WU spent over $3 million in research development in 2023, qualifying it as a nationally recognized research university
Winthrop University is now recognized as a research institution under the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching’s newest guidelines for categorizing the research activities of US colleges and universities.
The Carnegie Classification, which has been managed by the American Council on Education (ACE) since 2022, is a nationally recognized framework for classifying the institutional diversity of higher education schools across the United States of America, according to CarnegieClassifications.edu.
Under the 2025 methodology for the Carnegie Classification, Winthrop University is now recognized at the newly added designation for “Research Colleges and Universities,” the lowest level within the classification.
This classification level includes colleges and universities that have spent $2.5 million on research in a single year based on the institution’s three-year average (2021, 2022, 2023) or the most recent single year data for 2023, whichever is higher.
Winthrop University qualified for this classification level by spending $3.189 million in research development during the 2023 fiscal year, according to Winthrop.edu.
Winthrop President Edward Serna said that research development is one of the important attributes that defines the university.
“Winthrop prides itself on the research offerings that are available to all of our students from freshmen to graduate students,” Serna said. “They conduct important and impressive research alongside our award-winning faculty and staff. It’s one of the hallmarks of the Winthrop experience. We look forward to the exciting research opportunities ahead as we are recognized by the American Council on Education for the valuable work conducted by our faculty, staff and students.”
Winthrop’s new recognition for its research development came after ACE and the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching announced that a new “Research Colleges and Universities” designation would be created for the 2025 Carnegie Classifications for the institutions that do not offer many or any doctoral programs.
Prior to this, the Carnegie Classification guidelines sorted higher education institutions based mostly on the highest level of degree it awarded students, such as Doctoral, Masters, Bachelors, etc. The new system now recognizes institutions based on a variety of criteria such as size, location and the types of programs it has.
Timothy Knowles, president of the Carnegie Foundation, said the most recent changes to the Carnegie Classification guidelines allow more universities to be recognized for the research they create, according to CarnegieClassifications.edu.
“For five decades, colleges and universities’ reputations have been defined, in large measure, by the amount of research underway and the highest degree conferred,” Knowles said. “Clearly, these are incomplete measures. They neither reflect the strength or diversity of the postsecondary sector.”
In 1970, the Carnegie Commission on Higher Education developed a classification of colleges and universities to support its program of research and policy analysis. The framework was first published in 1973 and has been updated every 3 years since to reflect changes among colleges and universities.
Winthrop University will offer its first doctoral program, an Ed.D. in leadership and innovation, beginning in the Fall 2025 semester.
Winthrop has also applied for approval from the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC) to be moved from a Level IV (highest degree level offered – educational specialist) institution to a Level V (three or fewer doctoral programs) institution, according to Winthrop.edu.
