Master's institutions in the United States
Master's colleges and universities award a significant number of master's degrees but few or no doctorates, under the Carnegie classification. This dataset includes 646 U.S. institutions classified as Master's 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 3,611,715 students in total.
Of these, 238 are public and 408 private. The largest by enrollment include Western Governors, Southern New Hampshire, and UMGC. Among institutions that report the figure, the median graduation rate is 52% and the median average net price is $19,076.
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. |
646 institutions
Page 14 of 14West Virginia State University
Institute, West Virginia
Western Colorado University
Gunnison, Colorado
Western Connecticut State University
Danbury, Connecticut
Western Governors University
Salt Lake City, Utah
Western Illinois University
Macomb, Illinois
Western New Mexico University
Silver City, New Mexico
Western Oregon University
Monmouth, Oregon
Western Washington University
Bellingham, Washington
Westfield State University
Westfield, Massachusetts
Westminster University
Salt Lake City, Utah
Wheeling University
Wheeling, West Virginia
Whitworth University
Spokane, Washington
William Jessup University
Rocklin, California
William Paterson University of New Jersey
Wayne, New Jersey
Wilson College
Chambersburg, Pennsylvania
Winona State University
Winona, Minnesota
Winthrop University
Rock Hill, South Carolina
Woodbury University
Burbank, California
Worcester State University
Worcester, Massachusetts
Xavier University of Louisiana
New Orleans, Louisiana
York College of Pennsylvania
York, Pennsylvania
Youngstown State University
Youngstown, Ohio
Frequently asked questions
- What is a Master's institution under the Carnegie Classification?
- Master's colleges and universities award a significant number of master's degrees but few or no doctorates, under the Carnegie classification. This dataset tracks 646 of them in the United States.
- What are the largest Master's in the U.S.?
- By total enrollment, the largest are Western Governors, Southern New Hampshire, UMGC, APUS, and Utah Valley.
- 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 $19,076. 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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