Peer Institutions

Carnegie Classification Criteria

The Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education has been the leading framework for recognizing and describing institutional diversity in U.S. higher education since 1973. This framework has been widely used in the study of higher education, both as a way to represent and control for institutional differences, and also in the design of research studies to ensure adequate representation of sampled institutions, students or faculty.

Western Michigan University considers and selects peer institutions based on their relative similarity in the following categories:

  • Control: Public
  • Level: Four-year or above

Carnegie Peer Institutions

Based on the previously described selection system and input from WMU senior leadership, the following 15 institutions were chosen as those that most resemble Western Michigan University.

 

Map showing the main campus locations of WMU's Carnegie peer institutions