Pennsylvania State U., The, University Park and Hershey Medical Center

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
2024 12 97.6 459
2023 15 97 459 16 97.5 602 26 97.3 914
2022 15 97 457 28 97 900
2021 14 97.1 447 19 96.9 583 26 97.3 908
2020 11 97.8 450 22 97.7 916
2019 17 96.4 447 17 97.3 589 23 97.6 914
2018 13 97.2 428 21 97.8 911
2017 12 97.4 425 18 97.1 575 23 97.6 898
2016 12 97.5 430 21 97.8 896
2015 13 97.2 426 12 98.1 570 22 97.7 898
2014 20 97.9 889
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: 2024–15
Fields 2024 2023 2022 2021 2020 2019 2018 2017 2016 2015
All fields 737 691 710 629 688 659 699 694 679 693
  Science and engineering 593 535 573 496 554 513 533 527 533 531
    Agricultural sciences and natural resources 23 21 15 13 24 21 24 32 13 23
      Agricultural sciences 17 18 14 13 19 15 17 26 11 20
      Natural resources and conservation 6 3 1 . 5 6 7 6 2 3
    Biological and biomedical sciences 100 87 92 80 104 92 96 98 96 80
      Biochemistry and biophysics 11 7 9 5 6 11 11 14 12 7
      Biology and biomedical sciences, general 23 20 21 14 18 10 16 5 13 5
      Bioinformatics, biostatistics, and computational biology 7 6 12 6 10 7 6 9 6 3
      Cellular and developmental biology, and anatomy 8 6 4 3 6 2 6 5 5 3
      Ecology, evolutionary biology, and epidemiology 10 9 7 10 12 8 4 8 11 12
      Genetics and genomics . . 3 3 2 2 4 2 2 2
      Microbiology and immunology 2 3 4 7 10 11 8 9 11 9
      Molecular biology 8 4 2 4 6 3 . 3 5 4
      Neurobiology and neurosciences 6 8 8 6 11 6 14 9 9 11
      Pharmacology and toxicology 1 2 . . 1 1 . 4 1 2
      Physiology, pathology, and cancer biology 8 9 5 1 3 6 8 4 5 8
      Biology and biomedical sciences, other 16 13 17 21 19 25 19 26 16 14
    Computer and information sciences 34 21 16 24 25 36 26 27 26 26
      Computer science 21 12 9 15 13 15 15 15 15 13
      Computer and information sciences, other 13 9 7 9 12 21 11 12 11 13
    Engineering 228 177 210 164 170 145 177 153 166 202
      Aerospace, aeronautical, and astronautical engineering 8 8 9 7 11 6 7 10 10 7
      Bioengineering and biomedical engineering 14 12 9 12 9 6 9 10 7 8
      Chemical and petroleum engineering 28 16 20 27 19 15 32 23 29 33
      Civil, environmental, and transportation engineering 32 18 17 11 12 17 12 16 9 9
      Electrical and computer engineering 45 34 51 24 27 29 22 19 26 39
      Industrial engineering and operations research 18 12 19 12 14 10 17 10 16 15
      Materials and mining engineering 26 26 30 32 33 19 26 18 21 29
      Mechanical engineering 28 25 29 25 22 26 24 22 27 30
      Engineering, other 29 26 26 14 23 17 28 25 21 32
    Geosciences, atmospheric, and ocean sciences 17 16 18 15 19 24 27 26 18 23
      Geological sciences 11 7 10 6 11 9 9 15 8 12
      Ocean, marine, and atmospheric sciences 6 9 8 9 8 15 18 11 10 11
    Health sciences 15 14 19 15 17 15 10 19 18 18
      Nursing science 2 2 4 3 7 . 4 4 3 2
      Public health 1 1 4 3 2 4 1 6 8 3
      Health sciences, other 12 11 11 9 8 11 5 9 7 13
    Mathematics and statistics 21 30 35 28 32 23 24 14 27 25
      Applied mathematics 2 1 3 4 6 5 4 3 3 4
      Mathematics 2 1 1 4 3 8 6 3 4 2
      Statistics 11 14 18 10 8 6 7 4 7 15
      Mathematics and statistics, other 6 14 13 10 15 4 7 4 13 4
    Physical sciences 66 64 65 52 54 52 54 60 74 56
      Astronomy and astrophysics 10 12 9 5 8 5 9 6 6 4
      Chemistry 29 28 35 22 24 21 18 30 38 29
      Physics 27 24 21 25 22 26 27 24 30 23
