Southern University has been awarded a grant from the U.S. Department of Education to pursue a prestigious research designation that no Historically Black College and University currently holds.
The university is currently designated by the Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education as an R2 university, meaning it has “high” research activity, but ranked below R1 universities with “very high” research activity. The classification system recently adopted changes that simplified how universities achieve R1 status.
The Biden administration will grant Southern $5 million through the department’s Research and Development Infrastructure program to establish research centers focused on advanced manufacturing and biological sciences, hire faculty, expand its doctoral programs in science, technology, engineering and mathematics fields and provide research seed money to faculty.
Grants were also awarded to four other HBCUs, two Tribally Controlled Colleges and Universities (TCCUs), three Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSIs), and one dual HSI and Asian American and Native American Pacific Islander-Serving Institution (AANAPISI).
Nine other schools will receive funds through the Postsecondary Student Success Grant program for services for underserved student populations. The awards total $93 million in total.
Several other schools receiving the grant aim to achieve R1 status.
To be designated as R1, a university must confer at least 70 doctoral degrees annually and spend at least $50 million on research annually, according to the new standards.
Southern University spent $11 million in research in 2021, according to the most recent data available from the National Science Foundation. The university has made progress in the number of doctoral degrees it has awarded in recent years. In the 2021-2022 school year, it conferred 21 Ph. D. degrees and awarded double that number in 2022-2023, a university spokesperson shared with the Illuminator.
Correction: This report has been updated to reflect that Howard University, a private HBCU in Washington, D.C., was previously classified as an R1 but lost that status in 2005.
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