The University of South Carolina has retained its top classification as an R1 doctoral university of “very high research activity” in the newly published 2018 Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education. This means UofSC continues to be counted among America’s top research institutions alongside Yale, Harvard, Stanford and other elite universities.
Only 130 universities across the nation were classified as R1 in Carnegie’s 2018 listing. Of these 130, only 93 public universities, including Carolina, achieved “R1: Doctoral Universities – Very high research activity” status. Carnegie classifications are assembled using a variety of data. To qualify as R1, universities must award at least 20 research/scholarship doctoral degrees and spend at least $5 million in research expenditures.
I am so pleased that our university continues to rank among the most elite institutions in the nation.
— Prakash Nagarkatti, UofSC Vice President for Research
The University of South Carolina also carries the prestigious Elective Community Engagement Classification, distinguishing it as one of only 56 R1 public universities to receive this special designation. To earn the Elective Community Engagement Classification, institutions must show evidence that they have built strong relationships with their communities.
“I am so pleased that our university continues to rank among the most elite institutions in the nation,” said UofSC Vice President for Research, Prakash Nagarkatti. “With our outstanding faculty and students, our growing research enterprise and our strong ties to communities throughout the Palmetto State, it is a great honor, but not a surprise, that the Carnegie Commission on Higher Education includes us in their highest classification.”
Though UofSC’s classification has not changed, the terminology for the R1 category was revised in 2018. In the 2018 classification system, the terminology shifted to “R1: Doctoral Universities – Very high research activity.” The previous classification system from 2015 used the term “R1: Doctoral Universities – Highest research activity.”
17 January 2019