| AAAS | American Association for the Advancement of Science |
| ACS | American Community Survey |
| AP | Advanced Placement |
| ATP | Advanced Technology Program |
| AUTM | Association of University Technology Managers |
| BEA | U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis |
| BLS | U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics |
| CATI-MERIT | Cooperative Agreements and Technology Indicators database, Maastricht Economic Research Institute on Innovation and Technology |
| CCD | Common Core of Data |
| CDC | U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention |
| CORE | Cooperative Research (database) |
| CPS | Current Population Survey |
| CRADA | cooperative research and development agreement |
| DHS | U.S. Department of Homeland Security |
| DNA | deoxyribonucleic acid |
| DOC | U.S. Department of Commerce |
| DOD | U.S. Department of Defense |
| DOE | U.S. Department of Energy |
| DOI | U.S. Department of the Interior |
| DVR | digital video recorder |
| EDP | electronic data processing |
| ELS | Education Longitudinal Study |
| EPO | European Patent Office |
| EPSCoR | Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research |
| ESP | extrasensory perception |
| EU | European Union |
| FASB | Financial Accounting Standards Board |
| FDA | U.S. Food and Drug Administration |
| FDI | foreign direct investment |
| FDIUS | Survey of Foreign Direct Investment in the United States |
| FFRDC | federally funded research and development center |
| FS&T | federal science and technology |
| FY | fiscal year |
| G-7 | Group of Seven |
| G-8 | Group of Eight |
| GATT | General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade |
| GDP | gross domestic product |
| GED | General Educational Development |
| GM | genetically modified |
| GPA | grade point average |
| GSP | gross state product |
| GSS | General Social Survey |
| GUF | general university fund |
| HHS | U.S. Department of Health and Human Services |
| HS&B | High School and Beyond Study |
| IB | International Baccalaureate |
| ICT | information and communications technologies |
| IOF | involuntary out of the field |
| IPR | intellectual property right |
| IRI | Industrial Research Institute |
| IRS | Internal Revenue Service |
| ISI | Institute for Scientific Information |
| ISIC | International Standard Industrial Classification |
| IT | information technology |
| MER | market exchange rate |
| MMR | measles, mumps, and rubella |
| MNC | multinational corporation |
| NAEP | National Assessment of Educational Progress |
| NAGB | National Assessment Governing Board |
| NAICS | North American Industry Classification System |
| NAS | National Academy of Sciences |
| NASA | National Aeronautics and Space Administration |
| NASF | net assignable square feet |
| NCES | National Center for Education Statistics |
| NCLB | No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 |
| NCRA | National Cooperative Research Act |
| NCRPA | National Cooperative Research and Production Act |
| NELS | National Education Longitudinal Study |
| NIH | National Institutes of Health |
| NIOEM | National Industry-Occupation Employment Matrix |
| NIPA | national income and product account |
| NIST | National Institute for Standards and Technology |
| NITRD | Networking and Information Technology Research and Development |
| NNI | National Nanotechnology Initiative |
| NRC | National Research Council |
| NS&E | natural sciences and engineering |
| NSB | National Science Board |
| NSCG | National Survey of College Graduates |
| NSF | National Science Foundation |
| NTU | National Technological University |
| OECD | Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development |
| OMB | U.S. Office of Management and Budget |
| PBS | Public Broadcasting Service |
| PCT | Patent Cooperation Treaty |
| PDA | personal data assistant |
| PhRMA | Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America |
| PISA | Programme for International Student Assessment |
| PPP | purchasing power parity |
| PRO | public research organization |
| PTO | U.S. Patent and Trademark Office |
| PUMS | Public Use Microdata Sample |
| R&D | research and development |
| R&E | research and experimentation |
| RA | research assistantship |
| S&E | science and engineering |
| S&T | science and technology |
| SBIR | Small Business Innovation Research |
| SCI | Science Citation Index |
| SESTAT | Scientists and Engineers Statistical Data System |
| SFAS | Statement of Financial Accounting Standards |
| SNA | System of National Accounts |
| SRS | Division of Science Resources Statistics |
| SSCI | Social Sciences Citation Index |
| STEP | Science, Technology and Economic Policy Board |
| STTR | Small Business Technology Transfer Program |
| TA | teaching assistantship |
| TIMMS | Trends in International Math and Science Study |
| UFO | unidentified flying object |
| UNESCO | United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization |
| USDA | U.S. Department of Agriculture |
| USDIA | Survey of U.S. Direct Investment Abroad |
| VCU | Virginia Commonwealth University |
| WebCASPAR | Integrated Science and Engineering Resources Data System |
| YSD | years since highest degree |
