North Carolina A&T State University has fallen just short of a major stated goal: attaining a "Research 1" classification from the Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education.
Carnegie announced the new classifications on Thursday, using new criteria that greatly expanded the number of institutions classified as "R1."
R1 status makes universities more competitive for major federal and private grants. Until this year, Carnegie evaluated schools using a complex and confusing set of standards. This year, the criteria are more simple: a university must spend at least $50 million on total annual research and award at least 70 research doctorates a year.
North Carolina A&T, the largest HBCU in the country, just made the cut-off on research spending, but missed the new standard on doctorates by just three 鈥� graduating an average of 67 PhD students each year between 2021-23.
"There's a couple of other institutions that are just knocking on the door," said Mushtaq Gunja, the executive director of the Carnegie Classification systems. "NC A&T in your backyard is very close to being R1."
By missing out on R1 classification, NC A&T is likely to find it more difficult to attract research funding and graduate students. This situation is likely to be exacerbated by federal funding changes that will make it harder for the school to land crucial funds to continue growing its research offerings.
Currently, the Trump administration is pushing to cap NIH grant funding used for staff salaries, lab equipment, and research buildings. NC A&T received over $5 million from the NIH last year.
NC A&T officials did not immediately comment on the new classification announcement.
Two North Carolina universities did attain R1 status under the expanded criteria; UNC Charlotte and East Carolina University. That puts the state at five R1 institutions after counting legacy R1 universities Duke, NC State, and UNC-Chapel Hill.
"We're really excited about the different types of institutions that are getting into that (R1) designation now, because I think they better reflect just how much research is going on," said Sara Gast, Deputy Executive Director at Carnegie. "There was no need to have an artificial limit on the number of institutions that could be in that group."
NC A&T had hoped to become one of the few HBCUs to attain R1 status. Howard University, in Washington DC, has regained R1 status, and is the lone HBCU to be classified as such under the new system. Thirteen other HBCUs, including NC A&T, remain at R2 status.
"Most often, the reason the campus does not get into the R1 category 鈥� is the research doctorate limitation," Gast said. "That usually ends up being the more challenging number for an institution to meet."
In 2022, Carnegie commissioned a called "The Classification Paradox: Historically Black Colleges' and Universities' Complex Relationship and Inequitable Experiences with the Carnegie Classification System" in which they interviewed HBCU stakeholders about the difficult road to attain R1 status.
Many noted that having a strong Carnegie status communicates a sense of credibility when trying to attract donors or when competing for grants from funding agencies like the National Science Foundation (NSF) or National Institutes of Health (NIH).
"It can be a little daunting, I would say, because these are measures of legitimacy that are across universities," said a study participant. "And sometimes they are used as velvet ropes, being able to get in and out of certain spaces and being afforded opportunities that others may not have. And with our HBCUs who do such vital things in so many different ways, sometimes being cast aside because you鈥檙e not an R1."
Historically, the government has also chronically underfunded HBCUs. According to a national report from the US Department of Education, states have .
In North Carolina, there's a $2 billion funding gap between the state's two land grant universities 鈥� North Carolina State and NC A&T State 鈥� which has had rippling effects on their development.
"Historical, structural inequities in funding can compound over time," Gunja, the executive director from Carnegie, said. "If 20, 30, 40 years ago, you can build upon those research dollars in ways that are just more difficult for emerging research institutions. So, I think we definitely did see some of that."
North Carolina has started to correct some of its historical funding decisions. In the 2023 state budget, the General Assembly awarded NC A&T $15 million to help the HBCU attain R1 status. $10 million of those funds are recurring.
NC A&T's goal is to reach R1 by 2028. That is also when the next Carnegie review will occur.
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