Howard University Officially Becomes Only HBCU With Research One Carnegie Classification

The R1 classification will afford new grant opportunities and faculty to the HBCU.

Howard University is now the only HBCU with a Research One Carnegie Classification. According to Diverse Education, fewer than 150 universities have reached this status, with the HBCU achieving it this month.

To become a Research One institution, schools must allocate at least $50 million toward research and development as well as award 70 research doctorates. The Washington, D.C.-based school surpassed these requirements in 2023

“In Fiscal Year 2023, the most recent evaluation year in the classification cycle, the university’s productivity was significantly higher than the R1 base criteria, recording just under $85 million in research expenditures and awarding 96 doctorates in an array of fields,” said Dr. Bruce A. Jones, Howard’s senior vice president for research. “This includes the highest number of doctorates awarded to Black students at any college or university in America.”

With this classification, Howard enters a new era of competitive academics for interested scholars. The status will also help the HBCU with a wider range of research offerings, as well as establish more grant opportunities to fund these efforts.

Howard President Dr. Ben Vinson III noted how the university’s vast research portfolio fulfills the HBCU’s mission to use knowledge and strategy to combat societal issues. Howard boasts one of only 15 U.S. Department of Defense University Affiliated Research Centers (UARC), which focuses on tactical autonomy, human-machine teaming, and artificial intelligence, in the nation.

“Howard University’s achievement of R1 status demonstrates our research capacity and reaffirms our deep commitment to tackling society’s most pressing questions through cutting-edge scholarship and technological innovation,” Vinson said. “As a leader in the evolution of next-generation HBCUs, we are dedicated to ensuring that the benefits of discovery and progress reach all communities, including those historically overlooked and underrepresented.”

The school also hosts the nation’s first Center for Sickle Cell Disease and is the only HBCU to provide a cancer center for treatment and training in oncology. Furthermore, Howard’s renowned Moorland-Spingarn Research Center has sustained itself as the largest repository of materials on the global Black experience.