The American Council on Education (ACE) and the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching today unveiled a new website as part of their efforts to reimagine the Carnegie Classifications and modernize the nation’s leading framework for grouping institutions of higher education. Consistent with the vision for the Carnegie Classifications to reflect today’s diverse postsecondary ecosystem, the new website brings with it a number of new tools and designs meant to increase transparency and further its usage for a wide audience. 

The new website expands the ways the Carnegie Classifications can be used by creating an opportunity to view, filter, and sort institutions by their basic and elective classifications along with other criteria, including an institution’s location and population served—allowing for the classifications to be used in a number of ways to help group and identify institutions. The new website for the first time combines the elective and universal classification data into one streamlined website. This adjustment allows for a fuller picture of an institution’s characteristics, while also creating a universal hub for data and information related to the Carnegie Classifications, including news and changes ahead. 

The site introduces several new features including:

• Modern search functionality. The new website includes accessible and easy-to-use search filters, allowing researchers, practitioners, and the general public opportunities to discover commonalities between institutions, identify peer groups, and see the diversity within the higher education landscape. This will facilitate classifications that are more approachable and accessible to a broader set of people and potential users.
• Additional context on the Elective Classifications. Users can easily view, sort, and search by the Community Engagement Elective Classification, which is viewable alongside the universal classifications, allowing for a more robust usage of the classifications. The website serves as a central resource for institutions to learn more and apply for Elective Classifications.
• Providing greater transparency around the methodology behind the classifications. The new website provides a more accessible and clearer sense of how classifications are defined and the methodology used, making it easier for institutions, researchers, and the public to understand how the classifications are formed.
• New resources and blog: Check back here for what’s next. The website includes new resources on the Carnegie Classifications to keep users up to date on key research, analysis, and announcements. As the Carnegie Classifications get ready for changes and additions in the future, check back to see what’s in store and anticipated dates for future updates. We will continue to provide updates on any forthcoming changes to the basic and elective classifications, as well as a series of whitepapers written to inform a new universal Social and Economic Mobility classification.

Reimagining the Carnegie Classifications is made possible by a cohort of funders dedicated to utilizing the classifications to help postsecondary education advance students’ social and economic mobility driven by learner-centered outcomes. Our partners include ECMC Foundation, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Imaginable Futures, Kresge Foundation, Lumina Foundation, Mellon Foundation, Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, Strada Education Network, as well as a donor who wishes to remain anonymous.