The University of Maryland, Baltimore County has received a Carnegie Classification, the nation’s highest designation for research universities.
Two other universities in Maryland – Johns Hopkins University and the University of Maryland – share the classification.
The Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education ranked UMBC in the R1 category, which signifies “very high research activity.”
UMBC is one of only 146 R1 institutes nationally, including 107 public universities and 39 private universities.
“This is an amazing accomplishment by faculty, staff, and administrative leaders who have built a research culture that nurtures undergraduate and graduate students,” said UMBC president Freeman Hrabowski in a news release.
Carnegie bases the designation on factors such as graduate education, research expenditures, and productivity in research and creative achievement.
In recent years, UMBC’s research enterprise has grown.
In 2021, UMBC faculty secured more than $200 million in new research awards.
Recent high-impact research awards include a $72 million award from NASA for the new Goddard Earth Sciences Technology and Research (GESTAR) II center and a $10 million award from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to advance sustainable land-based aquaculture.
“This milestone reflects our commitment to excellence across the disciplines, from the humanities to the sciences,” Hrabowski said.
