Lawrence Technological University in Southfield has been newly classified in the R-Research Colleges and Universities category by the Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education.
The reclassification recognizes recent strong growth in Lawrence Tech’s research activity, including sponsored research funding and investment in research scholarships.
The Carnegie Classifications of Institutions of Higher Education are a framework for categorizing colleges and universities in the United States.
The classifications are based on an institution’s mission, function, and empirical data. Established in 1970 and revised numerous times since, the classifications are used by researchers, policymakers, and funders to benchmark postsecondary institutions.
The R classification is a new part of a 2025 revision of Carnegie’s classifications.
Colleges and universities in the R category must have sponsored research funding of at least $2.5 million a year.
Lawrence Tech’s sponsored research funding has grown from $1.8 million in 2020-21 to $3.1 million in 2021-22, $4.6 million in 2022-23, and more than $9 million in 2023-24. Research funding comes from industry partners and government agencies such as the National Science Foundation and the National Institutes of Health.
“This new classification from Carnegie is another milestone on LTU’s continuing transformation from primarily a teaching institution to an institution that is both a research powerhouse and a university that offers superior teaching as well,” says Tarek M. Sobh, president of LTU.
“As LTU leaders have long noted, it is the responsibility of a truly eminent university to not only give students existing knowledge, but to offer them the opportunity, through research, to create new knowledge for the benefit of society.”
All five of LTU’s Colleges — Architecture and Design, Arts and Sciences, Business and Information Technology, Engineering, and Health Sciences — have been part of a growing emphasis on campus research.
Two years ago, LTU established a new Office of Research and Economic Development to provide resources for its faculty to win more research funding, and to provide both undergraduate and graduate students with more opportunities to conduct research that is published in peer-reviewed scientific journals.
The office is led by former longtime LTU Dean of Engineering Nabil Grace, who over her career attracted more than $25 million in research funding, mostly in the areas of advanced materials for road and bridge construction.
“Under Dr. Sobh’s leadership, Lawrence Tech is well on its way to our goal of becoming an institution that earns Carnegie’s classification of R2, High Research Activity,” Grace says. “Our faculty is currently pursuing millions of dollars more in research funding that will result in scientific advances to improve the lives of people in Michigan and around the world, and we are pursuing new doctoral programs in a wide variety of disciplines.”
Lawrence Tech is one of only 13 independent, technological, comprehensive doctoral universities in the U.S. Founded in 1932, the university offers more than 100 programs through its Colleges of Architecture and Design, Arts and Sciences, Business and Information Technology, Engineering, and Health Sciences, as well as Specs@LTU as part of its growing Center for Professional Development.
Activities on Lawrence Tech’s 107-acre campus include more than 60 student organizations and NAIA varsity sports.
For more information, visit Lawrence Technological University.
