The Carnegie Classification is the primary framework for describing institutional types in U.S. higher education. The Carnegie Classification structure was developed in 1970 by the Carnegie Commission on Higher Education as a way of organizing the commission’s research and policy work. It has subsequently become widely accepted [Page 219]as the leading categorization method to describe higher education institutions in the United States. This entry describes the origin and control of the classification system, the classifications themselves, and the current issues related to the classification system today.