Carnegie Classification places MSU among top research universities in the nation

The Carnegie Classification, a report released early this year by the Indiana University Center for Postsecondary Research’s Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education, placed MSU among the top 146 research universities in the country for the fifth time in a row.

 Beginning in 1970, the Carnegie Classification was created and has been the primary framework for classifying university research throughout the country. The first Carnegie Classification report was released in 1973, and the report is updated every three to five years. The 2021 report designated MSU as an R1 university which stands for very high research activity. MSU was first designated as an R1 university in 2005 and has maintained the designation through the most recent updated reports (2010, 2015, 2018 and 2021).

 “What makes me so proud of the designation is that it's a recognition of the high quality of faculty, researchers and students at Montana State University. That's the only way you can obtain that designation, if you have good people, and that's what it boils down to for me,” Jason Carter, vice president of research, economic development and graduate education, said.

 The R1 designation is based on two main factors: research expenditures and the number of doctorates awarded. At the end of the fiscal year in June 2021, MSU’s research expenditures reached an all-time high at $193 million. This marked the third year in a row that MSU recorded all-time high research expenditures.

MSU has a wide range of research on campus. The research is focused on four grand challenges: Securing the Future of Montana, Food and Fuel Security, Promoting Wellness in Our Communities and Caring for Our Environment. Carter highlighted MSU’s new Center for Science, Technology, Ethics and Society and the Dyslexia Innovation Symposium MSU has hosted the last few years as a few areas of research he is excited for. “I'm really proud of our research that translates into something that positively impacts the lives of people,” Carter said.

If a student is looking to get involved in research on campus, “I would tell them to talk to their advisor, talk to their faculty members, when they go to class, talk to the professor,” Carter said. “I've never yet met a faculty member here that doesn't want to take the time to sit down with a student and learn a little bit more about what they might be interested in.”

MSU and Utah State University were the only universities with a very high undergraduate enrollment to be classified as an R1 institution. “What that means for us is that we get to have more undergrads in our laboratories and in our research,” Carter said. “It creates a unique ecosystem for undergraduate research that you don't see at a lot of places.”

 Carnegie has announced that in its next report there will be a new classification that examines social and economic mobility. “They're going to start looking at students that come in from lower socio-economic status, and then 10 years after their graduation, look where they’re at,” Carter said.

“As part of our land grant mission, we're going to continue to value that growth that we see for these students that come from lower socio-economic households and 10 years out, being in a great position,” Carter said. “That's really what that measure looks at. And we're going to find out more about where Montana State looks in that ranking in a few years from now.”