American Research Universities: Their Role in Undergraduate Education.

The nature of U.S. research universities, which emphasize both graduate education and research, is discussed. Three elements that account for their character and unity are: a commitment to academic values, distinguished faculties, and considerable resource bases and resource flows. Research universities have been classified by different criteria, including those of the Carnegie Classification. In addition to about 20 institutions that are the most prestigious and most involved in high-dollar, big-science research, there is a second tier of research universities that can be distinguished as having generally smaller departments and graduate programs that are not top-ranked in national quality rankings. These institutions can be designated as regional research universities. A third group of research universities (but not necessarily a third or lower tier) consists of flagship state universities, land-grant universities, and large private universities that undertake large amounts of research, but also have substantial amounts of undergraduate teaching. Undergraduate teaching and research at 20 top-ranked research universities are discussed, along with academic values and resources. Current finances at the schools and undergraduate education are also discussed. (SW)