Boston College affirmed among top tier of U.S. research universities
Boston College has again been recognized as one of the nation’s premier research universities in the latest designations used by the Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education, a joint project of the Carnegie Foundation and the American Council on Education.
The University was classified a Research 1 – or R1 – institution, the highest classification, based on “Very High Spending and Doctorate Production.” Each year, R1 institutions spend at least $50 million on research and development and award at least 70 research doctorates.
In fiscal year 2023, BC’s research expenditures totaled $81.4 million, growing from $57 million in 2020. The R1 classification, which BC first attained in 2016, includes less than three percent of educational institutions in the U.S.
“[I]t's encouraging to see this external affirmation of our standing among the top tier of national research universities, as we work to advance pathbreaking scholarship animated by our distinctive mission and our ambitions to explore the frontiers of knowledge and to help address pressing societal problems.”
Provost and Dean of Faculties David Quigley said renewed classification as an R1 institution is recognition of a long-term, campus-wide commitment to research across all disciplines. The University's 2017 strategic plan identified support for research that contributes to the common good as a leading institutional priority, according to Quigley.
“Nearly a decade later,” Quigley said, “it's encouraging to see this external affirmation of our standing among the top tier of national research universities, as we work to advance pathbreaking scholarship animated by our distinctive mission and our ambitions to explore the frontiers of knowledge and to help address pressing societal problems.”
Research funding from government agencies, private foundations, and other external sources in 2023-24 topped the $80 million mark for the first time in University history, a milestone that faculty and administrators attributed to nearly two decades of strategic initiatives and investment.
Aligned with the priorities of the University’s strategic plan, investments have been made in office, classroom, and lab space, equipment and technology, and support services for researchers, all of which have expanded research capacity, retained experienced scholars, and attracted stellar new faculty.
BC has made an approximately $300 million investment in the sciences, which includes the construction of 245 Beacon Street – home to the Human-Centered Engineering Department, a rapidly growing Computer Science Department, and the Schiller Institute for Integrated Science and Society – which opened in 2022. In the liberal arts, BC opened Stokes Hall in 2013, now a focal point of humanities scholarship.
The Provost’s Office has also supported high-impact research through its IGNITE and RADS internal grants programs, designed to foster collaborative projects to advance ideas and projects that could one day compete for funding from agencies like the National Science Foundation or the National Institutes of Health, as well as private foundations.
Starting in 1970, the Carnegie Commission on Higher Education developed a classification of colleges and universities to support its program of research and policy analysis. Using empirical data on colleges and universities, the Carnegie Classification was originally published in 1973. The framework has been widely used in the study of higher education, both as a way to represent and control for institutional differences, and also in the design of research studies to ensure adequate representation of sampled institutions, students, or faculty.