TAMIU Earns New RCU and OCU Leadership Designations in 2025 Carnegie Classifications

As Texas A&M International University (TAMIU) candidates for graduation crossed the stage at Spring Commencement Exercises, they took their place in a global alumni population whose alma mater is now one of just 33 nationwide institutions to earn both Research College & University (RCU) and Opportunity College & University (OCU) designations in the new 2025 Carnegie Classifications. 

News of the classifications recognizing TAMIU’s leadership in discovery, science, and student access was relayed by Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching president Timothy Knowles and Ted Mitchell, president of the American Council on Education.

“We are thrilled to congratulate Texas A&M International University for its leadership on two essential fronts: advancing science and discovery for the nation and prioritizing student access and success. TAMIU is rare in so clearly advancing both opportunity and innovation. Thank you for all you do for your students and our country as a whole,” they wrote.

TAMIU interim president Juan J. Castillo said earning both Carnegie designations is a rare honor that elevates the University’s research and teaching and affirms its daily mission.

“Having our hometown University recognized by both new Carnegie Classifications is a crowning achievement and a source of tremendous pride. Our gifted faculty drive discovery in and out of the classroom; our staff and administration provide solid foundational and service support to ensure our mission of service to our students is always predicated on their success.  We’re in the business of graduating students to better lives, and this recognition affirms why this will always be our North Star,” Castillo said.

The Carnegie Classification^® is the leading framework for recognizing and describing institutional diversity in U.S. higher education. The Carnegie Commission on Higher Education began developing a classification of colleges and universities to support its program of research and policy analysis in 1970. It published its first framework in 1973 which is now updated every three years to reflect changes at colleges and universities.

Long the gold standard for organizing the U.S. higher education landscape, the new 2025 Institutional Classification updates the previous approach of grouping similar colleges and universities.  Institutions are now  organized by multiple characteristics, including size, types of degrees awarded, and fields of study in which students earn and receive their degrees.

Registration for TAMIU’s Maymester, Summer, and Fall 2025 is online via Uconnect. 

For more on TAMIU’s story, visit its social media channels: Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Twitter, YouTube, and online at tamiu.edu.

To find out more about the Carnegie Classification, visit: https://carnegieclassifications.acenet.edu