Underscoring the university’s ongoing commitment to student success and access, Temple University has received the highest rating in the newly released Student Access and Earnings Classification, part of the updated Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education. 

 The new classification by the American Council on Education (ACE) and the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching recognizes colleges and universities that expand opportunity and help students achieve strong post-graduate outcomes. 

The rating places Temple among just 479 institutions nationally in the Opportunity College or University category—those identified as national models for how universities can best promote student success.  

“This new classification evaluates higher education institutions on factors that truly count: student opportunity and outcomes,” said President John Fry. “Temple is proud to be at the forefront of this effort, creating pathways for our students from a broad range of backgrounds to graduate from university, pursue their careers and achieve meaningful success.”  

Since its inception in 1973, the Carnegie Classification has served as the leading framework for categorizing U.S. higher education. The 2025 redesign updates that mission. 

“With this redesign of the Carnegie Classifications, we set out to measure what matters," said Mushtaq Gunja, executive director of the Carnegie Classification systems and senior vice president at ACE. “Nowadays, institutions can’t be reduced down to the highest degree they award because they exist to serve a wide range of students in a wide variety of ways. Using multiple factors in how we classify institutions is an essential step toward making the classifications more useful to researchers, policymakers, funding agencies and others.” 

Unlike previous versions, which grouped institutions based on the highest degree awarded, the 2025 Institutional Classification and the accompanying Student Access and Earnings Classification used a multidimensional approach—making note of geographic context and student demographics—to offer a more complete picture of how institutions serve their students. 

“The classification is a point of pride for Temple and is consistent with our mission and priorities for student success,” said Gregory N. Mandel, senior vice president and provost. “It places a spotlight on our institutional efforts to help students not only enroll but to thrive and graduate with the skills necessary to be successful in the future. We are deeply focused on expanding and enhancing our student success efforts, which is a universitywide effort, and I know our shared focus will continue to yield strong outcomes for our students.”   

The ranking comes at a time when Temple has received increased attention for its work in student support. In March 2025, the university was selected to join the prestigious University Innovation Alliance (UIA)—a coalition of 18 public research universities committed to increasing student success and reducing equity gaps in higher education. Temple is the first and only Pennsylvania institution to join the UIA. 

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“Temple’s new Carnegie Classification as an Opportunity University recognizes our deep commitment to student success,” said Jose Aviles, vice provost for enrollment management. “This distinction reflects our mission to expand access and provide a strong, data-driven support system—from academic advising to wellness services—to help all students, including first-generation and low-income students, succeed.” 

Since the spring semester of 2024, Temple has introduced several major initiatives aimed at supporting students from enrollment to graduation. Among them are the following. 

Temple Promise provides last-dollar funding to help eligible low-income Philadelphia students graduate debt-free. 

Temple Future Scholars offers early intervention and college access programming for low-income, first-generation-to-college middle and high school students from Philadelphia public schools. 

A student peer ambassador program trains current Temple students to offer guidance to at-risk, first-year students and connect them to key university resources. 

The Direct-TU One Stop Student Services Center—known simply as “the Stop”— streamlines access to critical student services, such as financial aid, academic support and billing assistance. 

Additionally, Temple was recently awarded a grant from the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities to scale its peer mentorship model across the entire university. The new mentorship program will launch in fall 2025.  

“This classification serves as an affirmation of the work we do at Temple to fulfill our mission, but it is more than just an honor—it’s a responsibility,” said Fry. “It challenges us to continue to innovate, remove barriers, and ensure that in addition to welcoming students from all walks of life, we see them through to graduation and beyond.

—Kim Fischer