R1 Research institutions in the United States
R1 universities are doctoral institutions with very high research activity, the top Carnegie research tier. This dataset includes 146 U.S. institutions classified as R1 Research 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 4,441,617 students in total.
Of these, 107 are public and 39 private. The largest by enrollment include ASUCI, TAUS, and University of Central Florida. Among institutions that report the figure, the median graduation rate is 80% and the median average net price is $18,589.
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. |
146 institutions
Page 1 of 4Arizona State University Campus Immersion
Tempe, Arizona
Auburn University
Auburn, Alabama
Baylor University
Waco, Texas
Binghamton University
Vestal, New York
Boston College
Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts
Boston University
Boston, Massachusetts
Brandeis University
Waltham, Massachusetts
Brown University
Providence, Rhode Island
California Institute of Technology
Pasadena, California
Carnegie Mellon University
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Case Western Reserve University
Cleveland, Ohio
Clemson University
Clemson, South Carolina
Colorado School of Mines
Golden, Colorado
Colorado State University - Fort Collins
Fort Collins, Colorado
Columbia University in the City of New York
New York, New York
Cornell University
Ithaca, New York
CUNY Graduate School and University Center
New York, New York
Dartmouth College
Hanover, New Hampshire
Drexel University
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Duke University
Durham, North Carolina
Emory University
Atlanta, Georgia
Florida International University
Miami, Florida
Florida State University
Tallahassee, Florida
George Mason University
Fairfax, Virginia
George Washington University
Washington, District of Columbia
Georgetown University
Washington, District of Columbia
Georgia Institute of Technology - Main Campus
Atlanta, Georgia
Georgia State University
Atlanta, Georgia
Harvard University
Cambridge, Massachusetts
Indiana University - Bloomington
Bloomington, Indiana
Iowa State University
Ames, Iowa
Johns Hopkins University
Baltimore, Maryland
Kansas State University
Manhattan, Kansas
Kent State University at Kent
Kent, Ohio
Louisiana State University and Agricultural & Mechanical College
Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Cambridge, Massachusetts
Michigan State University
East Lansing, Michigan
Mississippi State University
Mississippi State, Mississippi
Montana State University
Bozeman, Montana
New Jersey Institute of Technology
Newark, New Jersey
New York University
New York, New York
North Carolina State University at Raleigh
Raleigh, North Carolina
North Dakota State University - Main Campus
Fargo, North Dakota
Northeastern University
Boston, Massachusetts
Northwestern University
Evanston, Illinois
Ohio State University - Main Campus
Columbus, Ohio
Ohio University - Main Campus
Athens, Ohio
Oklahoma State University - Main Campus
Stillwater, Oklahoma
Frequently asked questions
- What is a R1 Research institution under the Carnegie Classification?
- R1 universities are doctoral institutions with very high research activity, the top Carnegie research tier. This dataset tracks 146 of them in the United States.
- Is Harvard a R1 or R2 university?
- Harvard University is classified R1: a doctoral university with very high research activity, the top Carnegie research tier. R1 and R2 are assigned by the American Council on Education and the Carnegie Foundation, not self-declared by institutions.
- What are the largest R1 Research in the U.S.?
- By total enrollment, the largest are ASUCI, TAUS, University of Central Florida, OSUC, and UIU.
- What is the typical graduation rate and net price for these institutions?
- The median graduation rate among institutions that report one is 80%, and the median average net price is $18,589. 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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