https://news.byu.edu/announcements/r1-institution-carnegie
Brigham Young University is now an R1 research institution according to the newly updated Carnegie Classification research designations announced today.
BYU’s move from an R2 institution to the highest “Research 1: Very High Spending and Doctorate Production” designation is a result of Carnegie Classification changes to the methodology for determining research designations, as well as a more complete reporting of BYU’s research expenditures.
The Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education is a framework for categorizing colleges and universities in the United States based on research level and degrees awarded. Among doctorate-granting universities, there are three designations: R1 (Very High Spending and Doctorate Production), R2 (High Spending and Doctorate Production), and “Research Colleges and Universities.”
Addressing BYU’s Carnegie Classification designation in his Annual University Conference address this past fall, President C. Shane Reese said, “BYU is committed to remaining ‘primarily ... an undergraduate teaching institution that is unequivocally true to the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ.’” Research efforts on campus, he continued, are aimed to be “supportive of the university’s primary teaching mission.”
This commitment to undergraduate teaching, mentoring and experiential learning is demonstrated every day across campus. One recent example comes from the work of physics student Noah Pulsipher, who helped author a paper on the acoustics of SpaceX’s Starship rocket. Pulsipher, along with fellow students and faculty mentor Kent Gee, measured the intense sound produced by the world’s most powerful rocket. The project highlights the university’s ongoing hands-on approach to learning, where students engage directly in transformative research while working alongside expert faculty.
BYU is one of several institutions nationwide moving from R2 to R1 status. According to the Carnegie Classification, institutions of higher education that annually spend at least $50 million on research and development and produce at least 70 research doctorates qualify for the R1 designation under the updated guidelines. BYU has produced more than 70 PhDs per year for more than a decade and the university’s research expenditures for 2023 exceed the $50 million threshold.