Is the University of Nevada, Reno a Research University?

Yes. The University of Nevada, Reno (unr.edu) is a Carnegie® R1 research university, the classification that denotes the highest level of research activity in the Carnegie system. If research access and faculty collaboration are priorities in your college search, this is a school that meets that bar. The sections below break down what that status means in practice, based on the university's own published information.

What "R1" signals here

The Carnegie R1 designation is the headline fact, but the university backs it with concrete infrastructure and scale:

• 60+ research centers and facilities across disciplines
• 1 School of Medicine within the institution
• Hundreds of project opportunities available to students in all disciplines
• 17:1 student-to-faculty ratio, which the university frames as enabling mentorship from "world-renowned faculty"

The combination matters: a research classification alone doesn't guarantee undergraduates get meaningful lab or field time. Here, the university states that students "engage in groundbreaking research at every level — collaborating with expert faculty in labs and in the field."

What research access looks like for students

According to the university, research isn't reserved for graduate students. The stated model is collaboration with faculty across every level of study, spanning lab-based and field-based work. That means an undergraduate in, say, engineering or the sciences could plausibly join an ongoing project rather than only observing.

A useful way to test this claim before applying: ask a department directly how many undergraduates typically join a lab, and in what year. The university's own framing — "hundreds of project opportunities in all disciplines" — is broad, so the specific answer will vary by field.

How this fits into the bigger picture

Research strength is one axis; the university also positions itself on breadth and campus experience:

If your goal is a research-active environment with a wide range of programs and a traditional residential campus, these figures point in that direction. If your priority is a small, teaching-only college, an R1 public university of this scale is a different kind of fit.

A reasonable next step

The clearest way to judge whether the research resources are right for you is to visit and ask specific questions. The university invites prospective students to schedule a campus visit, which lets you see facilities and, ideally, speak with faculty or current researchers in your intended field. Pair that with a direct question to the department about undergraduate research participation — that answer will tell you more than any ranking label.