Mount Holyoke College designated a research college

Mount Holyoke College has achieved a historic milestone by attaining a designation as a research college. 

The American Council on Education (ACE) and the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching recognized Mount Holyoke under the Research Colleges and Universities classification for investing an average of at least $2.5 million annually in research expenditures.

The Carnegie Foundation and ACE recently updated the methodology for Research Activity Designations and announced the changes on Thursday, along with a list of institutions that received a designation. The Research Colleges and Universities designation is new for 2025 and more than 200 institutions have been classified as such. 

Mount Holyoke continues to open opportunities for bright minds and bold ideas to come together, preparing learners and leaders to navigate scientific complexities and make meaningful contributions to scholarship and research.

“These updates to the Carnegie Classifications are the first step to bring a decades-old system into the twenty-first century,” said Timothy Knowles, president of the Carnegie Foundation. “We are expanding our recognition of the range of ways colleges and universities engage in research and development.” 

Ted Mitchell, president of ACE, said, “A highlight of our work to modernize the Carnegie Classification is the new Research Colleges and Universities designation, which will shed light on institutions that have engaged in research but historically haven’t been recognized for it. Instead of limiting research designations to the select institutions that award Ph.Ds, all types of colleges and universities will now be celebrated for their research contributions. That’s great news.”

“Before these updates, it was not clear what was required for institutions to earn a research designation. Now, the designations are more straightforward, and we are hopeful they will better capture the wide array of institutions whose missions include research,” said Mushtaq Gunja, executive director of the Carnegie Classification systems and senior vice president at ACE. “Research is one of the pillars of American higher education, so it is crucial we have a comprehensive view of how it is reflected at institutions across the country.”