UMBC has been designated a Carnegie ‘R1’ Institution since 2022
In February 2022, UMBC was designated a Doctoral University with Very High Research Activity – also known as Carnegie R1 – according to the 2021 Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education, placing UMBC among the top 146 research universities in the Nation.
This classification is an outcome of long-term strategic priorities and investments in the research and creative achievement community at UMBC – people, facilities, and programs. This R1 designation reflects the work of our entire campus community, including engineering, natural sciences, social sciences, arts, and humanities
Carnegie reviews its Research classifications on a three-year cycle, and for 2025 the criteria to obtain an R1 designation were considerable simplified by including institutions that:
- Expend at least $50 million in total R&D per year as reported to the NSF HERD Survey; and
- Award at least 70 research/scholarship doctorates per year, as reported to IPEDS.
For FY23 – the reporting period relevant for the FY25 classifications – UMBC reported $144.3 M in Research & Development expenditures to the NSF HERD Survey, and conferred 100 doctoral degrees as reported to IPEDS, easily exceeding the R1 designation criteria for 2025.