“Most of that spending (55%) was financed by federal government sources”
NSF:
Key takeaways:
- Institutions of higher education in the United States spent nearly $90 billion on R&D in FY 2021, the highest amount reported to date. Most of that spending (55%) was financed by federal government sources.
- Higher education institutions perform a significant amount of the basic research conducted in the United States. In calendar year 2021, academic institutions represented 44% of U.S. basic research performed that year. However, that share has declined since 2012, when academia performed 54% of basic research. Overall, academic research and development (R&D) represented 11% of total U.S. R&D performed in 2021, compared with 14% in 2012.
- In 2021, the United States ranked highest among 32 leading countries or regions in total funding of academic R&D, but it ranked 23rd when academic R&D spending is expressed as a percentage of gross domestic product.
- Academic institutions perform R&D using specialized facilities and equipment. In 2021, U.S. universities and colleges reported that facilities devoted to research occupied 236.1 million net assignable square feet (NASF), compared with 202.2 million in 2011. These institutions reported that they expect to invest $12.8 billion in new research facilities in 2022 and 2023, providing an additional 10.6 million NASF of research space.
- The number of women in the science and engineering (S&E) research doctoral academic workforce trained in the United States increased from about 78,700 to about 140,800 between 2003 and 2021, while the number of men grew from about 180,700 to about 206,400. In 2021, 41% of S&E doctorate holders employed in academia were women.
Academic R&D spending is concentrated in a relatively small share of all U.S. higher education institutions. In FY 2021, the 131 institutions with very high research activity accounted for nearly 75% of U.S. academic R&D spending, out of 3,733 total institutions granting 4-year degrees. Those 131 institutions also enrolled about 80% of the nation’s S&E doctoral students and employed over 80% of the nation’s S&E postdocs. The 30 institutions ranked highest in R&D spending in FY 2021 accounted for 42% of all academic R&D expenditures that year.
