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NCSES HERD FY2012 DST 12 SAS Output Newer information icon. Newer information is available.
Table 12. Nonfederally financed higher education R&D expenditures, by R&D field: FYs 2003–12
(Dollars in thousands)

Field 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012
All R&D Fieldsa 16,163,381 16,535,021 17,578,487 18,736,599 20,349,436 22,012,891 23,845,845 23,780,298 24,503,139 25,644,064
    Science 12,942,481 13,202,607 13,973,633 14,839,829 16,003,317 17,367,500 18,673,331 18,243,230 18,579,151 19,474,492
        Computer sciences 367,573 379,594 383,347 424,572 404,851 435,018 493,568 463,837 448,032 463,756
        Environmental sciences 748,174 757,262 824,563 833,101 873,884 970,834 1,032,987 978,180 977,525 974,904
            Atmospheric sciences 98,344 93,727 98,158 100,977 91,684 85,335 94,587 90,668 97,276 87,396
            Earth sciences 283,913 291,272 303,933 305,785 309,560 347,460 374,356 349,906 341,496 349,737
            Oceanography 232,576 231,868 266,552 278,514 320,774 365,030 365,876 355,031 343,997 351,527
            Environmental sciences, nec 133,341 140,395 155,920 147,825 151,866 173,009 198,168 182,575 194,756 186,244
        Life sciences 9,104,809 9,282,234 9,912,060 10,523,827 11,478,799 12,533,706 13,456,150 13,248,207 13,667,109 14,491,513
            Agricultural sciences 1,790,886 1,828,450 1,812,357 1,913,578 2,016,151 2,133,075 2,192,134 2,029,713 2,070,910 2,160,520
            Biological sciences 2,365,457 2,409,143 2,645,464 2,802,240 3,018,885 3,398,797 3,524,454 3,357,028 3,637,685 3,875,247
            Medical sciences 4,536,764 4,647,820 4,981,130 5,367,676 5,990,490 6,505,457 7,171,918 7,199,538 7,215,725 7,687,458
            Life sciences, nec 411,702 396,821 473,109 440,333 453,273 496,377 567,644 661,928 742,789 768,288
        Mathematical sciences 133,235 130,702 148,340 157,901 164,462 172,455 178,185 176,496 181,423 184,356
        Physical sciences 920,178 978,725 1,031,490 1,113,616 1,174,390 1,188,880 1,319,680 1,238,557 1,242,134 1,237,803
            Astronomy 120,540 131,120 143,457 152,532 162,059 186,001 190,501 167,264 174,961 171,586
            Chemistry 406,428 397,388 419,787 446,177 484,692 494,446 545,130 550,006 540,946 537,465
            Physics 330,056 353,339 370,322 395,731 396,045 391,733 509,085 440,721 447,582 452,447
            Physical sciences, nec 63,154 96,878 97,924 119,176 131,594 116,700 74,964 80,566 78,645 76,305
        Psychology 216,249 196,260 215,553 246,388 269,124 290,212 316,123 319,952 321,668 321,328
        Social sciences 1,005,889 978,700 987,576 993,375 1,040,415 1,133,696 1,226,214 1,095,977 1,114,492 1,134,712
            Economics 207,019 208,166 215,729 219,484 224,913 271,045 258,178 222,310 238,497 238,793
            Political sciences 206,946 195,241 210,929 210,053 213,499 214,324 231,605 221,902 221,996 248,911
            Sociology 188,437 173,374 176,779 183,248 190,867 200,607 206,570 193,815 200,293 212,098
            Social sciences, nec 403,487 401,919 384,139 380,590 411,136 447,720 529,861 457,950 453,706 434,910
        Sciences, nec 446,374 499,130 470,704 547,049 597,392 642,699 650,424 722,024 626,768 666,120
    Engineering 2,381,976 2,407,916 2,613,775 2,787,292 3,061,420 3,232,661 3,613,527 3,606,932 3,763,621 3,856,161
        Aeronautical and astronautical engineering 96,282 102,508 110,040 97,676 130,995 137,873 182,439 168,243 163,256 160,497
        Bioengineering and biomedical engineering 123,017 134,532 164,751 182,289 218,329 237,764 262,563 273,912 303,474 327,290
        Chemical engineering 205,288 224,812 210,636 240,012 276,620 314,560 336,116 399,618 426,405 403,625
        Civil engineering 449,034 441,378 450,415 523,691 506,663 539,287 580,171 645,721 664,037 662,830
        Electrical engineering 475,408 467,130 534,913 539,312 571,924 593,766 644,353 677,607 696,126 711,671
        Mechanical engineering 288,235 287,651 309,182 362,790 430,765 425,208 443,007 506,018 523,895 514,625
        Metallurgical and materials engineering 234,470 213,305 242,778 257,097 255,310 269,644 298,970 274,503 282,885 295,080
        Engineering, nec 510,242 536,600 591,060 584,425 670,814 714,559 865,908 661,310 703,543 780,543
    Non-S&Ea 838,924 924,498 991,079 1,109,478 1,284,699 1,412,730 1,558,987 1,930,136 2,160,367 2,313,411
        Business and management 136,776 166,790 168,275 194,766 221,668 264,613 276,460 281,747 300,063 345,461
        Communications, journalism, and library science 38,397 48,252 49,190 54,869 59,834 60,551 77,875 88,609 99,952 106,288
        Education 291,174 296,452 337,359 382,580 432,043 419,977 441,405 458,498 484,610 543,596
        Humanities 104,597 128,850 134,406 161,047 181,612 190,623 195,041 205,260 251,044 272,200
        Law 29,935 33,075 35,437 41,126 45,219 62,431 84,760 78,783 98,182 107,109
        Social work 37,465 47,089 61,570 49,308 52,883 64,821 76,384 82,943 88,931 90,105
        Visual and performing arts 35,018 33,393 38,136 42,496 42,143 55,563 68,674 61,632 70,880 74,560
        Non-S&E, nec 144,931 152,807 166,565 183,285 249,187 294,023 338,388 672,664 766,705 774,092

nec = not elsewhere classified; S&E = science and engineering.
a Prior to FY 2010, some institution totals for all fields of R&D expenditures may be lower-bound estimates because the National Science Foundation did not attempt to estimate for nonresponse on non-S&E R&D expenditures item prior to FY 2010.
SOURCE: National Science Foundation, National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics, Higher Education Research and Development Survey.
Data from survey cycle FY 2012, as of 30 October 2013.