Auburn U., Auburn

Rankings

Data year Earned doctorates Full-time graduate students Total R&D expenditures
Rank Percentile Institutions ranked Rank Percentile Institutions ranked Rank Percentile Institutions ranked Rank Percentile Institutions ranked
2023 64 86.4 459 145 76.3 602 90 90.4 914
2022 74 84.2 457 95 89.6 900
2021 68 85.1 447 154 74 583 100 89.2 908
2020 72 84.4 450 100 89.3 916
2019 76 83.4 447 152 74.6 589 105 88.7 914
2018 76 82.6 428 109 88.2 911
2017 67 84.6 425 145 75.2 575 113 87.6 898
2016 73 83.4 430 126 86.2 896
2015 72 83.5 426 160 72.3 570 130 85.8 898
2014 71 83.5 422 125 86.2 889
NOTES:
  • 1. See TableBuilder for the prior year data.
  • 2. Blank white cells indicate data not available, not applicable, or institution not eligible for survey.
  • 3. Data from the Survey of Science and Engineering Research Facilities is collected every two years.

Data

Number of earned doctorates, by trend major field of study of recipients: 2023–14
Fields 2023 2022 2021 2020 2019 2018 2017 2016 2015 2014
All fields 305 283 250 269 253 253 284 270 257 250
  Science and engineering 235 204 179 203 189 193 203 188 185 192
    Agricultural sciences and natural resources 15 17 21 16 24 26 24 25 21 32
      Agricultural sciences 11 11 12 8 13 13 9 12 13 16
      Natural resources and conservation 4 6 9 8 11 13 15 13 8 16
    Biological and biomedical sciences 37 28 31 37 20 27 29 30 20 31
      Biochemistry and biophysics 7 3 2 2 3 . 2 1 3 4
      Biology and biomedical sciences, general 9 6 7 14 1 9 7 8 3 4
      Bioinformatics, biostatistics, and computational biology . . 2 1 . 1 . . 1 .
      Cellular and developmental biology, and anatomy . . . 1 1 . . . . .
      Ecology, evolutionary biology, and epidemiology 6 3 2 3 2 7 4 9 . 2
      Genetics and genomics 1 1 1 1 2 3 1 2 1 3
      Microbiology and immunology 2 1 2 3 4 2 2 4 2 4
      Molecular biology . 1 1 . . 1 1 . . 4
      Neurobiology and neurosciences . . . 1 . . . 1 . .
      Pharmacology and toxicology 5 7 3 2 1 . 3 1 2 4
      Physiology, pathology, and cancer biology . . 2 . . . . 1 2 .
      Biology and biomedical sciences, other 7 6 9 9 6 4 9 3 6 6
    Computer and information sciences 16 10 5 6 3 5 6 7 13 8
      Computer science 10 5 4 6 3 4 5 7 12 7
      Computer and information sciences, other 6 5 1 . . 1 1 . 1 1
    Engineering 91 74 51 62 65 62 65 65 61 56
      Aerospace, aeronautical, and astronautical engineering 4 . 5 2 1 3 2 3 3 1
      Bioengineering and biomedical engineering 3 2 3 1 1 3 3 1 2 1
      Chemical and petroleum engineering 16 13 12 6 14 12 13 12 7 17
