When Morgan State University President David Wilson declared in 2020 that the Baltimore-based HBCU would join the nation’s top tier of research institutions within a decade, it sounded like an ambitious long game. In 2020, Wilson announced that Morgan State—a 158-year-old HBCU—would aim for the coveted “Research 1” or “R1” Carnegie classification within a decade.
At the time, only one HBCU, Howard University in Washington, D.C., held the designation, which requires at least $50 million in annual research expenditures and the conferral of 70 or more research doctorates each year.
Back then, Morgan State’s numbers fell well short: $17.2 million in research spending and 71 doctorates awarded. By 2030, Wilson predicted, those figures would align with R1 requirements…