Report Provides Evidence of Public Research University Impact on Public Good

Although they represent a small proportion of the total number of institutions in the U.S. higher education system, the impact of public research universities is profound and widespread, according to a recently released report from the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (The Academy). The report, which is divided in three sections, provides insight into how public research universities act as centers of discovery, drive economic development and social wellbeing, and serve their communities.

Public Research Universities: Serving the Public Good is the fourth of five publications from The Lincoln Project, an initiative of The Academy focused on studying the importance of public research universities, analyzing economic trends affecting their operation, and recommending new strategies to sustain and strengthen them. With an advisory group comprised of notable business, political, and academic leaders and financial support from five foundational partners, the research papers developed by The Lincoln Project:

• Present key facts about public research universities;
• Examine the challenges facing higher education funding at the state level;
• Discuss current and changing financial models of public research universities; and,
• Consider the myriad impacts of the research conducted at these institutions.

A key finding of the newest report is that, as centers of discovery, public research universities are responsible for conducting much of the science, medicine, engineering, and technology research that occurs in the United States. Many of America’s most innovative products and services, ranging from touch screens to genomics, are a result of the efforts at public research universities. Of the 168 members elected in 2015 to the National Academy of Inventors, more than half (90) work at public research universities.

The report also highlights ways in which public research universities drive economic development and social well-being. Public research universities act as cultural institutions – supporting the arts, community discourse, and social capital – in addition to serving as hubs of research and innovation. As anchors of stability and growth in their regions, public research universities are a core of regional innovation systems. While public universities may have flagship campuses rooted in a particular community, their impacts are far reaching. For example, vendor spending from sponsored research projects is surprisingly widespread, according to data compiled by the University of Michigan’s Institute for Research on Innovation and Science (IRIS): Between the third quarter of 2013 and the second quarter of 2014, just eight public research universities in the Midwest spent more than $1.7 billion on goods and services from vendors in 1,750 counties across the United States.  

On a local level, the report suggests that public research universities serve their communities by serving as centers of cultural learning, enhancing quality of life by acting as an access point to arts, performance, recreational, educational, and civic engagement activities. Many public research universities have professional schools that foster community service and engagement around areas such as public health, social work, law, policy, or planning. Through extension programs, many institutions also offer both degree-granting and nondegree educational opportunities through outreach initiatives, and distance learning.

In its fifth and final publication, The Lincoln Project will propose substantive policy recommendations for sustaining public research universities. The previous four publications can be found below:

• Why They Matter;
• Changes in State Funding; and,
• Understanding the Financial Model,