UH takes big step up to Tier One status UH gets good news, but work remains

The University of Houston's quest to become the state's next top tier university — a designation that would put it alongside Rice University, the University of Texas at Austin and Texas A&M University — received a major boost Tuesday.

The latest rankings from the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching move UH to its highest category, for universities with "very high research activity."

That ranking is updated every five years, based upon criteria including research expenditures, number of doctorate degrees awarded and the size of the university's research staff.

UH previously ranked in Carnegie's second tier, for "high research activity."

Rice, UT-Austin and A&M are the only other Texas universities on the list, which is considered an indication of Tier One status.

That's good news for UH. Renu Khator was hired as president of UH and chancellor of the four-university UH system just over three years ago and charged with raising the UH flagship to the top level of national research universities.

But she said the Carnegie recognition is just a start.

"We have a huge road still to travel," she said.

Among her next priorities: raising the graduation rate and bolstering the university's reputation in its hometown.

"We want to make the University of Houston the choice for the (city's) best and the brightest," she said. "As of now, we are telling them, you need to leave town."

The designation by the Carnegie Foundation, a policy and research organization focused on higher education, doesn't mean UH is now officially a Tier One school. Other rankings consider criteria beyond the research portfolio.

But it does offer proof that the university's research program has grown dramatically.

"It's really about a key academic element," said John Antel, who as provost is the university's top academic leader. "It says our research has sufficient breadth and reach to be (more highly) ranked."

7 schools pursuing goal

Rice, UT-Austin and A&M are the only Texas universities that are widely acknowledged as Tier One schools, and in 2009, legislators approved a plan to create more, saying the research they generate is good for the state's economy.

UH and six other schools — Texas Tech, the University of North Texas and UT campuses in Arlington, Dallas, El Paso and San Antonio — were designated to receive additional state funding to help them reach the goal.

The money will be awarded only when the schools meet a list of criteria; it would be spent on such things as hiring faculty and building laboratory space.

Money always an issue

UH comes closest to meeting the criteria, but it's not clear when it or the other schools will begin to receive the additional money.

And even if UH were to qualify for the Tier One funding this year, it and other public colleges and universities are likely to sustain cuts — maybe significant ones — in basic state support for higher education.

That's because the state is facing a multibillion-dollar budget shortfall, and higher education is expected to be one of the main targets for cuts.

Khator acknowledged concerns that Tuesday's announcement could be interpreted as a sign UH doesn't need additional money from the state.

It does, she said, and the Carnegie designation proves that it will use it wisely.

"We have shown the state that the investment is worth it," she said.

There's no standard definition for what makes a school tier one, although rankings by the Carnegie Foundation, U.S. News & World Report and other groups are a factor.

In general, top tier schools have annual research expenditures of $100 million or more, attract top high school students and offer a wide range of undergraduate and graduate programs.

Another measure is membership in the Association of American Universities. That's by invitation only, and leaders of the elite group of 63 schools have indicated they are in no hurry to expand.

UH faculty received more than $100 million in research grants last year, more than any of the other emerging research universities. Its goal is $200 million by 2021.

6 years to a diploma

Its six-year graduation rate remains a sticking point. Just 45.6 percent of students graduate within six years of starting as freshmen, a 10 percent increase over the past two years but below the state average of 56.8 percent.

UH leaders say their school must do better.

A $5 million grant from the Houston Endowment will help expand graduate programs, but Antel said UH also has poured money into undergraduate education, building new dorms, hiring more academic advisers and expanding its honors college.

Higher admission standards are set to go into effect in 2012, with another bump in 2014.

That could help with the U.S. News & World Report rankings, which focus on undergraduate education and currently place UH in the second tier of national research universities.

jeannie.kever@chron.com