Reclassifying Higher Ed: Will the New Carnegie Groupings Change the Race for Prestige?

Jeff and Michael are joined by Mushtaq Gunja, Executive Director of the Carnegie Classification Systems and Senior Vice President at ACE, to unpack the sweeping changes to the Carnegie Classifications. They explore how the new system aims to better group institutions, highlight student access and earnings, and shift incentives across funding, accountability, and rankings. The conversation dives into the implications for colleges chasing R1 status, the normative power of classifications, and whether these changes will meaningfully alter institutional behavior or simply create a new hierarchy. This episode is made with support from Ascendium Education Group and the Gates Foundation.

Links We Mention

2025 Institutional Classifications, Carnegie Classifications of Institutions of Higher Education

2025 Research Activity Designations, Carnegie Classifications of Institutions of Higher Education

Chapters

0:00 - Intro05:50 - The Changing Higher Ed Landscape08:06 - The Impact of the New Classifications10:42 - Anticipating the Normative Effects16:55 - New Funding Criteria18:13 - Shifting to a Focus on Outcomes21:17 - Measuring Access and Earnings24:53 - Encouraging Good Use of the New Classifications34:24 - Considering the Impact on Research Dollars40:28 - Institutional Response to Access and Earnings Designations46:30 - What This Means for Rankings