U.S. Universities Report Stalled Growth in Federal Research Funding in FY 2006

January 7, 2008

Federal funding for research and development in academic science and engineering fields failed to outpace inflation in FY 2006, according to university-reported data collected by the National Science Foundation.

The NSF's "Survey of Research and Development Expenditures at Universities and Colleges" indicates that federally funded academic R&D expenditures in FY 2006 rose by 2.9% to $30 billion. But when adjusted for inflation, this amount represents a 0.1% decline from FY 2005.

For FY 2006, R&D expenditures for the mathematical sciences by universities and colleges reached $530 million, which represents a 7.2% increase over expenditures in FY 2005 ($495 million).

The top ten institutions with the largest expenditures in science and engineering were: Johns Hopkins University; University of Wisconsin-Madison; University of California, Los Angeles; University of Michigan (all campuses); University of California, San Francisco; University of Washington; University of California, San Diego; Stanford University; University of Pennsylvania; and Duke University.

The federal government remains the largest source of academic R&D funding, accounting for more than 60% of total R&D expenditures in the last 35 years. In constant 2000 dollars, federal funding for academic R&D has increased an average of 5.5% each year since the last inflation-adjusted decline in federally funded expenditures, in FY 1982.

Source: National Science Foundation.