    Psychology 31 49 43 43 41 36 34 34 43 25
      Clinical psychology 2 6 7 10 10 7 7 7 10 2
      Counseling and applied psychology . 6 7 6 7 6 6 12 11 6
      Research and experimental psychology 9 16 10 17 14 16 8 8 9 9
      Psychology, other 20 21 19 10 10 7 13 7 13 8
    Social sciences 58 56 60 62 68 69 61 64 52 53
      Anthropology . 3 3 4 4 4 4 1 . 2
      Economics 9 17 12 16 19 14 9 18 13 13
      Political science and government 10 6 5 3 7 7 8 6 6 3
      Public policy analysis 3 . . 2 . 1 3 2 . 2
      Sociology, demography, and population studies 13 11 5 13 10 12 12 14 12 12
      Social sciences, other 23 19 35 24 28 31 25 23 21 21
  Non-science and engineering 144 156 137 133 134 146 166 167 146 162
    Business 10 25 12 16 16 18 15 18 18 20
      Business 10 25 12 16 16 18 15 18 18 20
    Education 59 72 77 70 70 82 77 96 74 76
      Education leadership and administration 1 6 5 2 5 7 6 10 9 5
      Education research 35 37 45 43 43 51 48 49 32 50
      Teacher education and teaching fields 14 18 17 16 12 15 12 20 23 13
      Education, other 9 11 10 9 10 9 11 17 10 8
    Humanities and arts 45 35 28 27 35 32 44 35 36 47
      Letters 18 12 15 9 16 11 17 14 13 24
      Foreign languages and literature 14 9 4 3 7 3 11 9 7 10
      History 7 5 4 6 3 6 7 4 6 4
      Philosophy and religious studies 5 3 2 5 4 7 6 4 7 2
      Music and performing arts . . . . . . . 2 . .
      Humanities and arts, other 1 6 3 4 5 5 3 2 3 7
    Other non-science and engineering 30 24 20 20 13 14 30 18 18 19
      Communication 17 15 11 12 7 7 24 10 12 15
      Public administration and social services 6 2 2 3 1 3 1 3 1 .
      Non-science and engineering, other 7 7 7 5 5 4 5 5 5 4

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 1,206,793 1,019,940 970,544 991,923 949,679 908,708 854,815 825,561 791,031 800,773
    Science 708,955 596,695 557,340 602,727 573,640 560,659 514,342 521,751 477,692 482,872
      Computer and information sciences 108,873 79,162 73,737 89,490 69,638 55,939 36,680 47,112 55,400 52,372
      Geosciences, atmospheric sciences, and ocean sciences 33,406 35,715 31,930 41,590 46,390 50,302 44,378 42,273 54,902 59,370
        Atmospheric science and meteorology 13,193 17,891 16,523 19,239 20,694 19,050 17,726 17,694 21,533 23,707
        Geological and earth sciences 16,417 14,664 13,007 18,116 21,998 23,989 19,169 21,068 27,304 28,253
        Ocean sciences and marine sciences 3,796 3,160 2,400 4,235 3,698 3,824 2,755 2,023 6,065 7,410
        Geosciences, atmospheric sciences, and ocean sciences nec 0 0 0 0 0 3,439 4,728 1,488 0 0
      Life sciences 346,482 319,598 291,733 291,299 266,143 280,091 260,627 261,912 241,215 250,304
        Agricultural sciences 76,450 85,040 79,424 100,221 95,580 100,909 86,583 87,140 86,469 87,278
        Biological and biomedical sciences 110,439 105,362 112,135 98,382 84,873 90,168 80,560 80,497 52,860 58,382
        Health sciences 144,332 118,266 91,303 90,967 84,968 88,833 92,705 90,904 101,886 104,644
        Natural resources and conservation 15,261 10,930 8,871 1,729 722 181 779 3,371 0 0
        Life sciences nec 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
      Mathematics and statistics 24,625 17,140 14,090 17,706 25,057 19,251 16,451 34,141 12,424 10,880
      Physical sciences 111,514 73,580 89,035 94,201 99,485 93,913 87,175 72,314 51,598 51,811
        Astronomy and astrophysics 12,462 14,227 13,659 15,788 20,021 16,678 16,124 11,043 10,696 10,150
