NOVEMBER 2015

THE COUNCIL OF STATE GOVERNMENTS

CAPITOL RESEARCH
FISCAL & ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT POLICY

Higher Education Spending on Research & Development

Research institutions are a key ingredient
to innovation and long-term economic
growth, and the United States has a long
history of being a global leader.
According to the National Science Foundation,
universities spent $67.2 billion on research and
development, or R&D, across all fields in the 2013
fiscal year.
Higher education R&D spending is funded by
a variety of sources, the largest of which is the
federal government--which funded 59 percent of
spending in 2013--followed by funding from the
institutions themselves--which equaled 22 percent.
State and local government spending made up 5.5
percent of total R&D spending.
Across the U.S., higher education R&D funding
grew by 21.6 percent from 2004 to 2013 when
adjusted for inflation.
On a state-by-state basis, higher education R&D
funding increased in all but nine states from 20014
to 2013 (when adjusted for inflation). Of those nine
states, Nevadas universities had the biggest drop-falling by 24.5 percent--followed by Maine (down
15.4 percent) and Vermont (down 15.3 percent).
On the other side of the coin, funding in Rhode
Island nearly doubled--growing by 82.8 percent
from 2004 to 2013. South Dakota had the second
highest growth rate (61.2 percent) and North
Carolina had the third highest (49.3 percent).

Federal Spending
Disregarding the bump in spending from the
American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, federal
dollars have remained pretty stable as a percentage
of overall R&D funding for the past 10 years.
Federal funding for R&D varies wildly, however,
from state to state, as a percentage of total R&D
funding. For example, in North Dakota and
Arkansas federal spending makes up less than 40
percent of total R&D funding, while in Maryland
and Wyoming federal spending equals more

than three-quarters of higher education R&D

expenditures.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, including the National Institutes of Health, is
the biggest player, providing 54 percentor $21.2
billionof total federal funding going to higher
education institutions for R&D purposes.

State and Local Government Spending

State and local governments funded 5.5 percent
of higher education R&D spending in 2013 and
have remained a fairly stable source over the past
decade.
The proportion of state and local spending as
a share of total higher education R&D varied
significantly by state in 2013, with those sources
ranging from less than one percent of funding in
New Hampshire, Massachusetts and Vermont up to
21.3 percent in Arkansas and 25.4 percent in North
Dakota.

Institution-Level Spending
Institution-funded R&D grew quickly in 2013--by 9.8
percent to almost $15 billion--continuing a general
pattern of growth that has been occurring since the
1960s.
Institution funds made up about 22 percent of total
R&D in 2013, growing from less than 10 percent
before 1968 and from 18 percent in 2004.
Institution-funded R&D ranges from 2.5 percent in
Wyoming and 9.4 percent in Colorado to 42.1 percent
in Nebraska and 44.7 percent in Rhode Island.
Source: National Science Foundation, Higher Education
Research and Development Survey--Reported totals
from 891 degree-granting institutions that spent at least
$150,000 in R&D in the previous fiscal year.
http://www.nsf.gov/statistics/2015/nsf15314/
Jennifer Burnett, Director, Fiscal & Economic Development Policy,
jburnett@csg.org

HIGHER EDUCATION R&D EXPENDITURES

Expenditures

Source of funds (%)

State

2013 (in
$millions)

Percent Change,
2004-2013
(Inflationadjusted)

Federal
government

State and local

governments

Institution
funds

Business

Nonprofit
organizations

All other

United States

67,041.15

21.6

58.9

5.5

22.3

5.2

5.8

2.4

Alabama
Alaska
Arizona
Arkansas
California
Colorado
Connecticut
Delaware
District of Columbia
Florida
Georgia
Hawaii
Idaho
Illinois
Indiana
Iowa
Kansas
Kentucky
Louisiana
Maine
Maryland
Massachusetts
Michigan
Minnesota
Mississippi
Missouri
Montana
Nebraska
Nevada
New Hampshire
New Jersey
New Mexico
New York
North Carolina
North Dakota

841.83
184.47
1,065.14
294.57
8,367.06
1,253.47
1,059.37
197.26
524.24
2,171.63
1,956.78
343.80
143.73
2,501.41
1,336.34
714.37
545.36
550.94
671.58
104.57
3,450.65
3,532.77
2,267.08
901.40
416.77
1,070.06
186.00
444.92
153.43
354.30
1,175.12
403.78
5,520.54
2,739.92
219.12

