The University of Arizona earns Carnegie Elective Classification for Sustainability through 2025 pilot
From left to right, Triston Hooks, Gabby Nkeze, and Bree Gomez in the Teaching Greenhouse at the Controlled Environment Agriculture Center (CEAC).
The University of Arizona has earned the Carnegie Elective Classification for Sustainability, becoming one of the first 14 institutions to receive the new classification.
The classification recognizes institutions that demonstrate how sustainability is integrated across areas including curriculum, research, operations, career preparation, and community engagement.
The University of Arizona participated in the 2025 pilot program, which brought together diverse higher education institutions in a national community of practice to test and help shape the classification's framework, application process, and review criteria. To learn more about the classification, head to the Office of Sustainability's webpage.
As a pilot institution, The University of Arizona completed a collaborative and rigorous self-study and provided feedback on the Carnegie framework, prompts, evidence requirements and review process.
The Carnegie Elective Classification for Sustainability is hosted by the University of Colorado Boulder, working alongside the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching and the American Council on Education.
“The first group of inaugural institutions help bring this new classification to life,” said Timothy F.C. Knowles, president of the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. “We’re proud to recognize their leadership and the many ways they are advancing sustainability across their campuses and communities.”
The 14 pilot institutions receiving the classification are:
Bennett College
Carleton College
Clarkson University
George Mason University
Mt. San Antonio College
Pima Community College
Tohono O’odham Community College
Universidad del Sagrado Corazón
University of Arizona
University of California, Merced
University of Idaho
University of Nebraska-Lincoln
University of Nevada, Las Vegas
University of Wisconsin–Eau Claire
These institutions will be part of the inaugural cohort of classified institutions, which will be announced in June 2027 alongside institutions participating in the first full classification cycle. Institutions who receive the Carnegie Elective Classification for Sustainability will retain it for six years, through 2033.
Learn more about the Carnegie Elective Classification for Sustainability.
About the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching
The mission of the Carnegie Foundation is to catalyze transformational change in education so that every student has the opportunity to live a healthy, dignified, and fulfilling life. Enacted by an act of Congress in 1906, the Foundation has a rich history of driving transformational change in the education sector, including the establishment of TIAA-CREF and the creation of the Education Testing Service, the GRE, Pell Grants, and the Carnegie Classifications for Higher Education. For more information, please visit www.carnegiefoundation.org.