Federal Support Declining for Academic Research, Universities Face Challenges with Budget Constraint

The Congressional Research Service recently published findings on the current conditions of federal support of academic research, highlighting the threat that constrained university, state and federal budgets places on critical basic research. Although there is growing recognition that R&D is crucial to the long term health of the nation's science and technology sectors, data from the report shows U.S. colleges and universities have seen a decline in financial support at the federal, state and private levels. The situation is worsened by the conclusion of federal stimulus funding for university research and a decline in revenue for 35 states in FY12.

While academic R&D is funded from a variety of sources, the federal government has consistently provided the majority of funding, and according to data from the National Science Foundation, six agencies are the major funders. In FY2009, these agencies represented about 96 percent of the estimated $31.6 billion obligated for S&E R&D that year, with the National Institutes of Health providing about 65 percent of those funds. The other five are: National Science Foundation (13 percent), Department of Defense (9 percent), National Aeronautics and Space Administration (3 percent), Department of Energy (4 percent), and Department of Agriculture (3 percent). With the election now over, many are looking to President Obama who stressed the need for increased federal R&D funding for research on the campaign trail to determine whether this trend may or may not change in the years to come.