Clasificación de las instituciones de educación superior: lecciones de la Clasificación Carnegie

A broad overview of the purposes, issues, and challenges associated with classifying institutions of higher education is presented, drawing on the experience of The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching’s widely used classification of colleges and universities in the United States. The Carnegie Classification serves as a convenient example to illustrate general issues and challenges related to classifying institutions of higher education. The presentation is organized around three fundamental questions that should be considered in the design of a classification system: (a) Why classify? (b) How to classify? and (c) What secondary uses and consequences can be anticipated? The article concludes with a short list of recommendations that may help inform a nascent classification effort.