Trinity Joins Inaugural Carnegie Classification for Research Colleges and Universities

Trinity University has been designated by the American Council on Education as a Research College and University in the 2025 Carnegie Classifications. This new designation recognizes institutions historically overlooked for their research contributions, including those with limited or no doctoral programs. Trinity is among 216 non-R1 and non-R2 institutions that invest more than $2.5 million annually in research.

In 2023, the most recent year for which data are publicly available from the National Science Foundation, Trinity managed nearly $5.3 million in research and development expenditures, including $1.2 million committed from the University’s own operating and endowment funds. This funding supported projects that examined Shakespeare as told from the U.S. borderlands, uncovered AI's potential in gene function prediction, enhanced local nonprofits through data-driven consulting, showcased artifacts connecting Trinity and San Antonio history, and so much more.

“Research is central to who we are and what we do at Trinity, and this designation honors decades of commitment to creative inquiry,” says Megan Mustain, Ph.D., provost and vice president for Academic Affairs. “We know that learning how to discover is at least as important as learning about what has been discovered. Whether advancing scientific innovation, uncovering new historical perspectives, or analyzing emerging trends, Trinity has a deep history of excellence and innovation that suffuses the work that goes on in our classrooms, labs, studios, and beyond.”

And that inquiry is woven into Trinity’s DNA. For more than a century, students and faculty have pursued cutting-edge discoveries that push their fields forward. From early investigations to today’s groundbreaking studies, Trinity undergraduates have consistently contributed to the global research community, presenting at national and international conferences for decades. This legacy of scholarship continues to define the Trinity experience, empowering students to ask bold questions, think critically, and create lasting knowledge.

“Creating knowledge is something that happens at Trinity pretty commonly: an undergraduate paper or thesis becomes the seed for a major, peer-reviewed publication—perhaps even one that can shift the way research is done in an entire field,” says earth and environmental geosciences professor Benjamin Surpless, Ph.D. In partnership with the Keck Consortium, Surpless and several undergraduates are using a combination of drones and classic geologic field mapping to interpret the evolution of complex fault systems.

Discover more about Trinity’s storied research program, in which all 27 of the University’s academic departments participate.