SIU Carbondale student Ashlynn Shea tends to a tank at the university’s coral farm. It is one example of many of the research that occurs on campus. (Photo by Russell Bailey)
May 15, 2025
SIU Carbondale among 21 U.S. universities named top for research and opportunity
CARBONDALE, Ill. – Southern Illinois University Carbondale is part of an extraordinary group. It is one of only 21 institutions in the country to be included on the Carnegie Classification of Institutions for Higher Education’s lists for Research 1 and Opportunity Colleges and Universities.
“Many institutions can say they conduct top-level research, and many schools can say they offer affordability and a great return on investment,” said Chancellor Austin A. Lane. “These designations from Carnegie show very few – less than 1% in fact – can say both. At Southern, we can.”
One-hundred-eighty-seven of the nearly 4,000 institutions evaluated by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching and the American Council on Education are Research 1: Very High Spending and Doctorate Production, or R1, the same designation as elite private universities and flagship schools. R1 universities must have at least 70 research doctorates and $50 million in research expenditures. In 2023, for example, SIU Carbondale had 102 research doctorates and $58.3 million in research expenditures.
Opportunity Colleges and Universities – Higher Access, Higher Earnings, or OCU, is part of Carnegie’s new Student Access and Earnings Classification, which measures whether institutions are enrolling and creating opportunities for students in communities they serve and whether students earn competitive wages after they attend. Four-hundred-seventy-nine schools have been named Opportunity Colleges and Universities, which serve as a model for how campuses can foster student success.
“We are thrilled to congratulate Southern Illinois University Carbondale for its leadership on two essential fronts: advancing science and discovery for the nation and prioritizing student access and success,” Timothy Knowles, president of the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, and Ted Mitchell, president of American Council on Education, said in an email.
In Illinois and the neighboring states of Indiana, Kentucky, Missouri, Tennessee, Wisconsin and Iowa, only three institutions are both R1 and OCU: SIU Carbondale, University of Illinois Chicago and University of Louisville.
“Southern is the only one of those three serving a rural area,” Lane said. “The closest university that is both R1 and OCU is over 200 miles away.”
Research at SIU Carbondale, which incorporates the School of Medicine campus in Springfield, includes disciplines in STEM, the arts, the humanities, law, medicine, business, education, agriculture, social sciences and more.
SIU Carbondale is also committed to the success of its students, Lane said. About two of every five students are the first in their families to go to college, and almost 40% of SIU Carbondale students are ethnic minorities. More than one-third of students receive Pell Grants.
The university has implemented several initiatives in recent years to help students become alumni, including strengthening the first-year experience, launching the HEROES program to help students meet basic needs and reinstituting the Dr. Seymour Bryson Future Scholars summer program.
Those efforts pay off in a literal way. A recent community impact study found that SIU Carbondale graduates get almost $3 for every dollar they invest at the university.
“Salukis have always known SIU Carbondale is exceptional,” Lane said. “I am grateful for the faculty and staff dedicated to making our campus and the SIU experience special.”