What does it mean by a “research university”?

Question

For example, University of Maryland, Baltimore County is said to be a research university. (Same thing for Rice University, for example.)

Are there "non-research universities" also? What is the difference?

Answer 1

There are research universities and there are teaching universities.

• Research universities have graduate programs and their focus is on doing research. This means most professors teach one or two classes (some have 0!) but have other obligations.

• Teaching universities on the other hand don't typically have graduate programs (if they do, it is just a Master's program) and the professors have full teaching loads (I think 3-4 courses is the norm) with little expectations to publish. Two examples off the top of my head:

  • Montclair State University. If you google this school the first result's description says, "With an enrollment of 13500 students, MSU is New Jersey's only public teaching university."
  • Austin Peay State University, where I did my undergrad is considered a teaching university. Every professor has a full course load and not a single one of the professors I had has published in the past 5 years.

UPDATE: chronicle.com defines teaching university as one where professors have "a standard teaching load of four courses a semester", from Interviewing at a Teaching University.

Answer 2

In the US, the Carnegie classification is used to describe different kinds of academic institutions. The system changed in 2005, but under the previous incarnation, universities that had significant research components were called "R1" universities. Under the new system, universities with research components are called "RU/H" or "RU/VH" (Research University/(V)ery (H)igh research). It's most likely that the term 'research university' is an indirect reference to this.

Update: The Carnegie classification has many categories of institution: only three of them are predominantly research-focused. So there are many more "non-research" institutions than there are research institutions.

Answer 3

In the US context (and many other countries) the difference can be somewhat foggy. However, in the past (1900-1930's), US university landscape adopted that invented in Germany (c.f. here, Chap. 2), therefore looking how Germans do it can be indicative.

In Germany, Austria and Switzerland you would see a distinction between a Universität and a Fachhochschule (or sometimes just called Hochschule), also translated as University of Applied Sciences. Citing from:

It (Fachhochschule) differs from the traditional university (Universität) mainly through its more application or practical orientation and less research. ... The Fachhochschule represents a close relationship between higher education and the employment system. ... Nevertheless, in Germany the right to confer doctoral degrees is still reserved to Universitäten.

I guess, the difference applies to different countries as well, though the nomenclature would differ.