Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education

The Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education, or simply the Carnegie Classification, is a framework for classifying colleges and universities in the United States. It was created in 1970 by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. It is managed by the American Council on Education.

The framework primarily serves educational and research purposes, where it is often important to identify groups of roughly comparable institutions.^[1] The classification generally focuses on types of degrees awarded and related level of activity such as research. The classification includes all accredited, degree-granting colleges and universities in the United States that are represented in the National Center for Education Statistics' Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS).