The most recent statistics from the National Science Foundation (NSF) Survey of Federal Science and Engineering Support to Universities, Colleges, and Nonprofit Institutions show that in FY 2008 federal agencies obligated $28.4 billion to 1,316 academic institutions for science and engineering (S&E) activities. Although this total represents a 0.9% increase in current dollars over FY 2007 levels, it represents a 1.4% decrease in inflation-adjusted 2005 dollars (henceforth, constant 2005 dollars). From FY 2004 to FY 2008 obligations increased by 4.0% in current dollars, but when measured in constant 2005 dollars, obligations fell by 7.5% (table 1). Unless otherwise stated, all percentage changes for federal obligations listed below are in current dollars.
TABLE 1. Federal academic S&E obligations, by activity: FY 2004–08
Fiscal
year
All federal
obligations
Research and
development
R&D
plant
Facilities and
equipment for
S&E instruction
Fellowships,
traineeships,
and training
grants
General
support
for S&E
Other
S&E
activities
Current dollars (millions)
2004
27,338
23,811
382
83
1,048
421
1,593
2005
28,042
r
24,684
r
422
40
1,046
389
1,462
2006
28,265
r
24,992
r
309
17
1,037
323
1,588
2007
28,182
r
24,998
r
279
13
1,101
222
1,569
2008
28,425
25,482
275
4
862
300
1,502
Constant 2005 dollars (millions)
2004
28,230
24,588
394
86
1,082
435
1,645
2005
28,042
24,684
422
40
1,046
389
1,462
2006
27,330
24,166
299
16
1,003
312
1,535
2007
26,479
23,488
262
12
1,034
209
1,474
2008
26,102
23,399
253
4
792
275
1,379
r = data revised; replaces previously published data.
S&E = science and engineering.
NOTES: After the close of the FY 2007 survey cycle Department of Defense discovered a programming error made during the FY 2005 survey cycle that caused each advanced technology development dollar to be reported twice—once as advanced technology development and once as major systems development. Data for FY 2005–07 were revised to correct this error.
Gross domestic product implicit price deflators were used to convert current to constant dollars. Detail may not sum to total due to rounding.
SOURCE: National Science Foundation/National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics, Survey of Federal Science and Engineering Support to Universities, Colleges, and Nonprofit Institutions.
Federal academic S&E obligations include six categories: research and development, which has accounted for 87%–90% annually of total federal academic S&E obligations between FY 2004 and FY 2008; R&D plant; facilities and equipment for S&E instruction; fellowships, traineeships, and training grants (FTTGs); general support for S&E; and other S&E activities (table 1).
Federal academic R&D obligations reached $25.5 billion in FY 2008, a 1.9% current-dollar increase (a 0.4% decrease in constant 2005 dollars) over the prior year. Between FY 2004 and FY 2008 R&D obligations increased by 7%. However, when measured in constant 2005 dollars, these obligations decreased by 4.8% (table 1).
Four of the five remaining S&E categories showed decreased funding levels in FY 2008 compared with FY 2007.
Federal obligations for FTTGs decreased by 21.7% to $862 million, almost all of which resulted from funding reductions by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and NSF.
Funds for facilities and equipment for S&E instruction fell by 69.2% to $4 million, stemming entirely from decreased support from the Department of Defense (DOD).
Funding for R&D plant projects totaled $275 million in FY 2008, a 1.4% decrease over the previous year.
Obligations for other S&E activities decreased by 4.3% to $1.5 billion.
Agency Sources
HHS accounted for 60% of all federal FY 2008 academic S&E obligations. Three agencies—NSF (15%), DOD (10%), and HHS—provided 86% of total federal academic S&E funding. The Department of Agriculture, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), and the Department of Energy (DOE) provided most of the remaining academic S&E total (11%). Of these six agencies, DOE, NASA, and NSF showed increased levels of inflation-adjusted obligations for academic S&E in FY 2008 (table 2).
TABLE 2. Federal academic S&E obligations, by agency in FY 2008 rank order: FY 2004–08
Fiscal year
All agencies
HHS
NSF
DODa
USDA
DOE
NASAb
Otherc
Current dollars (millions)
2004
27,338
16,499
4,188
2,470
1,154
804
1,176
1,048
2005
28,042
r
17,216
3,950
2,396
r
1,229
940
1,091
1,221
2006
28,265
r
17,163
4,099
2,570
r
1,263
902
975
1,293
2007
28,182
r
17,527
4,210
2,820
r
1,253
814
553
1,005
2008
28,425
17,180
4,404
2,823
1,251
1,089
673
1,003
Constant 2005 dollars (millions)
2004
28,230
17,037
4,325
2,551
1,192
830
1,214
1,082
2005
28,042
17,216
3,950
2,396
1,229
940
1,091
1,221
2006
27,330
16,595
3,963
2,485
1,221
872
943
1,250
2007
26,479
16,468
3,956
2,650
1,177
765
520
944
2008
26,102
15,776
4,044
2,592
1,149
1,000
618
921
r = data revised; replaces previously published data.
DOD = Department of Defense; DOE = Department of Energy; HHS = Department of Health and Human Services; NASA = National Aeronautics and Space Administration; NSF = National Science Foundation; S&E = science and engineering; USDA = Department of Agriculture.
a After the close of the FY 2007 survey cycle Department of Defense discovered a programming error made during the FY 2005 survey cycle that caused each advanced technology development dollar to be reported twice—once as advanced technology development and once as major systems development. Data for FY 2005–07 were revised to correct this error.
b Between FY 2006 and FY 2007 NASA's R&D obligations decreased for two reasons: (1) In FY 2007 NASA excluded projects that were operational in nature that were not excluded in FY 2006, and (2) there was an overall decrease in obligations between FY 2006 and FY 2007, which accounts for the remainder of the decrease.
c Includes data for the following agencies: Departments of Commerce, Education, Homeland Security, Housing and Urban Development, the Interior, Labor, and Transportation; Agency for International Development; Environmental Protection Agency; Appalachian Regional Commission; Nuclear Regulatory Commission; Office of Justice Programs (part of Department of Justice); and Social Security Administration.
NOTE: Detail may not sum to total due to rounding.
SOURCE: National Science Foundation/National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics, Survey of Federal Science and Engineering Support to Universities, Colleges, and Nonprofit Institutions.
The Johns Hopkins University (including its Applied Physics Laboratory) continued to be the leading academic recipient of federal S&E obligations in FY 2008. Together, HHS and DOD provided Johns Hopkins with 92% of its federal S&E funds. The leading 20 universities ranked in terms of federal academic S&E obligations accounted for 34% of the federal academic S&E total in FY 2008 (table 3). All 20 of these academic recipients were also ranked among the top 20 recipients in FY 2007.
TABLE 3. Federal academic S&E obligations to the 20 universities receiving the largest amounts, by agency: FY 2008
(Dollars in millions)
Institution
All federal
obligations
HHS
NSF
DOD
USDA
DOE
NASA
Other
agenciesa
All institutions
28,424.7
17,180
4,404.4
2,823.4
1,251.2
1,089.4
673.3
1,003
Top 20 institutions
9,779.7
7,023.7
1,035.7
963.7
137.1
289.8
189.8
140.2
Johns Hopkins U., Theb
1,113.3
623.9
24.6
405.3
0.7
3.3
51.2
4.3
U. WA
613.4
417.6
81.4
49.7
3.6
22.1
10.7
28.3
U. MI all campuses
587
430.4
68.2
53.5
0.8
13.4
8.6
12.1
U. CA, San Francisco
522.5
514.1
1.2
4.6
0
1
0.8
0.7
U. PA
518.7
451.7
28
25.5
0.4
9.1
1.8
2.2
U. CA, San Diego
518
347.6
90.6
42.8
0.9
14.2
5.4
16.4
U. CA, Los Angeles
512
375.9
58.5
40.1
0
22.7
13.2
1.6
U. WI-Madison
453.1
254.2
89.2
12.4
27.8
51.1
8.3
10.3
Harvard U.
