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 6 of 11Maryville College
Maryville, Tennessee
Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts
North Adams, Massachusetts
Mayville State University
Mayville, North Dakota
McMurry University
Abilene, Texas
McPherson College
McPherson, Kansas
Meredith College
Raleigh, North Carolina
Miami University - Hamilton
Hamilton, Ohio
Miami University - Middletown
Middletown, Ohio
Mid - Atlantic Christian University
Elizabeth City, North Carolina
Middlebury College
Middlebury, Vermont
Miles College
Fairfield, Alabama
Millikin University
Decatur, Illinois
Millsaps College
Jackson, Mississippi
Missouri Valley College
Marshall, Missouri
Mitchell College
New London, Connecticut
Monmouth College
Monmouth, Illinois
Montana State University - Northern
Havre, Montana
Montreat College
Montreat, North Carolina
Montserrat College of Art
Beverly, Massachusetts
Morehouse College
Atlanta, Georgia
Morris College
Sumter, South Carolina
Mount Aloysius College
Cresson, Pennsylvania
Mount Holyoke College
South Hadley, Massachusetts
Muhlenberg College
Allentown, Pennsylvania
Nevada State University
Henderson, Nevada
New College of Florida
Sarasota, Florida
New Saint Andrews College
Moscow, Idaho
Newberry College
Newberry, South Carolina
North Carolina Wesleyan University
Rocky Mount, North Carolina
North Central University
Minneapolis, Minnesota
Northland College
Ashland, Wisconsin
Northwest University - Center for Online and Extended Education
Kirkland, Washington
Oak Hills Christian College
Bemidji, Minnesota
Oakwood University
Huntsville, Alabama
Oberlin College
Oberlin, Ohio
Occidental College
Los Angeles, California
Oglethorpe University
Atlanta, Georgia
Ohio Northern University
Ada, Ohio
Ohio State University - Lima Campus
Lima, Ohio
Ohio Wesleyan University
Delaware, Ohio
Oklahoma Panhandle State University
Goodwell, Oklahoma
Oregon Institute of Technology
Klamath Falls, Oregon
Ottawa University - Milwaukee
Brookfield, Wisconsin
Ottawa University - Online
Overland Park, Kansas
Ottawa University - Ottawa
Ottawa, Kansas
Ottawa University - Surprise
Surprise, Arizona
Ouachita Baptist University
Arkadelphia, Arkansas
Pacific Islands University
Mangilao, Guam
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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