FAMU climbs to R2, second highest research category in Carnegie Classifications

Decades of hard work to expand doctoral programs at Florida A&M University are continuing to pay off for the school. FAMU has now reached “R2: Doctoral Universities – Higher research activity” in the Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education. That is the second highest research category.

FAMU was previously categorized at what is currently “R3: Doctoral Universities – Limited research activity.” The highest research category is “R1: Doctoral Universities – Highest research activity.”

According to the Carnegie Classification definitions, the “Doctoral Universities” classification “includes institutions that awarded at least 20 research/scholarship doctoral degrees during the update year (this does not include professional practice doctoral-level degrees, such as the JD, MD, PharmD, DPT, etc.).”

Past FAMU Presidents Walter L. Smith, Frederick S. Humphries, Fred Gainous, and James H. Ammons all pushed aggressively to increase the number of Ph.D. programs at FAMU in order to help the university climb up the Carnegie Classifications.

Most of the Ph.D. programs at FAMU are in the FAMU-FSU College of Engineering. They are: Biomedical Engineering, Chemical Engineering, Civil Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, and Industrial Engineering.

The other Ph.D. programs at FAMU are: Physics, Educational Leadership, Pharmaceutical Sciences, and Environmental Science. FAMU also participates in a cooperative Ph.D. program in Entomology with UF. UF officially awards the degree to students.

FAMU and Florida Atlantic University are the two R2 schools in the State University System of Florida (SUS). The SUS has five schools in R1: Florida International University, Florida State University, University of Central Florida, University of Florida, and the University of South Florida-Main Campus.  

No historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) are currently in the R1 category. The R2 HBCUs are FAMU, Clark Atlanta University, Howard University, Jackson State University, and North Carolina A&T University.