Fort Lewis College recently received a Research Colleges and Universities designation from the 2025 Carnegie Classifications of Institutes of Higher Education that recognized the school's growing investment in undergraduate research.
“It is really exciting to have this new classification,” said Nardy Bickel, the college’s spokeswoman. “We think we're pretty unique as an undergraduate institution, and this is another recognition of the work we're doing, both for our students and in our larger community.”
The CCIHE is a framework used to describe and categorize institutions of higher education across the U.S. Classification is determined through levels of research activity, degree offerings and institutional missions.
Prior to 2025, there were only two classifications for research universities, disqualifying schools without doctoral programs. The new category, “Research Colleges and Universities,” is awarded to institutions that spend at least $2.5 million a year on research and development, regardless of whether they offer doctoral programs.
The designations were posted on Feb. 6.
In recent years, Fort Lewis has massively expanded its research portfolio.
As of December 2024, the college had invested nearly $50 million in research, a 36% increase over 18 months, according to a news release from the college.
Bickel said research at Fort Lewis spans a wide range of topics, with more than 100 projects.
It gives students hands-on experience that they may not have access to at larger universities, Bickel said.
She highlighted the Thermal Hydraulics Lab, led by Billy Nollet, associate professor of Physics & Engineering. With the help of undergraduate students, Nollet’s lab develops instruments, pumps, filters and mechanical systems for liquid sodium cooling systems.
FLC is one of only five universities engaged in this type of sodium research.
Bickel said the amount of experience students receive, not just in Nollet’s lab but in the countless others across campus, gives them a leg up when applying to postgraduate research programs.
“Because they're able to get into the lab before other people, when they apply to grad school, they can go straight to the PhD programs, which is quite amazing,” Bickel said.
Fort Lewis students have installed solar panels on the Navajo Nation, analyzed downtown transportation for Durango Transit, and investigated previously undocumented behaviors of regional plant and animal species, Bickel said.
“That's a benefit to the community,” she said, “but it’s also a benefit to the students who are doing this research.”
jbowman@durangoherald.com
