Expanding NIH-Focused R&D and Contracting Opportunities: HBCUs conduct research aligned with NIH mission priorities, including biomedical research, public health, nutrition, chronic disease, biotechnology, clean energy, and cybersecurity. These institutions also operate within high-growth North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) sectors, highlighting their potential to drive scalable market innovation—a priority emphasized in EO 14283, which calls for promoting “innovation, excellence, and workforce development at HBCUs to contribute to the nation’s science and technology infrastructure.” The PEI Initiative operationalizes this by pairing HBCUs with commercial business partners who provide acquisition lifecycle support, business development guidance, and strategic planning, helping these institutions increase participation in NIH- funded R&D projects, grants, and contracts.
Creating a Sustainable Research Ecosystem Model: PEI fills gaps left by traditional research metrics by offering implementation support through applied R&D metrics, capacity-building strategies, and contract-readiness tools. By fostering partnerships with federal agencies, public stakeholders, and private- sector organizations—as envisioned in EO 14283—PEI equips HBCUs not only to compete but also to lead in innovative research ecosystems that support national priorities. EO 14283 calls for promoting “innovation, excellence, and workforce development at HBCUs to contribute to the nation’s science and technology infrastructure.”
As previously noted, the Carnegie Classification has been the primary national framework for categorizing higher education research activity and infrastructure. In 2025, Carnegie updated its research activity metrics to better capture institutional research capacity. The new R1 designation, characterized by very high research activity, requires at least $50 million in annual research expenditures and the conferral of at least 70 doctoral degrees; 187 institutions currently hold this designation. The R2 designation, indicating high research activity, maintains thresholds of $5 million in expenditures and 20 doctoral degrees awarded annually, with 139 institutions currently recognized. A newly introduced category, Research Colleges and Universities (RCU), recognizes institutions with at least $2.5 million in research expenditures, regardless of doctoral production, and includes 216 institutions nationwide. The new RCU category classifies institutions with measurable research expenditures regardless of doctoral 4 Background
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