an average fiscal year.
“This is a momentous day for CUNY Research because it reflects the hard work that our researchers are putting in conducting public impact research,” said CUNY Associate Vice Chancellor and University Vice Provost for Research Rosemarie Wesson.
QC is among six other colleges within the CUNY system that have been added to the new classification of Research Colleges and Universities. These include Baruch College, Brooklyn College, College of Staten Island, John Jay College of Criminal Justice, Lehman College and New York City College of Technology.
“Advancing scientific discovery with real-world public impact and training the next generation of researchers are both core to our mission as the country’s leading urban public university,” said CUNY Chancellor Félix V. Matos Rodríguez.
Ever since its development in 1973, The Carnegie Classification oversees policy analysis of research in higher education fields. According to their website, the classifications list helps to “ensure adequate representation of sampled institutions, students, or faculty, among other uses.”
This April, the American Council on Education (ACE) and the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching will publish an updated Institutional Classifications. This listing system is different from the research designation listings. Research designations have two other categories outside of Research Colleges and Universities. The first category is “Research 1: Very High Spending and Doctorate Production” with the second one being “Research 2: High Spending and Doctorate Production.” This listing was last updated in 2021.
The Graduate Center retained its status as a Research 1 (R1) institution. According to Carnegie’s research designation, “institutions spend at least $50 million on research & development and award at least 70 research doctorates” per year. As estimated by CUNY, the Graduate Center “had a three-year average annual expenditure of $57 million between 2021 and 2023 and awarded 360 research doctorate degrees.”
Hunter College and City College both have been assigned as Research 2 (R2) institutions. This research designation as defined by the Carnegie Classifications are for institutions that “spend at least $5 million on research & development and award at least 20 research doctorates.” According to a Feb. 19th CUNY press release, for the fiscal years 2021-23, Hunter College spent an annual average of $35 million and City College spent an annual average of $62 million on research.
It was reported that external funding for research reached an all time high of $672 million for the fiscal year 2024 at the 10th anniversary celebration of CUNY’s Advanced Science Research Center (ASRC). This acknowledgement is proof that CUNY’s initiatives and strategies for maximizing research opportunities through the “CUNY Lifting New York; 2023-2030 Strategic Roadmap” have been successful.
QC receiving increased external funding for research and being an accredited research college is a milestone achieved. This would create more opportunities for students and faculty to participate in their academic pursuits within the college. To find out more about campus undergraduate research opportunities visit the official website.
