Building on previous SSTI analysis showing that Higher Education Research & Development (HERD) expenditures increased across the U.S. despite the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, this edition of Useful Stats examines the distribution of R&D spending among the various fields of research at the nation’s colleges and universities. Specifically, this analysis examines 2020 HERD expenditures by state and field of research, finding that the life sciences continued to dominate academic R&D activity, accounting for 57.5 percent ($49.6 billion) of total HERD spending. Engineering was the second most funded research field in 2020, accounting for 15.9 percent ($13.7 billion) of the national total. The third most funded research field was physical sciences, accounting for 6.6 percent ($5.7 billion) of total U.S. HERD expenditures.