437.4
370.1
37.3
15.7
0
4.5
6.8
3.1
Columbia U. in the City of New York
433.1
317.6
74.1
10
0
9.3
8.6
13.5
Duke U.
430.9
368.9
35.1
11.2
0
9.4
1.3
5
U. Pittsburgh all campuses
429.9
386.1
20.1
16.8
0.5
3.3
1.1
2.2
Washington U. St. Louis
425.6
390
20.8
2.6
0
4.7
7.4
0.1
Yale U.
419.6
372.6
27.4
5.7
2.2
10.9
0.6
0.2
Stanford U.
419.2
297.5
50.4
32.4
0
15.9
20.4
2.7
U. NC Chapel Hill
410
360.9
28.2
6.4
0.4
3.5
0.5
10.1
MA Institute of Technology
405.8
210.7
57.1
49.4
1.8
58.8
20.8
7.2
U. MN all campuses
390.1
269.8
64.1
6.2
29.3
7.3
5.1
8.2
Cornell U. all campuses
373.8
173
128.2
16.4
36.3
8.1
5.6
6.2
PA State U. all campuses
366.3
91.1
51.2
157
32.4
17.2
11.6
5.8
All other academic institutions
18,644.8
10,156.1
3,368.6
1,859.6
1,114.1
799.7
483.7
863.1
DOD = Department of Defense; DOE = Department of Energy; HHS = Department of Health and Human Services; NASA = National Aeronautics and Space Administration; NSF = National Science Foundation; S&E = science and engineering; USDA = Department of Agriculture.
a Includes data for Departments of Commerce, Education, Homeland Security, Housing and Urban Development, the Interior, Labor, and Transportation; Agency for International Development; Environmental Protection Agency; Appalachian Regional Commission; Nuclear Regulatory Commission; Office of Justice Programs (part of Department of Justice); and Social Security Administration.
b Includes funding for Applied Physics Laboratory.
NOTE: Detail may not sum to total due to rounding.
SOURCE: National Science Foundation/National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics, Survey of Federal Science and Engineering Support to Universities, Colleges, and Nonprofit Institutions, FY 2008.
NSF collects statistics on federal obligations to independent nonprofit institutions for two of the six S&E categories—R&D and R&D plant. Between FY 2007 and FY 2008 federal S&E obligations to nonprofit institutions decreased from $6.9 billion to $6.5 billion (5.8% decrease). DOD was the main source of the decrease in funding ($214 million of the $401 million decrease, or 53%). The MITRE Corporation received the most federal funds for R&D and R&D plant ($323 million) among nonprofits in FY 2008, with DOD providing almost 100% of this funding (table 4).
TABLE 4. Federal research and development and R&D plant obligations to the 10 independent nonprofit institutions receiving the largest amounts, by agency: FY 2008
(Dollars in thousands)
Institution
All federal
obligations
HHS
DOD
NSF
NASA
DOE
Other
agenciesa
All nonprofit institutions
6,471,044
4,019,551
1,413,207
418,133
199,577
189,080
231,496
Top 10 nonprofit institutions
2,206,143
1,145,147
860,036
160,363
3,135
23,298
14,164
MITRE Corp.
322,882
0
322,105
199
0
384
194
Massachusetts General Hospital
316,173
298,575
15,761
1,262
575
0
0
Battelle Memorial Institute
307,733
1,600
268,557
64
948
22,914
13,650
Brigham and Women's Hospital
254,107
250,905
1,768
0
1,114
0
320
Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Ctr.
224,163
223,385
595
183
0
0
0
Mayo Foundation
187,372
184,519
2,355
0
498
0
0
Henry M. Jackson Foundation for the
Advancement of Military Medicine
156,160
41,717
114,183
260
0
0
0
Associated Universities Inc.
