Baccalaureate institutions in the United States
Baccalaureate colleges are four-year institutions where the bachelor’s degree is the predominant award. This dataset includes 493 U.S. institutions classified as Baccalaureate under the Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education, maintained by the American Council on Education and the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, enrolling about 797,270 students in total.
Of these, 85 are public and 408 private. The largest by enrollment include BYU, CUNY New York City College of Technology, and Utah Tech. Among institutions that report the figure, the median graduation rate is 52% and the median average net price is $21,083.
R1 vs R2 vs Doctoral/Professional
The Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education, maintained by the American Council on Education and the Carnegie Foundation, sorts doctoral universities into these research tiers.
| Tier | Research activity | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| R1 | Very high research activity | Doctoral universities with the highest level of research activity, the top Carnegie research tier (e.g. Harvard, MIT, most flagship state universities). |
| R2 | High research activity | Doctoral universities with high research activity, the second Carnegie research tier, below R1 but above the doctoral/professional category. |
| Doctoral/Professional | Doctoral or professional-practice degrees | Universities that award research or professional-practice doctorates but fall below the research-activity thresholds for R1 or R2. |
493 institutions
Page 2 of 11Bluffton University
Bluffton, Ohio
Boricua College
New York, New York
Bowdoin College
Brunswick, Maine
Brescia University
Owensboro, Kentucky
Brevard College
Brevard, North Carolina
Brewton - Parker College
Mount Vernon, Georgia
Bridgewater College
Bridgewater, Virginia
Brigham Young University - Hawaii
Laie, Hawaii
Brigham Young University - Idaho
Rexburg, Idaho
Bryn Athyn College of the New Church
Bryn Athyn, Pennsylvania
Bryn Mawr College
Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania
Bucknell University
Lewisburg, Pennsylvania
California State University Maritime Academy
Vallejo, California
Calvary University
Kansas City, Missouri
Caribbean University - Carolina
Carolina, Puerto Rico
Caribbean University - Ponce
Ponce, Puerto Rico
Caribbean University - Vega Baja
Vega Baja, Puerto Rico
Carleton College
Northfield, Minnesota
Carroll College
Helena, Montana
Catawba College
Salisbury, North Carolina
Centenary College of Louisiana
Shreveport, Louisiana
Central Baptist College
Conway, Arkansas
Central Christian College of Kansas
McPherson, Kansas
Central College
Pella, Iowa
Central Methodist University - College of Liberal Arts and Sciences
Fayette, Missouri
Central Penn College
Summerdale, Pennsylvania
Central State University
Wilberforce, Ohio
Centre College
Danville, Kentucky
Charter Oak State College
New Britain, Connecticut
Cheyney University of Pennsylvania
Cheyney, Pennsylvania
Chowan University
Murfreesboro, North Carolina
City Vision University
Kansas City, Missouri
Claflin University
Orangeburg, South Carolina
Claremont McKenna College
Claremont, California
Coe College
Cedar Rapids, Iowa
Colby College
Waterville, Maine
Colby - Sawyer College
New London, New Hampshire
Colegio Universitario de San Juan
San Juan, Puerto Rico
Colgate University
Hamilton, New York
College of Coastal Georgia
Brunswick, Georgia
College of Saint Benedict
Saint Joseph, Minnesota
College of the Atlantic
Bar Harbor, Maine
College of the Holy Cross
Worcester, Massachusetts
College of the Ozarks
Point Lookout, Missouri
Colorado College
Colorado Springs, Colorado
Colorado Mesa University
Grand Junction, Colorado
Concordia College at Moorhead
Moorhead, Minnesota
Connecticut College
New London, Connecticut
Frequently asked questions
- What is a Baccalaureate institution under the Carnegie Classification?
- Baccalaureate colleges are four-year institutions where the bachelor’s degree is the predominant award. This dataset tracks 493 of them in the United States.
- What are the largest Baccalaureate in the U.S.?
- By total enrollment, the largest are BYU, CUNY New York City College of Technology, Utah Tech, Georgia Gwinnett College, and Farmingdale State College.
- What is the typical graduation rate and net price for these institutions?
- The median graduation rate among institutions that report one is 52%, and the median average net price is $21,083. Figures come from IPEDS and College Scorecard.
Related categories
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Data: IPEDS Fall 2025–26 provisional · College Scorecard (June 2026 release). All sources & release dates →
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