There are some people who really are thirsty to do things and run things and create and make a difference, and those people are trapped in academia because a lot of them can’t see a way of supporting themselves doing a different thing. If you can set up structures where they have that support, you can find a lot of people who can become 50, 100X more productive by simply not just being academics all the time.

Tyler Cowen

From an excellent discussion on finding talent with Tyler Cowen and Daniel Gross in Tyler’s podcast: Conversations with Tyler.

• Research Universities I typically offered a full range of baccalaureate programs, awarded fifty or more doctoral degrees, and received annually $40 million or more in federal support.
• Research Universities II also typically offered a full range of baccalaureate programs and awarded fifty or more doctorates, but they received between $15 million and $40 million per year in federal support.
• Doctoral Universities I offered a full range of baccalaureate programs and awarded at least forty doctoral degrees annually in five or more disciplines.
• Doctoral Universities II offered a full range of baccalaureate programs and awarded at least ten doctoral degrees in three or more disciplines or twenty or more doctorates per year total.
• Master’s (Comprehensive) Colleges and Universities I offered a full range of baccalaureate programs and awarded forty or more master’s degrees annually in three or more disciplines.
• Master’s (Comprehensive) Colleges and Universities II also typically offered a full range of baccalaureate programs, but they awarded twenty or more master’s degrees per year in one or more disciplines.
• Baccalaureate (Liberal Arts) Colleges I were primarily undergraduate colleges with a major emphasis on baccalaureate programs. They awarded forty percent or more of their degrees in liberal arts fields, and their admissions policies were selective.
• Baccalaureate (Liberal Arts) Colleges II were also primarily undergraduate colleges with a major emphasis on baccalaureate programs. They awarded less than forty percent of their degrees in liberal arts fields, and their admissions policies were less selective.
• Associate of Arts Colleges offered associate of arts certificate or degree programs.
• Specialized Institutions offered at least fifty percent of degrees in a particular field. Examples include medical and law schools; faith-related institutions, such as seminaries and rabbinical schools; schools of business, engineering, art, and design; and military institutes.
• Tribal Colleges and Universities were members of the American Indian Higher Education Consortium and were typically tribally controlled and located on reservations.

Questions?

• What are the most selective institutions in each category? The largest enrollment? Highest graduation rates?
• What the geographic distribution of institutions within each category?
• Which institutions have changed categories? How have they fared?