Full details of the classification system and an institutional database can be found at http://carnegieclassifications.iu.edu/classification_descriptions/basic.php. The following information is extracted from this site.
Doctoral Universities
Includes institutions that awarded at least 20 research/scholarship doctoral degrees during the update year and also institutions with below 20 research/scholarship doctoral degrees that awarded at least 30 professional practice doctoral degrees in at least 2 programs.
Master’s Colleges and Universities
Generally includes institutions that awarded at least 50 master’s degrees and fewer than 20 doctoral degrees during the update year.
Baccalaureate Colleges
Includes institutions where baccalaureate or higher degrees represent at least 50 percent of all degrees but where fewer than 50 master’s degrees or 20 doctoral degrees were awarded during the update year.
Baccalaureate/Associate’s Colleges
Includes four-year colleges (by virtue of having at least one baccalaureate degree program) that conferred more than 50 percent of degrees at the associate’s level .
Associate’s Colleges
Institutions at which the highest level degree awarded is an associate’s degree. The institutions are sorted into nine categories based on the intersection of two factors: disciplinary focus (transfer, career & technical or mixed) and dominant student type (traditional, nontraditional or mixed).
Special Focus Institutions
Institutions where a high concentration of degrees is in a single field or set of related fields.
Tribal Colleges
Colleges and universities that are members of the American Indian Higher Education Consortium, as identified in IPEDS Institutional Characteristics.