New Student Access and Earnings Classification Recognizes Institutions That Foster Opportunities for Student Success
Stony Brook University has been designated as an Opportunity College and University by the Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education®, recognizing Stony Brook as an institution that can serve as a model for studying how campuses can foster student success.
The Opportunity Colleges and Universities designation is part of a newly developed Student Access and Earnings Classification published this month by the Carnegie Foundation and the American Council on Education. This new classification examines the extent to which institutions foster opportunities for student success by measuring whether institutions are enrolling students reflective of the communities they serve and how the earnings of those students compare to peers in their area.
In 2025, 479 institutions have been identified as Opportunity Colleges and Universities, which is about 16 percent of all U.S. colleges and universities that are in the Student Access and Earnings Classification.
Stony Brook is one of only three members of the American Association of Universities — North America’s leading research universities — to be designated as higher opportunity and higher earnings, along with Arizona State University and the University of California Irvine. Of the four university centers in the State University of New York (SUNY), Stony Brook is the only institution to receive this designation. Other SUNY colleges in this classification are SUNY at Fredonia, SUNY College of Technology at Alfred, SUNY Cortland, SUNY Oneonta and SUNY Polytechnic Institute.
“Stony Brook is one of the nation’s leading research universities, with a growing and highly diverse student body that includes many who are the first in their families to attend college,” said Interim President Richard L. McCormick. “This Carnegie Classifications recognition is a testament to Stony Brook’s commitment to providing an exceptional education that is accessible to students from all backgrounds. Our students graduate and we are among the top universities in propelling their affluence and opportunity.”
The methodology for the new Student Access and Earnings Classification uses multidimensional groupings of the 2025 Institutional Classification to evaluate student access and earnings between similar colleges and universities.
The classification is based on data institutions reported to the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System, data that was collected by the U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard, and data from the U.S. Census Bureau. Institutions receive two measures: one for access, which is based on the percentage of students who receive Pell Grants and the percentage of undergraduate students who are from underrepresented racial/ethnic backgrounds, and one that is based on undergraduate students’ post-attendance earnings eight years after entering the institution. In the classification, this data has been contextualized to consider local demographic and economic data.
The Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education is the leading framework for recognizing and describing institutional diversity in U.S. higher education. The Carnegie Commission on Higher Education developed the classification in 1973 to support its program of research and policy analysis, and it was updated in 1976, 1987, 1994, 2000, 2005, 2010, 2015, 2018, 2021 and 2025 to reflect changes among colleges and universities. It will next be updated in 2028, with subsequent updates every three years.
Learn more about 2025 Student Earnings and Access Classifications, including the methodology, on the Carnegie Classification website.
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