In an update announced by Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education, Daemen College has been elevated to the top tier classification – doctoral – making it one of only two private colleges in the Buffalo Niagara region to earn this prestigious distinction.

Daemen has been advanced from the master’s colleges and universities/ larger programs category to the doctoral/ professional universities classification. With this major change, Daemen, D’Youville College, and the University at Buffalo are the only three institutions in Western New York included in the doctoral category.

“Daemen’s advancement to the top tier classification as a doctoral university is a historic milestone in our emerging status as a college of national distinction,” said Daemen President Gary Olson. “A higher level Carnegie status brings with it institutional prestige that has many advantages in recruiting high-quality students and faculty, enhances the attractiveness of an institution’s graduates to prospective employers, and contributes to an institution’s standing in the region.”

Daemen joins other elite institutions across the U.S. that hold the doctoral/ professional universities classification, including Hofstra University, Pepperdine University, Simmons College, and Towson University.

The Carnegie Classification system evaluates all higher education institutions based on undergraduate and graduate instructional programs, enrollment profile, undergraduate profile, size and setting, and basic classification.

The Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education has been the leading framework for recognizing and describing institutional diversity in U.S. higher education for more than four decades. The Carnegie Commission on Higher Education developed a classification of colleges and universities to support its program of research and policy analysis.