There’s a reason Howard University is regarded as “The Mecca.” In historic news, the historically Black university expects to be granted Research-1 (R1) status this upcoming spring, a title the university lost in 2005 after the Carnegie Classification requirements changed, according to The Chronicle of Higher Education.
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R1 status colleges and universities are at the forefront of groundbreaking research. They receive federal grants and private funding to advance their academic research, so this is a large deal for Howard and an even bigger deal for all Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs).
“For HBCUs, in the research that we do, there’s a stated and higher commitment to historically disenfranchised communities,” Bruce Jones, senior vice president for research at Howard, told The Chronicle. “Elevating HBCUs to [R1] status opens the door for them to acquire more resources and do more things in terms of meeting the community mission.”
With Howard on track to join universities like Princeton University, Brown University, and Emory University, the school could potentially become a research leader in areas directly affecting the Black community. From issues like Sickle Cell Disease to voter participation, Howard is expected to join research conversations and truly affect change for Black people around the globe.
Howard’s expected R1 status will make it the only HBCU with such status, although Research-2 (R2) HBCUs like North Carolina A&T State University and Southern University continue to fight for the classification.
Howard first became an R1 university in 1987. Last school year, Howard awarded 91 Ph.D.s and spent more than $85 million on research, dramatically surpassing the current Carnegie Classification requirements.
Since 2005, the university has made several steps inching closer to regaining R1 status. In 2023, Howard became the first-ever HBCU to serve as a military affiliated research center. Months before that, Howard announced a $11.5 million partnership with the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative to advance genomics and genetics research.
HBCUs are historically underfunded, but with Howard’s expected R1 status, things could change for the better.