      Civil, environmental, and transportation engineering 17 13 5 11 12 6 8 8 8 6
      Electrical and computer engineering 20 23 8 7 11 10 16 18 13 9
      Industrial engineering and operations research 6 6 6 15 12 12 9 7 6 6
      Materials and mining engineering 5 6 4 4 2 2 2 5 2 5
      Mechanical engineering 17 10 8 14 10 12 10 6 14 11
      Engineering, other 3 1 . 2 2 2 2 5 6 .
    Geosciences, atmospheric, and ocean sciences 3 3 1 4 1 2 . 1 . 2
      Geological sciences 3 2 . 1 . . . . . .
      Ocean, marine, and atmospheric sciences . 1 1 3 1 2 . 1 . 2
    Health sciences 19 13 12 22 27 16 10 8 10 12
      Nursing science . 3 . . . . . . . .
      Pharmaceutical sciences 3 1 4 9 5 3 3 2 2 1
      Public health 1 1 . 2 1 2 . 1 . .
      Health sciences, other 15 8 8 11 21 11 7 5 8 11
    Mathematics and statistics 11 11 14 14 10 8 12 9 14 12
      Applied mathematics 3 4 2 1 3 3 . 2 4 1
      Mathematics . 1 . 1 1 2 2 1 5 4
      Statistics 1 2 4 2 . 1 . 2 1 .
      Mathematics and statistics, other 7 4 8 10 6 2 10 4 4 7
    Physical sciences 18 16 18 14 17 13 16 5 4 16
      Astronomy and astrophysics . 2 . . . . . . . .
      Chemistry 12 8 12 8 14 4 6 4 3 10
      Physics 6 6 6 6 3 9 10 1 1 6
    Psychology 18 21 22 18 17 26 30 28 27 15
      Clinical psychology 5 5 7 5 5 8 6 9 8 4
      Counseling and applied psychology 11 9 7 8 7 9 10 8 10 7
      Research and experimental psychology 1 2 3 2 3 1 7 6 3 2
      Psychology, other 1 5 5 3 2 8 7 5 6 2
    Social sciences 7 11 4 10 5 8 11 10 15 8
      Economics 5 8 2 6 3 5 7 6 3 4
      Political science and government . . . 3 . 1 2 2 6 1
      Public policy analysis 1 1 . . 1 1 . 2 5 1
      Social sciences, other 1 2 2 1 1 1 2 . 1 2
  Non-science and engineering 70 79 71 66 64 60 81 82 72 58
    Business 11 9 7 7 6 9 7 5 11 2
      Business 11 9 7 7 6 9 7 5 11 2
    Education 38 56 52 46 45 42 57 62 45 50
      Education leadership and administration 8 13 11 8 8 6 19 11 10 8
      Education research 17 16 5 14 16 24 15 23 25 20
      Teacher education and teaching fields 12 24 32 23 19 8 18 22 10 21
      Education, other 1 3 4 1 2 4 5 6 . 1
    Humanities and arts 5 7 7 6 8 5 12 11 15 5
      Letters 2 4 1 2 2 2 7 8 7 3
      Foreign languages and literature . . . . . . . 1 . .
      History 3 2 6 3 6 3 4 2 8 2
      Music and performing arts . 1 . . . . . . . .
      Humanities and arts, other . . . 1 . . 1 . . .
    Other non-science and engineering 16 7 5 7 5 4 5 4 1 1
      Communication 1 . . . . . . . . .
      Public administration and social services 9 2 5 5 1 2 1 3 1 1
      Non-science and engineering, other 6 5 . 2 4 2 4 1 . .

