Lewis & Clark Earns Coveted Carnegie Research Designation

Lewis & Clark has been recognized with a new Carnegie classification designation: Research College and Universities. This designation highlights institutions without PhD programs that operate a robust research program. Carnegie announced the new category today as part of a new, simplified approach to their methodology for conferring designations.

Now, along with a Research 1 (R1) designation for institutions with “Very High Spending and Doctorate Production” and a Research 2 (R2) designation for “High Spending and Doctorate Production,” institutions can be classified under a Research Colleges and Universities category. “On average in a single year, these institutions award at least $2.5 million on research and development.”

Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education, or simply the Carnegie classifications, are a framework for classifying colleges and universities in the United States created in 1970 by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. The Carnegie classifications are managed by the American Council on Education.

Lewis & Clark was one of only 40 liberal arts colleges nationwide―and two in Oregon―that qualified for the new designation. A total of 218 received the classification.

“I am incredibly proud of the exceptional research and scholarship that our faculty, staff, and students are engaged in across all three of our schools―undergraduate, graduate, and law,” says Robin H. Holmes-Sullivan, president of Lewis & Clark College. “This new Carnegie designation is important recognition of the impact that institutions like ours have in generating knowledge, driving innovation, and enhancing the lives of students as we address the biggest challenges facing our cities, our nation and the world.”

“This accolade draws much-deserved attention to the many ways that Lewis & Clark is attracting research funding to the state of Oregon.”

Julia Unangst, AVP of Sponsored Projects and Research Compliance

The American Council on Education leadership said that the new category is designed to help “shed light on institutions that have engaged in research but historically haven’t been recognized for it.”

The American Council on Education and the Carnegie Foundation plan to release new classifications for every college—not just those that conduct research—in April 2025. In the new core classifications, colleges will be sorted by “characteristics including the types of degrees they award, the fields of study in which students receive their degree, and the size of the institution.”

“I am grateful to Carnegie and ACE for developing this new designation that highlights that you don’t have to be a large R1 or R2 institution to be a part of the nation’s research and innovation engine,” says Julia Unangst, assistant vice president of Sponsored Projects and Research Compliance at Lewis & Clark. “This accolade draws much-deserved attention to the many ways that Lewis & Clark is attracting research funding to the state of Oregon.”

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