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Useful Stats: Federal Support for Science, Engineering at U.S. Universities, FY2001-11
Federal funds for science and engineering at American universities grew steadily from 2001 to 2008, jumped in 2009 and 2010 due to the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act (ARRA), and more or less returned to its original trajectory in 2011, according to survey data from the National Science Foundation (NSF). Federal S&E funding in most states followed a similar pattern. A few states, including Minnesota and Delaware, managed to sustain their level of federal S&E support after the Recovery Act funds ceased. In fact, Delaware increased its funding at a higher rate than any other state during the 2001-11 period, becoming the only state to more than double its level of federal support.
NSF’s Federal Science and Engineering Support to Universities, Colleges and Nonprofit Institutions survey tracks more types of university support than other NSF surveys. The data includes federal R&D funding, but also federal support for fellowships, training grants, R&D plant and S&E instruction facilities. The latest release provides updates on FY10 and FY11, with breakdowns by state, funding agency, nature of support and institution.
Total federal S&E support for universities and colleges rose by 39.7 percent over the 10-year period between FY2001-11. FY11, however, represented a decline from peak support levels in FY2009-10 when Recovery Act funds boost federal obligations to an all-time high. Federal S&E support for higher education hit $35.5 billion in FY09, remained steady in FY10 and fell by 11 percent in FY11.
R&D spending, which followed the same pattern, represents most of total federal S&E spending for universities. Support for R&D plant was boosted by ARRA spending, but only after having fallen for most of the decade. In the aftermath of the Recovery Act, support for R&D plant fell below FY01 levels. Spending on S&E facilities for instruction had also dwindled to their lowest point since FY84 by FY08. While ARRA provided a moderate boost, funding fell from $67.4 million to $3.8 million during the FY2001-11 period. Federal support for fellowships, traineeships and training grants remained steadier, growing by 20.1 percent over the same period.
Johns Hopkins University remains the top recipient of federal support for S&E. In FY11, the institution received $1.7 billion in federal support, more than double the amount for the second place institution, the University of Washington. The list of top institutions remained fairly static over the FY2001-11 period, with a few exceptions. The University of Minnesota and Pennsylvania State University were among the top twenty institutions in FY01, but both jumped several spots up the rankings in FY11 to join the top ten. The University of Michigan, University of California, San Diego, University of California, San Francisco, and the University of Pennsylvania consistently have ranked among the top institutions for federal S&E funding.
Despite the dominance of Maryland’s Johns Hopkins, California institutions as a whole received more federal S&E support than universities in any other state. UC San Diego and UC San Francisco lead, but UCLA and Stanford University also both ranked in the top ten in FY11. The other top five states include New York, Maryland, Pennsylvania and Massachusetts.
The biggest gains in the FY2001-11 period happened in Delaware, Georgia and North Dakota. The University of Delaware did not rank in the top 100 national institutions for S&E funding in FY01, but had risen to 77 by FY11. During the same period, Georgia Tech rose from 57 to 25 and Georgia’s Emory University rose from 38 to 27. Both the University of North Dakota and North Dakota State University more than tripled their federal S&E support levels over the decade.
SSTI has prepared a table featuring federal support for S&E activities at universities and colleges by state for the FY2001-11 period. The data includes funding levels in FY01, FY06, FY10 and FY11. Download the table in Excel format…
Federal Support for Science, Engineering at U.S. Universities, FY2001-11
(Dollars in thousands)
| State and outlying area | 2001 | 2006 | 2010 (includes ARRA funds) |
2011 | 1 Year Change | 5 Year Change | 10 Year Change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total U.S. | 22,491,561 | 28,264,540.0 | 35,328,069.7 | 31,427,148.4 | -11.0% | 11.2% | 39.7% |
| Alabama | 370,085 | 481,392.0 | 481,652.2 | 434,052.0 | -9.9% | -9.8% | 17.3% |