NOTE:
  • . = data were not collected at this level or institution was not eligible to participate for this survey year.

SOURCE: National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics, Survey of Earned Doctorates

Total R&D expenditures, by field: 2023–14
(Dollars in thousands)
Field 2023 2022 2021 2020 2019 2018 2017 2016 2015 2014
  All R&D fields 349,273 304,439 266,374 255,281 231,619 212,925 190,340 152,381 135,899 142,487
    Science 194,800 170,164 150,674 150,910 140,109 128,417 110,695 103,839 92,721 93,847
      Computer and information sciences 6,337 5,174 5,127 5,006 4,368 2,653 1,799 1,331 0 0
      Geosciences, atmospheric sciences, and ocean sciences 5,277 4,791 4,008 3,460 2,690 2,171 3,820 2,633 3,461 2,988
        Atmospheric science and meteorology 174 72 0 62 61 78 59 112 117 151
        Geological and earth sciences 3,505 3,170 2,241 2,513 1,823 1,068 1,690 757 858 543
        Ocean sciences and marine sciences 240 92 0 0 0 2 190 186 352 240
        Geosciences, atmospheric sciences, and ocean sciences nec 1,358 1,457 1,767 885 806 1,023 1,881 1,578 2,134 2,054
      Life sciences 147,192 128,578 111,491 110,768 104,935 101,567 85,135 85,307 75,745 77,333
        Agricultural sciences 81,428 83,715 70,134 72,560 54,306 55,526 47,872 58,753 56,845 56,182
        Biological and biomedical sciences 24,327 17,753 14,099 15,224 13,317 11,229 10,317 12,248 6,975 6,732
        Health sciences 27,593 14,411 15,343 10,995 28,160 26,623 20,321 6,358 9,377 12,257
        Natural resources and conservation 2,238 1,910 986 1,143 1,280 3,101 0 0 0 0
        Life sciences nec 11,606 10,789 10,929 10,846 7,872 5,088 6,625 7,948 2,548 2,162
      Mathematics and statistics 4,229 3,875 3,471 3,736 3,706 662 3,094 381 308 645
      Physical sciences 19,616 17,011 15,214 15,247 13,220 11,626 9,622 6,415 4,678 5,770
        Astronomy and astrophysics 909 500 22 0 0 0 0 0 0 6
        Chemistry 8,154 7,242 5,463 7,222 6,440 4,298 4,441 1,645 1,558 2,547
        Materials science 242 213 425 60 15 0 74 0 0 0
        Physics 10,216 8,907 9,147 7,842 6,710 7,303 5,107 4,767 3,120 3,217
        Physical sciences nec 95 149 157 123 55 25 0 3 0 0
      Psychology 3,763 3,848 3,137 2,824 2,457 1,871 1,572 452 390 447
      Social sciences 4,507 3,856 6,228 6,902 5,387 5,940 4,619 4,217 2,838 3,970
        Anthropology 4 134 0 1 6 5 0 2 0 0
        Economics 216 139 160 1,463 40 1,664 164 1,373 181 93
        Political science and government 1,742 1,678 1,640 1,543 1,661 1,115 736 521 0 2
        Sociology, demography, and population studies 658 834 721 545 359 290 46 0 13 4
        Social sciences nec 1,887 1,071 3,707 3,350 3,321 2,866 3,673 2,321 2,644 3,871
      Sciences nec 3,879 3,031 1,998 2,967 3,346 1,927 1,034 3,103 5,301 2,694
    Engineering 108,344 93,219 78,720 70,593 59,742 56,233 56,657 45,572 40,249 46,263
      Aerospace, aeronautical, and astronautical engineering 5,318 5,193 4,196 3,723 3,250 1,574 1,677 727 373 503
      Bioengineering and biomedical engineering 6,766 2,161 1,019 1,206 1,110 4,186 773 919 1,322 5,010
      Chemical engineering 8,194 10,044 9,320 7,466 6,733 5,858 6,198 4,749 4,749 5,741
      Civil engineering 19,353 17,821 11,869 9,482 8,655 9,515 6,998 3,142 3,973 7,696
      Electrical, electronic, and communications engineering 9,922 9,727 10,771 9,695 9,157 6,809 5,601 4,262 5,386 5,742
      Industrial and manufacturing engineering 12,639 11,603 6,100 4,338 4,593 3,103 2,196 798 0 0
      Mechanical engineering 19,611 18,859 21,501 19,199 12,747 10,884 10,021 6,450 4,239 5,471
      Metallurgical and materials engineering 1,579 1,176 564 522 656 2,156 456 1,207 1,175 809
      Engineering nec 24,962 16,635 13,380 14,962 12,841 12,148 22,737 23,318 19,032 15,291
    Non-S&E 46,129 41,056 36,980 33,778 31,768 28,275 22,988 2,970 2,929 2,377
      Business management and business administration 18,798 17,201 15,167 14,782 15,146 11,569 8,293 1,614 1,830 1,419
      Communication and communications technologies 1,197 1,038 992 1,018 1,024 0 0 0 0 0
      Education 4,525 4,232 3,968 4,190 3,649 2,441 3,173 1,299 1,065 925
      Humanities 7,322 6,964 6,812 7,030 7,303 4,728 5,694 57 34 28
      Law 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 5
      Social work 440 428 423 205 39 29 0 0 0 0
      Visual and performing arts 1 0 1 0 62 1,354 0 0 0 0
      Non-S&E nec 13,846 11,193 9,617 6,552 4,545 8,154 5,828 0 0 0

NOTE:
  • . = data were not collected at this level or institution was not eligible to participate for this survey year.
  • Prior to FY 2016, expenditures for natural resources and conservation, materials science, anthropology, and industrial and manufacturing engineering were not collected separately. R&D expenditures in agricultural sciences decreased in FY 2016 because a number of disciplines previously reported in that field are now reported separately under natural resources and conservation.

