Research Recognition

Swarthmore College is classified as a Research College and University (RCU) and an Emerging Research Institution (ERI). These labels are applied by external organizations to recognize the College’s contributions to research.

In 2025, the Carnegie Commission on Higher Education created the RCU designation to recognize the important research contributions of colleges and universities which do not offer doctoral degrees. Swarthmore is among 216 institutions in total and one of only 32 liberal arts colleges to bear this designation, a testament to the high-level of research conducted by our faculty and students. RCU institutions spend at least $2.5 million annually on research & development in both externally and internally funded research expenses.

The ERI designation was created in 2022 by the U.S. Congress through the CHIPS and Science Act. An ERI must have an established undergraduate or graduate program and annually spend less than $50M in federal science and engineering research and development expenditures. Colleges and universities report their research expenditures using the NSF Higher Education Research and Development (HERD) Survey. ERIs such as Swarthmore conduct ground-breaking research and are vital participants in the nation’s research and development ecosystem.