| Alaska | 92,254 | 71,894.0 | 127,049.3 | 89,427.6 | -29.6% | 24.4% | -3.1% |
| Arizona | 264,117 | 343,670.0 | 429,444.7 | 428,054.1 | -0.3% | 24.6% | 62.1% |
| Arkansas | 93,522 | 113,023.0 | 153,034.8 | 109,762.5 | -28.3% | -2.9% | 17.4% |
| California | 3,016,474 | 3,736,697.0 | 4,771,710.0 | 4,274,070.3 | -10.4% | 14.4% | 41.7% |
| Colorado | 617,840 | 673,393.0 | 756,723.2 | 685,451.8 | -9.4% | 1.8% | 10.9% |
| Connecticut | 391,557 | 517,940.0 | 659,044.3 | 573,975.3 | -12.9% | 10.8% | 46.6% |
| Delaware | 55,632 | 86,838.0 | 111,981.2 | 121,613.4 | 8.6% | 40.0% | 118.6% |
| District of Columbia | 220,365 | 208,248.0 | 360,939.7 | 349,098.2 | -3.3% | 67.6% | 58.4% |
| Florida | 548,591 | 634,655.0 | 885,189.7 | 743,815.9 | -16.0% | 17.2% | 35.6% |
| Georgia | 500,630 | 637,237.0 | 898,907.7 | 914,745.7 | 1.8% | 43.5% | 82.7% |
| Hawaii | 122,112 | 217,475.0 | 235,681.2 | 184,019.1 | -21.9% | -15.4% | 50.7% |
| Idaho | 40,459 | 62,019.0 | 67,062.2 | 59,586.2 | -11.1% | -3.9% | 47.3% |
| Illinois | 827,094 | 1,028,738.0 | 1,354,824.1 | 1,231,146.1 | -9.1% | 19.7% | 48.9% |
| Indiana | 303,392 | 387,200.0 | 594,783.5 | 471,620.3 | -20.7% | 21.8% | 55.4% |
| Iowa | 281,689 | 319,541.0 | 380,168.8 | 353,378.6 | -7.0% | 10.6% | 25.4% |
| Kansas | 148,759 | 161,975.0 | 258,159.1 | 196,384.2 | -23.9% | 21.2% | 32.0% |
| Kentucky | 166,094 | 230,709.0 | 273,047.0 | 233,324.0 | -14.5% | 1.1% | 40.5% |
| Louisiana | 173,134 | 264,536.0 | 256,454.3 | 250,584.9 | -2.3% | -5.3% | 44.7% |
| Maine | 40,624 | 35,743.0 | 77,591.0 | 40,115.0 | -48.3% | 12.2% | -1.3% |
| Maryland | 1,319,192 | 1,694,375.0 | 2,144,501.6 | 2,163,352.4 | 0.9% | 27.7% | 64.0% |
| Massachusetts | 1,220,018 | 1,573,333.0 | 1,926,719.0 | 1,688,577.6 | -12.4% | 7.3% | 38.4% |
| Michigan | 685,093 | 849,036.0 | 1,111,493.9 | 1,055,129.3 | -5.1% | 24.3% | 54.0% |
| Minnesota | 325,252 | 384,697.0 | 500,233.1 | 549,674.4 | 9.9% | 42.9% | 69.0% |
| Mississippi | 171,877 | 233,946.0 | 261,604.4 | 151,233.4 | -42.2% | -35.4% | -12.0% |
| Missouri | 507,625 | 635,766.0 | 704,318.8 | 600,690.4 | -14.7% | -5.5% | 18.3% |
| Montana | 84,592 | 105,818.0 | 119,491.3 | 109,131.9 | -8.7% | 3.1% | 29.0% |
| Nebraska | 108,199 | 139,309.0 | 231,817.2 | 146,664.9 | -36.7% | 5.3% | 35.6% |
| Nevada | 66,853 | 103,121.0 | 103,291.5 | 56,344.9 | -45.5% | -45.4% | -15.7% |
| New Hampshire | 137,920 | 159,918.0 | 175,751.7 | 149,642.4 | -14.9% | -6.4% | 8.5% |
| New Jersey | 333,912 | 453,768.0 | 561,697.4 | 491,821.9 | -12.4% | 8.4% | 47.3% |
| New Mexico | 179,660 | 229,803.0 | 224,811.9 | 177,565.2 | -21.0% | -22.7% | -1.2% |
| New York | 1,819,007 | 2,324,614.0 | 2,727,870.7 | 2,400,886.1 | -12.0% | 3.3% | 32.0% |
| North Carolina | 871,764 | 1,200,252.0 | 1,383,053.7 | 1,281,779.2 | -7.3% | 6.8% | 47.0% |
| North Dakota | 50,258 | 96,168.0 | 145,524.6 | 91,365.9 | -37.2% | -5.0% | 81.8% |
| Ohio | 620,116 | 798,580.0 | 994,511.8 | 825,802.6 | -17.0% | 3.4% | 33.2% |
| Oklahoma | 109,822 | 154,998.0 | 165,356.6 | 146,295.3 | -11.5% | -5.6% | 33.2% |
| Oregon | 292,746 | 364,994.0 | 477,360.2 | 410,199.0 | -14.1% | 12.4% | 40.1% |
| Pennsylvania | 1,331,904 | 1,631,083.0 | 2,143,528.0 | 1,939,738.2 | -9.5% | 18.9% | 45.6% |
| Rhode Island | 104,458 | 133,979.0 | 156,653.7 | 139,333.7 | -11.1% | 4.0% | 33.4% |
| South Carolina | 176,428 | 221,695.0 | 278,515.5 | 190,954.0 | -31.4% | -13.9% | 8.2% |
| South Dakota | 32,833 | 57,799.0 | 74,263.7 | 53,200.9 | -28.4% | -8.0% | 62.0% |
| Tennessee | 341,926 | 513,826.0 | 671,141.9 | 577,583.1 | -13.9% | 12.4% | 68.9% |
| Texas | 1,364,940 | 1,583,627.0 | 1,931,792.6 | 1,659,415.9 | -14.1% | 4.8% | 21.6% |
| Utah | 207,726 | 254,023.0 | 369,039.2 | 318,113.7 | -13.8% | 25.2% | 53.1% |
| Vermont | 76,913 | 90,722.0 | 101,953.8 | 88,972.8 | -12.7% | -1.9% | 15.7% |
| Virginia | 418,541 | 454,592.0 | 612,008.1 | 562,512.0 | -8.1% | 23.7% | 34.4% |
| Washington | 608,782 | 759,974.0 | 895,318.1 | 806,001.7 | -10.0% | 6.1% | 32.4% |
| West Virginia | 62,315 | 87,429.0 | 118,030.3 | 74,640.1 | -36.8% | -14.6% | 19.8% |
| Wisconsin | 448,810 | 613,085.0 | 698,788.3 | 623,296.5 | -10.8% | 1.7% | 38.9% |
| Wyoming | 36,879 | 27,393.0 | 44,679.5 | 33,506.8 | -25.0% | 22.3% | -9.1% |
Data from National Science Foundation, National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics, Survey of Federal Science and Engineering Support to Universities, Colleges, and Nonprofit Institutions
useful stats, nsf, higher ed, r&d
S&E Obligations.xlsx