18.7
1.7
30.0
19.1
11.1
27.8
30.0
37.9
28.0
21.5
26.1
12.9
-1.4
12.4
19.2
5.8
22.3
-4.6
-6.1
-15.4
22.2
37.9
24.8
34.1
-7.3
0.3
-6.9
6.1
-24.5
0.8
13.0
6.2
31.7
49.3
17.0

61.5
57.3
52.2
39.1
58.5
74.5
62.8
66.7
59.1
51.9
61.0
70.3
58.0
62.6
45.0
53.6
47.5
44.1
44.4
46.7
79.0
61.7
55.8
56.6
49.9
57.2
60.6
44.7
67.9
73.8
57.9
66.7
56.7
60.3
38.8

5.0
6.9
4.3
21.3
4.8
2.9
1.7
5.1
0.7
7.5
2.6
3.4
16.1
2.0
5.4
6.1
9.6
11.6
14.0
19.2
1.6
0.7
2.3
6.7
18.8
2.2
5.8
2.5
4.5
0.6
5.9
6.7
4.9
4.5
25.4

26.1
29.8
29.5
27.9
16.4
9.4
24.8
22.7
25.9
30.9
26.8
21.4
20.4
23.5
36.1
31.8
29.2
31.3
29.3
27.7
11.8
19.3
33.5
28.3
22.9
24.0
27.6
42.1
21.9
15.9
24.8
20.2
21.8
18.4
27.6

4.2
3.5
2.5
4.0
6.3
6.6
3.8
3.1
1.9
4.6
5.2
1.1
2.6
4.7
4.9
4.5
7.8
4.1
6.1
3.1
1.9
6.1
3.1
3.3
6.2
6.2
0.7
4.9
1.3
3.9
3.5
2.2
7.7
9.8
4.8

2.4
1.3
4.9
2.0
9.4
5.6
6.1
1.1
10.6
4.2
3.5
1.8
1.5
6.1
7.0
3.5
5.0
3.0
3.8
2.7
5.0
7.5
3.9
2.6
1.7
8.9
0.6
4.2
1.9
3.9
7.1
2.1
6.5
5.3
0.9

0.8
1.1
6.6
5.8
4.6
0.9
0.8
1.3
1.8
0.8
1.0
1.9
1.4
1.1
1.5
0.5
0.8
5.9
2.4
0.7
0.7
4.7
1.4
2.4
0.5
1.4
4.7
1.5
2.5
1.8
0.8
2.2
2.3
1.6
2.4

Ohio

2,168.27

28.1

62.4

5.0

18.2

7.7

4.6

2.0

Oklahoma
Oregon
Pennsylvania
Rhode Island
South Carolina
South Dakota
Tennessee
Texas
Utah
Vermont
Virginia
Washington
West Virginia
Wisconsin
Wyoming

420.07
704.76
3,346.84
477.38
648.49
117.36
1,041.98
4,813.05
688.97
121.11
1,419.50
1,561.57
196.49
1,419.30
65.49

18.1
3.9
20.2
82.8
12.3
61.2
24.0
31.9
35.0
-15.3
29.6
39.1
15.1
11.5
-11.3

44.7
73.6
70.2
44.8
47.0
53.0
66.9
45.2
62.7
73.6
53.6
69.0
48.3
50.4
82.4

15.0
6.1
3.0
2.1
1.8
16.3
3.9
14.9
5.2
0.2
10.1
5.3
7.8
6.8
9.9

30.6
10.0
14.5
44.7
40.9
21.1
21.9
23.3
21.1
20.6
28.0
13.2
35.2
33.2
2.5

6.4
3.6
4.6
1.5
5.4
1.2
2.7
6.3
6.8
1.9
3.9
3.6
2.7
2.5
3.6

2.0
5.0
4.8
5.5
3.1
5.5
3.3
7.0
3.4
3.1
3.8
7.4
2.0
4.8
0.7

1.4
1.7
2.8
1.5
1.7
2.8
1.3
3.3
0.8
0.7
0.5
1.4
3.9
2.3
1.0

Source: National Science Foundation, Higher Education Research and Development Survey Reported totals from 891 degreegranting institutions that spent at least $150,000 in R&D in the previous fiscal year. http://www.nsf.gov/statistics/2015/nsf15314/

THE COUNCIL OF STATE GOVERNMENTS