To earn this classification, APU had to meet stringent standards. Carnegie evaluates universities that offer doctoral programs, and analyzes their commitment to research based on data provided by the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System. Carnegie then gives each a designation an R1 or R2. To qualify for these two top levels, they must have awarded at least 20 research/scholarship doctoral degrees and had at least $5 million in total research expenditures.
R1 universities have “very high research activity.” However, because the faculty members focus so heavily on research, they often rely on their graduate assistants to teach their courses. The R2 classification means that the university engages in “high research activity.” At R2 institutions like APU, faculty members are deeply engaged in original research, teach their own courses, and often involve their students in their research projects.
The Carnegie R2 classification ensures APU students that they are attending an institution that values and invests in research and are learning from faculty who have current, relevant, and cutting-edge experience in the field. The best professionals who choose to teach often seek out research universities, knowing that their innovative approaches, methodologies, and insights will be met with institutional support. Finally, by pursuing and supporting high-level research, APU and its students can add a respected voice to debates surrounding the world’s most pressing societal issues, add exert influence in the fields of technology, ethics, and politics.
As APU celebrates its 25th anniversary of offering doctoral programs, this Carnegie R2 classification affirms its goal to engage faculty and students in high-level scholarship in every discipline.