SOURCE: National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics, Higher Education R&D Survey

Total R&D expenditures, by source of funds and R&D field: 2023
(Dollars in thousands)
Field All R&D expenditures Federal government State and local government Institution funds Business Nonprofit organizations All other sources
  All R&D fields 349,273 125,783 34,950 158,454 11,570 5,092 13,424
    Science 194,800 71,817 32,325 76,447 5,043 3,859 5,309
      Computer and information sciences 6,337 2,567 0 3,460 23 0 287
      Geosciences, atmospheric sciences, and ocean sciences 5,277 2,077 89 2,619 14 454 24
        Atmospheric science and meteorology 174 148 0 26 0 0 0
        Geological and earth sciences 3,505 904 64 2,335 0 179 23
        Ocean sciences and marine sciences 240 186 2 52 0 0 0
        Geosciences, atmospheric sciences, and ocean sciences nec 1,358 839 23 206 14 275 1
      Life sciences 147,192 54,282 31,829 49,633 3,381 3,204 4,863
        Agricultural sciences 81,428 29,320 28,100 16,552 1,935 1,994 3,527
        Biological and biomedical sciences 24,327 14,191 612 7,318 1,079 671 456
        Health sciences 27,593 1,883 1,889 22,396 201 382 842
        Natural resources and conservation 2,238 974 14 949 166 133 2
        Life sciences nec 11,606 7,914 1,214 2,418 0 24 36
      Mathematics and statistics 4,229 729 0 3,446 0 42 12
      Physical sciences 19,616 9,293 0 10,211 75 17 20
        Astronomy and astrophysics 909 772 0 137 0 0 0
        Chemistry 8,154 2,635 0 5,493 15 0 11
        Materials science 242 205 0 37 0 0 0
        Physics 10,216 5,600 0 4,530 60 17 9
        Physical sciences nec 95 81 0 14 0 0 0
      Psychology 3,763 291 0 2,432 907 105 28
      Social sciences 4,507 1,018 407 2,585 479 14 4
        Anthropology 4 0 0 4 0 0 0
        Economics 216 68 47 101 0 0 0
        Political science and government 1,742 216 0 1,518 0 8 0
        Sociology, demography, and population studies 658 2 0 654 0 0 2
        Social sciences nec 1,887 732 360 308 479 6 2
      Sciences nec 3,879 1,560 0 2,061 164 23 71
    Engineering 108,344 50,218 1,464 45,785 3,104 1,048 6,725
      Aerospace, aeronautical, and astronautical engineering 5,318 2,338 0 2,736 168 0 76
      Bioengineering and biomedical engineering 6,766 630 0 5,969 51 45 71
      Chemical engineering 8,194 4,424 347 3,047 64 189 123
      Civil engineering 19,353 10,053 22 7,358 977 599 344
      Electrical, electronic, and communications engineering 9,922 4,381 102 4,458 138 145 698
      Industrial and manufacturing engineering 12,639 8,892 0 3,531 126 16 74
      Mechanical engineering 19,611 10,986 0 6,963 1,297 50 315
      Metallurgical and materials engineering 1,579 478 0 889 63 0 149
      Engineering nec 24,962 8,036 993 10,834 220 4 4,875
    Non-S&E 46,129 3,748 1,161 36,222 3,423 185 1,390
      Business management and business administration 18,798 0 0 14,819 3,284 0 695
      Communication and communications technologies 1,197 0 0 1,180 0 0 17
      Education 4,525 607 0 3,635 0 178 105
      Humanities 7,322 242 0 7,009 0 2 69
      Law 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
      Social work 440 0 0 440 0 0 0
      Visual and performing arts 1 0 0 1 0 0 0
      Non-S&E nec 13,846 2,899 1,161 9,138 139 5 504

NOTE:
  • . = data were not collected at this level or institution was not eligible to participate for this survey year.
  • Prior to FY 2016, expenditures for natural resources and conservation, materials science, anthropology, and industrial and manufacturing engineering were not collected separately. R&D expenditures in agricultural sciences decreased in FY 2016 because a number of disciplines previously reported in that field are now reported separately under natural resources and conservation.

SOURCE: National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics, Higher Education R&D Survey

Federally funded R&D expenditures, by federal agency: 2023–14
(Dollars in thousands)
Source of funds 2023 2022 2021 2020 2019 2018 2017 2016 2015 2014
Federal Agencies 125,783 104,883 91,157 73,468 64,333 58,488 55,700 54,751 48,352 50,088
  DOD 23,535 21,851 18,413 10,945 10,592 7,600 6,463 5,059 5,984 7,501
  DOE 6,113 6,337 6,372 5,006 3,838 3,095 2,844 2,246 2,031 2,110
  HHS 18,920 16,606 15,778 16,001 13,272 12,810 11,446 10,571 8,506 7,975
  NASA 7,446 6,286 6,492 6,019 2,616 1,636 1,583 1,275 1,731 1,841
  NSF 15,636 13,750 10,226 9,435 9,361 9,239 9,072 8,664 8,117 9,465
  USDA 31,471 20,881 18,227 12,104 10,176 11,433 10,689 10,513 11,597 10,289
  Other 22,662 19,172 15,649 13,958 14,478 12,675 13,603 16,423 10,386 10,907

NOTE:
  • . = data were not collected at this level or institution was not eligible to participate for this survey year.

