Norfolk State University Receives New Coveted Carnegie Classification
Tuesday, April 1, 2025 marked another historical moment in the archives of Norfolk State University history.
NSU is now ranked among the top 12 percent of colleges and universities in the United States. A few months ago, Norfolk State University received a new ranking in the American Council of Education (ACE) and the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching (Carnegie Foundation) when the organizations published the 2025 Research Activity Designations. Norfolk State University has been classified as a Research College and University (RCU) identifying the university as an institution that has built solid research enterprises. “Norfolk State University is proud to be one of just over 500 schools in the nation to reach Carnegie Research classification,” said NSU President Dr. Javaune Adams-Gaston. The Carnegie Foundation and the ACE simultaneously “unveiled an updated methodology designed to better account for and reflect the multifaceted, wide-ranging research landscape of higher education institutions” in the United States, according to its news release. Previously, NSU’s Carnegie Classification was based on the institution’s master’s degrees granting status.
“We have worked hard and continue to work hard to be recognized as a University and College Research institution,” added Dr. Adams-Gaston.
According to the Office of the Provost, “This new designation recognizes our grant expenditures and doctoral programs.” “The new Carnegie Classification recognizes Norfolk State as a research university and acknowledges our productivity with respect to our scholarship and research that the faculty are doing. It also recognizes the level of grants and contracts being completed at the university.” NSU’s annual grant acquisitions are upward of $30 million.
Norfolk State University faculty are conducting a myriad of research including nano technology, quantum computing, and environmental impact studies on the Elizabeth River and the surrounding communities. Every day our faculty are being awarded with new grants and submitting proposals.
This latest Carnegie Classification puts Norfolk State University in the top 12 percent of research universities in the country. It’s the research that raises the level, not only impacting our students but impacting the wider society by the research we’re producing. The Provost Office said that “We’re on the precipice of meeting the criteria for R2 High Research status, an achievement that speaks to the commitment to intellectual growth and innovation at Norfolk State University.”
The 2025 Research Activity Designations are categorized in three different areas including Research 1: Very High Spending and Doctorate Production, defined with a clear threshold of $50 million in total research spending and 70 research doctorates awarded annually; Research 2: High Spending and Doctorate Production, continues the previous requirement of $5 million in research spending and 20 research doctorates awarded annually; and Research Colleges and Universities (RCU), a new designation that identifies research happening at colleges and universities that have historically not been recognized for their research activity. The new RCU designation, which includes NSU, comprises any non-R1 or R2 institution that spends more than $2.5 million on research annually. Two-hundred and sixteen institutions hold the RCU designation.
Timothy F.C. Knowles, president of the Carnegie Foundation, said the recent changes to the Carnegie Classification were necessary to update the ranking system. “These updates to the Carnegie Classifications are the first step to bring a decades-old system into the 21st century. We are expanding our recognition of the range of ways colleges and universities engage in research and development. Over time, this will be good for the sector, for scholarship, for policymakers and for students.” According to the American Council on Education fact sheet, these updates are only the first steps in a series of significant changes to the Carnegie Classifications that will better reflect the multidimensional nature of higher education in America.