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Table 7. Nonfederally financed higher education R&D expenditures, by R&D field: FYs 2005–14

(Dollars in thousands)

Field 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014
All R&D fieldsa 17,578,487 18,736,599 20,349,436 22,012,891 23,845,845 23,778,509 24,508,308 25,589,771 27,569,946 29,232,328
Science 13,973,633 14,839,829 16,003,317 17,367,500 18,673,331 18,242,750 18,584,925 19,419,228 20,856,486 22,395,315
Computer sciences 383,347 424,572 404,851 435,018 493,568 463,711 448,058 461,746 516,318 537,345
Environmental sciences 824,563 833,101 873,884 970,834 1,032,987 978,098 972,011 969,716 1,100,747 1,178,180
Atmospheric sciences 98,158 100,977 91,684 85,335 94,587 90,667 97,363 87,480 95,636 112,209
Earth sciences 303,933 305,785 309,560 347,460 374,356 349,906 342,190 349,621 395,787 419,022
Oceanography 266,552 278,514 320,774 365,030 365,876 354,926 344,115 351,811 389,128 407,803
Environmental sciences, nec 155,920 147,825 151,866 173,009 198,168 182,599 188,343 180,804 220,196 239,146
Life sciences 9,912,060 10,523,827 11,478,799 12,533,706 13,456,150 13,248,070 13,675,995 14,449,184 15,340,113 16,700,875
Agricultural sciences 1,812,357 1,913,578 2,016,151 2,133,075 2,192,134 2,029,712 2,075,160 2,164,286 2,242,210 2,298,141
Biological sciences 2,645,464 2,802,240 3,018,885 3,398,797 3,524,454 3,357,133 3,640,775 3,869,048 4,076,579 4,473,721
Medical sciences 4,981,130 5,367,676 5,990,490 6,505,457 7,171,918 7,199,145 7,213,801 7,648,921 8,167,961 8,986,742
Life sciences, nec 473,109 440,333 453,273 496,377 567,644 662,080 746,259 766,929 853,363 942,271
Mathematical sciences 148,340 157,901 164,462 172,455 178,185 176,469 181,369 183,792 206,277 216,379
Physical sciences 1,031,490 1,113,616 1,174,390 1,188,880 1,319,680 1,238,653 1,241,863 1,235,608 1,336,677 1,460,901
Astronomy 143,457 152,532 162,059 186,001 190,501 167,275 174,884 171,364 158,342 186,081
Chemistry 419,787 446,177 484,692 494,446 545,130 550,102 540,353 535,827 569,893 644,329
Physics 370,322 395,731 396,045 391,733 509,085 440,710 447,825 452,993 529,134 545,943
Physical sciences, nec 97,924 119,176 131,594 116,700 74,964 80,566 78,801 75,424 79,308 84,548
Psychology 215,553 246,388 269,124 290,212 316,123 319,791 323,623 320,314 351,940 389,540
Social sciences 987,576 993,375 1,040,415 1,133,696 1,226,214 1,096,095 1,115,584 1,135,840 1,271,894 1,290,259
Economics 215,729 219,484 224,913 271,045 258,178 222,412 238,567 239,351 269,815 290,002
Political sciences 210,929 210,053 213,499 214,324 231,605 221,961 221,820 249,017 283,089 280,030
Sociology 176,779 183,248 190,867 200,607 206,570 193,822 200,214 211,924 243,191 251,889
Social sciences, nec 384,139 380,590 411,136 447,720 529,861 457,900 454,983 435,548 475,799 468,338
Sciences, nec 470,704 547,049 597,392 642,699 650,424 721,863 626,422 663,028 732,520 621,836
Engineering 2,613,775 2,787,292 3,061,420 3,232,661 3,613,527 3,605,972 3,758,228 3,842,020 4,236,131 4,551,766
Aeronautical and astronautical engineering 110,040 97,676 130,995 137,873 182,439 168,243 163,221 160,722 176,419 187,884
Bioengineering and biomedical engineering 164,751 182,289 218,329 237,764 262,563 273,912 302,799 320,227 328,471 346,214
Chemical engineering 210,636 240,012 276,620 314,560 336,116 399,771 422,414 398,348 431,420 434,359
Civil engineering 450,415 523,691 506,663 539,287 580,171 645,843 663,077 662,143 718,457 677,909
Electrical engineering 534,913 539,312 571,924 593,766 644,353 676,521 695,004 709,330 765,992 735,734
Mechanical engineering 309,182 362,790 430,765 425,208 443,007 505,463 523,963 514,318 586,351 557,895
Metallurgical and materials engineering 242,778 257,097 255,310 269,644 298,970 274,502 282,833 295,393 346,483 707,053
Engineering, nec 591,060 584,425 670,814 714,559 865,908 661,717 704,917 781,539 882,538 904,718
Non-S&Ea 991,079 1,109,478 1,284,699 1,412,730 1,558,987 1,929,787 2,165,155 2,328,523 2,477,329 2,285,247
Business and management 168,275 194,766 221,668 264,613 276,460 282,021 300,541 346,360 380,641 405,477
Communications, journalism, and library science 49,190 54,869 59,834 60,551 77,875 88,567 100,461 106,593 97,846 112,497
Education 337,359 382,580 432,043 419,977 441,405 458,329 487,480 544,029 553,921 581,433
Humanities 134,406 161,047 181,612 190,623 195,041 205,168 251,461 272,196 311,186 323,803
Law 35,437 41,126 45,219 62,431 84,760 78,726 97,375 106,954 151,022 124,491
Social work 61,570 49,308 52,883 64,821 76,384 82,907 89,103 90,062 100,508 118,276
Visual and performing arts 38,136 42,496 42,143 55,563 68,674 61,576 70,814 74,167 80,861 86,669
Non-S&E, nec 166,565 183,285 249,187 294,023 338,388 672,493 767,920 788,162 801,344 532,601
nec = not elsewhere classified; S&E = science and engineering.
aPrior 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.
NOTE: Non-S&E detailed field data may not sum to total non-S&E R&D expenditures because some institutions reporting non-S&E R&D expenditures did not break out total and federal funds by non-S&E fields.
SOURCE: National Science Foundation, National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics, Higher Education Research and Development Survey.