North Carolina A&T State University Chancellor James R. Martin II said on Tuesday, June 23, that the university has already met every requirement to become one of the nation’s top research universities and expects to receive its official R1 designation next year – a milestone he said would transform not only the university but Greensboro’s economy as well.
Martin made the remarks during a panel discussion following Greensboro Mayor Marikay Abuzuaiter’s State of the City address at The Pyrle Theater.
The discussion focused largely on Vision 36, the city’s new 10-year strategic framework, and on how Greensboro can retain more of the talent produced by its colleges and universities.
For Martin, one of the biggest answers is A&T’s continued rise as a research institution.
Martin said A&T has already met the criteria to receive Carnegie Classification’s R1 designation, which recognizes universities with the highest levels of research activity in the nation.
“Let me explain what R1 is,” Martin said. “It’s short for Research 1 and it stands for a categorization of universities in the United States based on how much research they do.”
He said universities with extensive research activity differ from other institutions in virtually every respect, from the makeup of their budgets and faculty to graduate enrollment, economic development and innovation.
Under the current Carnegie criteria, an R1 university must spend at least $50 million annually on research and development and award at least 70 research doctorates each year.
Martin said A&T has already surpassed those benchmarks.
“We’re right on the threshold,” Martin said. “In fact, we have passed all the criteria, so the next official announcement, which will be about a year from now, we will be in that category.”
When that happens, A&T will join a very small group of universities nationwide.
“There are approximately 4,000 colleges and universities in the United States that offer degrees,” Martin said. “There are only about 180 R1 universities. It’s less than 3 percent.”
When A&T receives its official designation next year, it will become the sixth university in North Carolina classified as an R1 research institution. The state’s current R1 universities are Duke University, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, North Carolina State University, the University of North Carolina at Charlotte and East Carolina University.
The designation has become an increasing point of emphasis in North Carolina’s higher education system. UNC Charlotte and East Carolina both earned R1 status in 2025.
The designation will also carry special significance for A&T as one of the nation’s leading historically Black colleges and universities. Currently, Howard University is the only HBCU officially classified as an R1 institution. When A&T receives the designation it will join a very small and prestigious group of HBCUs recognized for the highest levels of research activity in the country.
Martin said earning the designation strengthens virtually every measure of university success.
“What it really means for the university is every single metric that we care about, whether it’s graduation rate, retention rate, attractiveness to students, value of degree, all the economic development that you talked about, every single one of those measures increases when you become an R1 university,” Martin said.
He said the designation would also increase state support, make it easier to recruit nationally recognized faculty, expand graduate education and make A&T more attractive to prospective students.
“Our allocations from the state, our support from the state, all of that increases as an R1 university,” Martin said. “Our demand for our programs will increase.”
Martin added that the benefits would extend far beyond the university’s campus.
“What it means for the region is that we become more of an economic engine for the region,” he said.
He said an R1 university produces more research that can be transformed into new technologies, businesses and jobs while attracting larger graduate programs and more highly skilled workers.
“The one word that I want to use here is it becomes ‘gravitational,’” Martin said.
He said that once a university reaches R1 status, it begins attracting a different level of attention from both government agencies and private industry.
“When you become an R1 university, it means that you have done enough to really show your ability to do impactful research and people are coming to you,” Martin said during the panel discussion. “The major agencies are coming here, like the Department of Defense, or Department of War, and also it means the major companies are coming here to have not just transactional partnerships but strategic partnerships.”
Martin also said that kind of transformation aligns directly with the goals outlined in Greensboro’s Vision 36 initiative, helping create economic opportunity while making Greensboro a place where people want to live, work, play and stay.
Abuzuaiter agreed, saying that kind of growth is exactly what city leaders hope to encourage through Vision 36.
The prospect of A&T joining the nation’s top tier of research universities also drew enthusiastic praise from the other higher education leaders participating in the panel discussion.
Guilford College President Jean Parvin Bordewich said the designation would benefit not only A&T but students throughout Greensboro’s higher education community.
“I think it’s very exciting, and congratulations,” Bordewich said.
She said many Guilford College students continue their education after earning bachelor’s degrees, and having a nationally recognized research university in Greensboro would provide another reason for graduates to remain in the city.
“Having an R1 institution, I think, will again help our students stay in Greensboro because they will have that graduate school,” Bordewich said.
While Guilford offers three master’s degree programs, she said the opportunities available through an R1 university would be on an entirely different scale.
“I see that as being a multiplier in terms of being a magnet for our students,” Bordewich said.
Greensboro College President Lawrence Czarda said he’s already witnessed the impact an R1 designation can have.
Before coming to Greensboro College, Czarda served at George Mason University near Washington, DC, when it achieved Research 1 status.
“It is transformational in a way that you almost can’t see coming,” Czarda said.
He said the change quickly altered the university’s national reputation and dramatically improved its ability to recruit faculty.
“All of a sudden at George Mason we were hiring faculty from Michigan, from Berkeley, from Texas,” Czarda said. “It makes a huge difference.”
He congratulated Martin and said the designation would benefit not only A&T but Greensboro’s entire higher education community.
Martin credited the university’s progress to years of work by faculty, staff and administrators.
“It’s a lot of hard work by a lot of people,” he said.
A&T’s official R1 designation will represent one of the most significant milestones in the university’s history and could become one of the biggest economic development events Greensboro has seen in years.
More than simply adding another prestigious label to the school, the designation would strengthen Greensboro’s ability to attract research dollars, corporate partnerships, graduate students, entrepreneurs and high-paying jobs.
For years, city leaders have talked about keeping more of the talent produced by Greensboro’s colleges and universities. A&T’s rise into the nation’s top tier of research institutions could become one of the city’s strongest tools for accomplishing that.
