Self-Study Design - Howard University, Graduate School

need. In this manner, it advances the goal of Congressman Rangel to create an excellent and
diverse U.S. Foreign Service that represents the rich range of talents and expertise of the
American people. The Rangel program selected its first fellows in 2003, and there are currently
41 Rangel Fellows, 21 of whom are in the Foreign Service. Beginning in 2008, the Rangel
Program will increase the number of fellows per year from 10 to 20.
Institutional Aspirations
In 1987, Howard University was classified for the first time as a Research I university by the
Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. This historic moment meant that with its
more than 50 Ph.D. graduates per year in more than 15 disciplines, and its greater than $40
million in annual federal research grants, Howard ranked among the top 88 research universities
in the country. At that time, Howard became one of only 25 private universities, and the only
minority-serving university, to have reached that lofty status. In its subsequent revised
classification in 2000, Howard was again listed in Carnegie’s top classification for research
universities, Doctoral/Research Extensive, which contained 149 institutions.
In 2005, Carnegie once again revised its classification system. This time, Howard ranked in the
top overall category for research universities with medical schools, specifically Comprehensive
Doctoral with Medical/Veterinary Schools, alongside 78 of the nation’s leading research
universities. In this 2005 Carnegie classification, Howard was listed in the second research
grouping among research universities, “High Research Activity,” as opposed to “Highest
Research Activity.”
While there is great debate within the academic community as to the validity of rankings of
universities by various popular publications, Howard, nonetheless, does fairly well in relation to
the nation’s major research universities. For example, in the most recent U.S. News and World
Report rankings, Howard University ranked 96th among what the magazine classifies as “Top
National Research Universities,” tied with Stony Brook University–SUNY and the University of
Arizona, and ranked above such major research universities as Arizona State University,
University at Buffalo–SUNY, University of Massachusetts–Amherst, University of Oklahoma,
and University of Oregon. This same publication ranks Howard 36th among the Top 50 “Best
Value” National Research Universities when both quality and costs factors are considered
together, just behind Georgetown University and ahead of such institutions as the University of
Texas–Austin, Boston College, the University of Miami, Syracuse University, Tulane
University, and the University of California–Berkeley.
In rankings within academic disciplines by popular publications and by such research
organizations as the National Research Council, however, Howard University’s record is mixed.
For example, the Wall Street Journal ranks its School of Business as the top business school in
the country for minority graduates. Some of Howard’s academic disciplines rank in the upper
one quarter—and sometimes even higher—among those offered at other universities. Other
academic disciplines are ranked variously in the third and fourth quartiles when compared to
their peers.
Within this context, Howard University seeks to build upon the solid reputation it has garnered
among the nation’s research universities to advance to an even higher stature. To begin with, the
9