SOURCE: National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics, Higher Education R&D Survey

Headcount of R&D personnel: 2023–17 [temporarily discontinued]
Year
2023 . . . .
2022 . . . .
2021 . . . .
2020 . . . .
2019 4,200 1,200 3,000 .
2018 2,380 976 1,404 .
2017 2,229 733 1,496 .

NOTE:
  • . = data were not collected at this level or institution was not eligible to participate for this survey year.

SOURCE: National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics, Higher Education R&D Survey

Science and engineering research space in academic institutions, by field: 2023–14
(Net assignable square feet in thousands)
Field, medical school space, and research animal space 2023 2021 2019 2017 2015
  All research space 453 416 389 440 355
    Agricultural sciences 109 104 91 101 99
    Biological and biomedical sciences 38 22 22 18 12
    Computer and information sciences 9 9 7 8 8
    Engineering 167 164 112 121 122
    Geosciences, atmospheric sciences, and ocean sciences 1 1 3 7 2
    Health sciences 17 16 49 72 51
    Mathematics and statistics 0 0 0 1 0
    Natural resources and conservation 47 48 51 53 4
    Physical sciences 51 48 50 56 53
    Psychology 12 4 4 4 4
    Social sciences 0 0 0 0 0
    Other 0 0 0 0 0

NOTE:
  • . = data were not collected at this level or institution was not eligible to participate for this survey year.
  • Data from the Survey of Science and Engineering Research Facilities is collected every two years.

SOURCE: National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics, Survey of Science and Engineering Research Facilities

New construction of science and engineering research space, by field and time of construction: 2025–16
(Net assignable square feet in thousands)
Field, medical school space, and research animal space Planned to start in FY 2024 or FY 2025 Started in FY 2022 or FY 2023 Started in FY 2020 or FY 2021 Started in FY 2018 or FY 2019 Started in FY 2016 or FY 2017
  All research space 14,000 65,086 32,472 94,244 2,475
    Agricultural sciences 5,000 23,814 0 94,244 0
    Biological and biomedical sciences 0 28,061 0 0 0
    Engineering 9,000 0 32,472 0 0
    Geosciences, atmospheric sciences, and ocean sciences 0 13,211 0 0 0
    Health sciences 0 0 0 0 2,475

NOTE:
  • . = data were not collected at this level or institution was not eligible to participate for this survey year.
  • Data from the Survey of Science and Engineering Research Facilities is collected every two years.

SOURCE: National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics, Survey of Science and Engineering Research Facilities

Costs for repair and renovation of science and engineering research space in academic institutions, by field and time of repair and renovation: 2025–16
(Dollars in thousands)
Field, medical school space, and research animal space Planned to start in FY 2024 or FY 2025 Started in FY 2022 or FY 2023 Started in FY 2020 or FY 2021 Started in FY 2018 or FY 2019 Started in FY 2016 or FY 2017
  All research space 0 0 0 0 22,388
    Agricultural sciences 0 0 0 0 0
    Biological and biomedical sciences 0 0 0 0 0
    Computer and information sciences 0 0 0 0 0
    Engineering 0 0 0 0 16,750
    Geosciences, atmospheric sciences, and ocean sciences 0 0 0 0 0
    Health sciences 0 0 0 0 2,300
    Mathematics and statistics 0 0 0 0 0
    Natural resources and conservation 0 0 0 0 0
    Physical sciences 0 0 0 0 3,338
    Psychology 0 0 0 0 0
    Social sciences 0 0 0 0 0
    Other 0 0 0 0 0

NOTE:
  • . = data were not collected at this level or institution was not eligible to participate for this survey year.
  • Data from the Survey of Science and Engineering Research Facilities is collected every two years.

SOURCE: National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics, Survey of Science and Engineering Research Facilities