Georgia Southern Gains Higher Status as Research University

Georgia Southern University has been elevated to an “R2” high research institution in the revised 2018 Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Learning. It is the second-highest classification for research institutions in the country.

Carnegie ranked 4,424 universities and colleges – public and private, both for profit and not for profit. Of those, 120 were  classified as R1 or Doctoral Universities: Very High Research   Activity, and 139 – including Georgia Southern – were designated as R2 or Doctoral Universities: High Research   Activity.

“This says our faculty have been doing a good job,” said Carl L. Reiber, Ph.D., Georgia Southern’s provost and vice president for academic affairs. “This is a great accomplishment. From a national perspective, it really does put us in a different league. This will say a lot about who we are to prospective students and faculty.”

Reiber said last year Georgia Southern spent about $17.5 million on research to support the University’s broader educational goals and in support of the region’s needs. The elevated ranking of an   R2 came after computing those expenditures with the number of doctoral degrees awarded.