Morgan President to Join Team of Education Experts in Reimagining the Carnegie Classification System

President David K. Wilson Included Among 18 College/University Presidents to Participate in Carnegie Classifications Institutional Roundtable

BALTIMORE — The Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education has announced its selection of Morgan State University President David K. Wilson as a Carnegie Classifications Institutional Roundtable participant. Wilson joins 17 other college and university presidents, representing a diverse range of institutional types, in examining the incentive structures underlying classification systems and how the current iteration of the Basic Classification has impacted decision-making on campuses. The educational leaders will also explore how a new social and economic mobility classification might be formulated to better capture the range of diverse missions in higher education and support constructive use of the Carnegie Classifications to better promote institutional learning and increase economic mobility. The roundtable will commence its work in November.

“It is an honor and privilege to be called to lend my voice and insights to such a critical discussion surrounding how we evaluate institutions of higher education. The Carnegie Classifications have long been the standard for differentiating and recognizing the work of those within the higher education sector, and the addition of a social and economic assessment strengthens their value,” said President Wilson. “I applaud (the American Council on Education) and the Carnegie Foundation for the bold steps they have taken to advance the Carnegie Classification system, and I look forward to joining my fellow college and university leaders in reimagining its future.”

This past August, a Carnegie Classifications Technical Review Panel, composed of leading data experts from colleges and universities as well as from research organizations, began convening to examine the methodology and data that will form the foundation of new versions of the Classifications, to ensure they best reflect the purpose, mission, focus and impact of higher education. Over the next 12 to 18 months, both the Institutional Roundtable and the Technical Review Panel will work to prepare the release of the new Classifications in 2024.

First published in 1973, the Carnegie Classifications are the nation’s leading framework for clustering diverse U.S. higher education institutions in like terms so the work and impact of each can be understood in relation to those of the others.

The American Council on Education (ACE) and the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching announced earlier this year that they were collaborating on a new version of the Carnegie Classifications. Most notably, this next iteration will include a new social and economic mobility classification, which will reflect an institution’s commitment to and success in achieving those goals, while effectively serving a diverse, inclusive student population. A framework of the new Classification is expected to be unveiled in late 2023.

In 2018, the Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education elevated Morgan from a moderate research classification of R3 to a classification of R2, a status reserved for doctoral universities with high research activity. At the time, Morgan joined only 130 other universities nationwide with an R2 classification. A component of the University’s latest 10-year strategic plan, Goal 3, calls for Morgan to elevate its status to an R1, very high doctoral research university.

For more information about the future of the Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education, visit the organization online.

About Morgan

Morgan State University, founded in 1867, is a Carnegie-classified high research (R2) institution offering more than 140 academic programs leading to degrees from the baccalaureate to the doctorate. As Maryland’s Preeminent Public Urban Research University, and the only university to have its entire campus designated as a National Treasure by the National Trust for Historic Preservation, Morgan serves a multiethnic and multiracial student body and seeks to ensure that the doors of higher education are opened as wide as possible to as many as possible. For more information about Morgan State University, visit www.morgan.edu.

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Media Contacts:

Larry Jones or Dell Jackson, for University PR
443-885-3022