After 4-years of decline, universities report increased federal R&D funding for FY 2016

For the first time in five years, federal funding for higher education research and development increased in both current and constant dollars, according to recently released data from the National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics within the National Science Foundation. In FY 2016, universities reported $72.0 billion in total R&D expenditures, a 4.8 percent increase from FY 2015. Of this amount, more than half (54 percent) came from the federal government. Institutionally financed research represented 16 percent, the second largest source of R&D funds at universities in FY 2016.

NSF’s annual Higher Education Research and Development Survey includes information on 640 institutions reporting at least $1 million in R&D. The authors find considerable stability in year-to-year comparisons of the largest performers of university R&D. Johns Hopkins University ($2.4 billion), the University of Michigan ($1.4 billion), the University of Pennsylvania ($1.3 billion), and the University of California at San Francisco ($1.3 billion) reported the largest R&D expenditures in FY 2016.

For the FY 2016 survey, there were substantive changes made to the field list; classification structure of R&D; and, scientific fields were renamed with some disciplines moved to different subfields. Several universities also changed the way that they report their R&D funding, which in some instances leads to large increases from FY 2015 to FY 2016. A change in reporting medical school R&D, for example, led to a 50 percent increase in R&D funding for the University of Pennsylvania during that time.

A future Digest article will explore R&D expenditures at colleges and universities by state.