About the Carnegie Elective Classification for Sustainability
The Carnegie Elective Classification for Sustainability recognizes higher education institutions that integrate sustainability and climate action into their core missions. This classification provides a rigorous framework for evaluating sustainability efforts across the curriculum, research, operations, community engagement, and workforce development, highlighting institutions that demonstrate an extraordinary commitment to advancing sustainability.
Participating institutions undergo an intensive self-assessment process to highlight achievements, identify areas for continuous improvement, foster leadership, and share best practices across the higher education sector.
Our Classification
The University of Arizona has earned the Carnegie Elective Classification for Sustainability, becoming one of the first 14 institutions to receive the new classification. Learn more about the process, leadership team, and the impact of the classification from University of Arizona News.
The classification recognizes institutions that demonstrate how sustainability is integrated across areas including curriculum, research, operations, career preparation, and community engagement. Receiving the classification is a celebratory milestone for the university’s sustainability work.
Beginning in 2025, the University of Arizona was one of only 20 institutions nationwide selected to participate in the Carnegie Elective Classification for Sustainability pilot program, representing a significant milestone in our ongoing commitment to sustainability and climate action. Participation in the pilot provided the opportunity to test and help shape the classification's framework, application process, and review criteria with a diverse cohort of higher education institutions, including research universities, liberal arts colleges, community colleges and minority-serving institutions.
Our Partners & Teams
Pursuing the classification was a collaborative effort, made possible by the community partners that provided key letters of support to demonstrate community endorsement. These partnerships exemplify the university’s role as a community-embedded institution that collaboratively works to shape a more sustainable future for Southern Arizona.
The University of Arizona’s participation in the Carnegie Elective Classification for Sustainability was guided by a Core Team and an Advisory Team, working together to ensure a comprehensive and impactful submission. These teams were responsible for aligning the university’s sustainability initiatives with the classification framework, coordinating outreach efforts, and developing our institutional responses for the application.