Loyola Marymount University Breaks Into Carnegie Classifications' 'High Research' Category

LOS ANGELES, Feb. 19, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Loyola Marymount University has broken into the upper echelon of American universities, gaining recognition for its high level of research expenditures and advanced degree offerings.

In the latest update to the Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education, LMU moved into the Doctoral University: High Research Activity category, a substantive change which recognizes the university's commitment to high-level research and its growth in doctoral degrees offered to students.

The Carnegie framework is a tool used by college ranking groups and higher education researchers to group similar institutions of higher education, based on the number of advanced doctoral degrees awarded and total research expenditures. Before moving into the R2 category, LMU was classified as a master's university.

"This change to our classification, the first since 1994, is a recognition of the quality of the education LMU provides and the scholarly work our faculty and students engage in, and more accurately reflects LMU's standing among institutions of higher education," said Executive Vice President and Provost Thomas Poon. "While no category of university is 'better' than another, we are excited by this acknowledgment, which shifts LMU's profile from that of a regional university to a new peer group of national universities."

LMU offers an education doctorate degree in educational leadership for social justice, and recently inaugurated a doctorate in juridical science degree at Loyola Law School. Poon also cited LMU faculty's success in attracting external research funding, from sources that include the National Institutes of Health, National Science Foundation, Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, California Department of Public Health, Lilly Endowment, Inc., U.S. Department of Education, Fletcher Jones Foundation, USDA, Sobrato Family Foundation, and many others.

"Our new classification among national universities will have a positive impact on how prospective students discover and perceive LMU," said Maureen Weatherall, vice provost for enrollment management. "Students across the country and around the world will now better understand the quality of an LMU education, the outstanding opportunities that await them, and that they are seeking enrollment at a globally recognized institution."

The classification framework was first developed by the Carnegie Commission on Higher Education and published for the first time in 1973. Subsequent updates have followed through the years, and administration of the classifications was transferred to the Center for Postsecondary Research at Indiana University in 2014. 

CONTACT
Mason Stockstill
310.338.5133
mason.stockstill@lmu.edu

ABOUT LOYOLA MARYMOUNT UNIVERSITY
Loyola Marymount University, the University of Silicon Beach, is ranked in the top 15 percent of higher education institutions nationally by The Wall Street Journal. Founded in 1911, LMU is a Catholic, Jesuit, and Marymount university with more than 6,500 undergraduate students and more than 3,000 graduate and law students. LMU offers 61 undergraduate majors and 55 minor programs, along with 49 master's degree programs, three doctorate programs and 13 credential/authorization programs. LMU's intercollegiate athletics teams compete in the West Coast Conference with 22 Division I and varsity sports.

LMU news and events are found at: www.lmu.edu/news. 

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SOURCE Loyola Marymount University