155,333
0
0
155,333
0
0
0
IIT Research Institute
142,003
8,078
133,925
0
0
0
0
Dana-Farber Cancer Institute
140,217
136,368
787
3,062
0
0
0
All other nonprofit institutions
4,264,901
2,874,404
553,171
257,770
196,442
165,782
217,332
DOD = Department of Defense; DOE = Department of Energy; HHS = Department of Health and Human Services; NASA = National Aeronautics and Space Administration; NSF = National Science Foundation.
a Includes data for the following agencies: Departments of Commerce, Education, Homeland Security, Housing and Urban Development, the Interior, Labor, and Transportation; Agency for International Development; Environmental Protection Agency; Appalachian Regional Commission; Nuclear Regulatory Commission; Office of Justice Programs (part of Department of Justice); and Social Security Administration.
SOURCE: National Science Foundation/National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics, Survey of Federal Science and Engineering Support to Universities, Colleges, and Nonprofit Institutions, FY 2008.
The 10 nonprofit institutions that received the largest amounts of these federal funds in FY 2008 received 34% of the total funding that went to all nonprofits. Six of these 10 nonprofit recipients were hospitals or medical research institutes. Eight of these leading 10 nonprofits in FY 2008 also ranked among the top 10 in the prior year. The Henry M. Jackson Foundation for the Advancement of Military Medicine (ranked 7th in FY 2008, after being 11th the prior year) and Associated Universities Inc. (ranked 8th in FY 2008, after being ranked 13th the prior year) were part of the top 10, whereas the Charles Stark Draper Laboratories (ranked 60th in FY 2008, after being 5th in FY 2007) and SRI International (ranked 11th in FY 2008, after being 10th in FY 2007) fell out of the top 10. Of all nonprofit recipients that were hospitals or medical research institutes, Massachusetts General Hospital received the largest amount ($316 million) of federal R&D and R&D plant obligations (table 4).
Data Sources and Limitations
The data on federal S&E obligations to academic and nonprofit institutions presented in this InfoBrief were obtained from 19 agencies that participated in the FY 2008 Survey of Federal Science and Engineering Support to Universities, Colleges, and Nonprofit Institutions. The survey collects federal S&E support data by funding agency, institution, type of activity, type of institution, and geographic location. The six funding categories of federal S&E support are defined as follows:
Research and development includes all direct, indirect, incidental, or related costs resulting from or necessary to performing R&D by private individuals and organizations under grant, contract, or cooperative agreement.
R&D plant includes all projects whose principal purpose is to provide support for construction, acquisition, renovation, modification, repair, or rental of facilities, land, works, or fixed equipment for use in scientific or engineering R&D.
Facilities and equipment for S&E instruction include all programs whose principal purpose is to provide support for construction, acquisition, renovation, modification, repair, or rental of facilities, land, works, or equipment for use in instruction in S&E.
Fellowships, traineeships, and training grants include all fellowship, traineeship, and training grant programs that are directed primarily toward the development and maintenance of the scientific workforce.
General support for S&E are funds used for scientific projects and support for activities within a specified discipline; explicit purpose is not specified.
Other S&E activities include all academic S&E obligations that cannot be assigned elsewhere and activities in support of technical conferences, teacher institutes, and programs aimed at increasing precollege and undergraduate students' scientific knowledge.
The full set of detailed tables from this survey will be available in the report Federal Science and Engineering Support to Universities, Colleges, and Nonprofit Institutions: FY 2008 at http://nsf.gov/statistics/fedsupport/. Individual detailed tables from the FY 2008 survey may be available in advance of the full report. For more information, please contact the author.
Note
[1] Michael Yamaner, Research and Development Statistics Program, National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics, National Science Foundation, 4201 Wilson Boulevard, Suite 965, Arlington, VA 22230 (myamaner@nsf.gov; 703-292-7815).
National Science Foundation, National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics Federal Obligations for Science and Engineering to Universities and Colleges Show Little Growth
Arlington, VA (NSF 12-306) [February 2012]
