Florida Atlantic University has been recognized for its leadership on two essential fronts: advancing science and discovery for the nation and prioritizing student access and success.

Florida Atlantic University has been recognized for its leadership on two essential fronts: advancing science and discovery for the nation and prioritizing student access and success.

These two achievements combined makes FAU just one of 21 esteemed institutions nationwide to earn both Research 1 (R1) and Opportunity College & University (OCU) designations in the new 2025 Carnegie Classifications on behalf of the American Council on Education (ACE) and the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. 

“Florida Atlantic University is one of only 21 institutions nationwide recognized by the Carnegie Classification as both an ‘R1: Very High Research Spending and Doctorate Production’ university — the highest distinction for research excellence — and as an ‘Opportunity University’ in the new Student Access and Earnings category,” said FAU President Adam Hasner. “This dual recognition underscores our success in demonstrating that a university can achieve elite research status while also supporting all our students’ academic success and expanding access to meaningful career opportunities.”

ACE and the Carnegie Foundation recently published a series of updates to the Carnegie Classifications, which are best known for classifying universities according to their level of research activity. The new Student Access and Earnings Classification measures whether institutions are enrolling and creating opportunities for students in communities the institutions serve and whether students earn competitive wages after they graduate.  

FAU joins 478 other universities as an OCU for successfully providing both access to students in the communities they serve and a path to competitive earnings.   

FAU received two measures: one for access, based on the percentage of students who receive Pell grants and the percentage of undergraduate students who are from underrepresented racial/ethnic backgrounds; and one based on undergraduate students’ post-attendance earnings eight years after entering the institution.

FAU also recently made considerable gains in the U.S. News & World Report list of “Top Public Schools,” moving up to No. 103 from No. 112 in this year’s ranking of the nation’s best universities. U.S. News & World Report also ranked FAU at No. 189 for “Top National Schools,” moving up 20 spots from No. 209 in 2024.

Since 1973, the Carnegie Classification has served as the gold standard for organizing the landscape of U.S. higher education. The 2025 Institutional Classification updates the historic approach to grouping similar colleges and universities, now organizing institutions by multiple characteristics, including their size, the types of degrees they award, and the fields of study in which students receive their degrees. 

The 2025 Student Access and Earnings Classification uses the multidimensional groupings of the 2025 Institutional Classification to evaluate student access and earnings between similar colleges and universities. By evaluating student access and earnings among peer campuses, the aim is to foster collaboration and institutional improvement with a focus on how comparable higher education can foster opportunities for student success. The methodology also considers location data for each institution, comparing an institution’s data to the relevant geographical context. 

More information about the 2025 Student Access and Earnings Classification, including the methodology, can be found here.

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