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 2 of 4Old Dominion University
Norfolk, Virginia
Oregon State University
Corvallis, Oregon
Pennsylvania State University - Main Campus
University Park, Pennsylvania
Princeton University
Princeton, New Jersey
Purdue University - Main Campus
West Lafayette, Indiana
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
Troy, New York
Rice University
Houston, Texas
Rutgers University - New Brunswick
New Brunswick, New Jersey
Stanford University
Stanford, California
Stony Brook University
Stony Brook, New York
Syracuse University
Syracuse, New York
Temple University
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Texas A&M University - College Station
College Station, Texas
Texas Tech University
Lubbock, Texas
The University of Alabama
Tuscaloosa, Alabama
The University of Montana
Missoula, Montana
The University of Tennessee - Knoxville
Knoxville, Tennessee
The University of Texas at Arlington
Arlington, Texas
The University of Texas at Austin
Austin, Texas
The University of Texas at Dallas
Richardson, Texas
The University of Texas at El Paso
El Paso, Texas
The University of Texas at San Antonio
San Antonio, Texas
Tufts University
Medford, Massachusetts
Tulane University of Louisiana
New Orleans, Louisiana
University at Albany
Albany, New York
University at Buffalo
Buffalo, New York
University of Alabama at Birmingham
Birmingham, Alabama
University of Alabama in Huntsville
Huntsville, Alabama
University of Arizona
Tucson, Arizona
University of Arkansas
Fayetteville, Arkansas
University of California - Berkeley
Berkeley, California
University of California - Davis
Davis, California
University of California - Irvine
Irvine, California
University of California - Los Angeles
Los Angeles, California
University of California - Riverside
Riverside, California
University of California - San Diego
La Jolla, California
University of California - Santa Barbara
Santa Barbara, California
University of California - Santa Cruz
Santa Cruz, California
University of Central Florida
Orlando, Florida
University of Chicago
Chicago, Illinois
University of Cincinnati - Main Campus
Cincinnati, Ohio
University of Colorado Boulder
Boulder, Colorado
University of Colorado Denver/Anschutz Medical Campus
Denver, Colorado
University of Connecticut
Storrs, Connecticut
University of Delaware
Newark, Delaware
University of Denver
Denver, Colorado
University of Florida
Gainesville, Florida
University of Georgia
Athens, Georgia
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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