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Four Louisiana universities will receive a new research designation under revamped Carnegie Classifications.

Xavier University of Louisiana, University of Louisiana Monroe, Southeastern Louisiana University and LSU Health Sciences Center Shreveport will receive the new designation.

In total, 218 colleges and universities received the new designation.

Previously, the American Council on Education, which doles out the designation, only categorized universities as “R1” or “R2,” meaning they are doctoral degree-granting institutions with either “very high” or “high” levels of research activity. In 2023, the organization announced it would begin conferring the title of “Research Colleges and Universities,” which can be awarded to schools that don’t confer doctoral degrees. Any school with at least $2.5 million in research expenditures annually will get this label.

“A highlight of our work to modernize the Carnegie Classification is the new Research Colleges and Universities designation, which will shed light on institutions that have engaged in research but historically haven’t been recognized for it,” ACE president Ted Mitchell said. “Instead of limiting research designations to the select institutions that award PhDs, all types of colleges and universities will now be celebrated for their research contributions.

LSU Health Sciences Center New Orleans, which was previously classified as a “special focus” institution, is now classified as an R2 university. Louisiana’s other R2s include the University of New Orleans, Louisiana Tech and Southern University.

Louisiana’s R1 universities are LSU, Tulane and the University of Louisiana Lafayette.