        Chemistry 18,226 15,578 16,923 17,696 18,532 18,013 17,085 18,248 18,141 17,339
        Materials science 52,509 22,202 38,139 34,436 34,258 33,043 31,675 22,906 0 0
        Physics 28,317 21,573 20,314 26,281 26,674 26,179 22,291 20,117 22,761 24,322
        Physical sciences nec 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
      Psychology 41,284 30,225 29,685 40,599 38,984 30,520 27,175 22,464 24,406 23,476
      Social sciences 42,771 41,275 27,130 27,842 27,943 30,643 41,313 41,232 37,747 34,659
        Anthropology 980 559 424 2,331 3,617 2,621 3,521 61 0 0
        Economics 5,506 6,662 4,478 1,611 1,511 3,524 4,652 2,727 3,008 2,863
        Political science and government 2,171 1,822 1,269 930 1,005 1,470 3,219 6,094 4,683 4,424
        Sociology, demography, and population studies 34,114 32,232 20,959 22,970 21,810 23,028 27,591 30,130 30,056 27,372
        Social sciences nec 0 0 0 0 0 0 2,330 2,220 0 0
      Sciences nec 0 0 0 0 0 0 543 303 0 0
    Engineering 453,476 385,594 378,667 367,730 350,391 325,002 312,341 288,234 296,692 302,833
      Aerospace, aeronautical, and astronautical engineering 26,041 34,060 32,084 32,250 28,351 21,446 17,991 17,610 16,509 16,853
      Bioengineering and biomedical engineering 20,050 33,997 30,144 19,563 19,077 11,220 14,980 8,067 5,925 4,665
      Chemical engineering 17,388 13,450 12,167 18,370 22,879 22,319 14,778 17,012 12,445 12,033
      Civil engineering 18,300 12,444 10,826 12,155 15,740 11,578 19,160 21,981 21,558 23,399
      Electrical, electronic, and communications engineering 151,174 123,291 108,919 101,850 100,673 96,377 85,424 61,089 88,443 84,761
      Industrial and manufacturing engineering 12,076 6,773 3,459 23,296 30,168 24,149 24,213 18,398 0 0
      Mechanical engineering 150,058 107,002 131,856 109,852 90,336 92,912 63,667 76,086 73,514 78,650
      Metallurgical and materials engineering 58,389 54,577 49,212 50,394 43,167 45,001 51,565 58,483 78,298 82,472
      Engineering nec 0 0 0 0 0 0 20,563 9,508 0 0
    Non-S&E 44,362 37,651 34,537 21,466 25,648 23,047 28,132 15,576 16,647 15,068
      Business management and business administration 7,865 8,148 8,760 3,480 6,638 5,999 9,542 5,844 6,454 5,615
      Communication and communications technologies 1,933 2,159 1,561 504 510 795 1,049 390 427 342
      Education 25,309 18,556 16,457 10,890 11,333 10,078 10,144 5,208 3,996 4,444
      Humanities 5,123 5,587 5,333 5,592 5,946 5,492 3,091 3,873 5,298 4,110
      Law 2,113 1,703 359 279 541 502 1,547 84 211 291
      Social work 959 611 1,012 0 0 0 567 0 0 0
      Visual and performing arts 1,060 887 1,055 721 680 181 643 177 261 266
      Non-S&E nec 0 0 0 0 0 0 1,549 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 1,206,793 781,303 49,379 265,205 29,300 29,539 52,067
    Science 708,955 417,296 43,162 165,907 13,967 22,710 45,913
      Computer and information sciences 108,873 83,515 105 17,107 1,305 1,085 5,756
      Geosciences, atmospheric sciences, and ocean sciences 33,406 26,986 586 4,313 300 1,031 190
        Atmospheric science and meteorology 13,193 11,231 103 1,479 0 361 19
        Geological and earth sciences 16,417 12,225 483 2,616 300 622 171
        Ocean sciences and marine sciences 3,796 3,530 0 218 0 48 0
        Geosciences, atmospheric sciences, and ocean sciences nec 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
      Life sciences 346,482 178,800 39,027 81,725 10,155 13,124 23,651
        Agricultural sciences 76,450 27,765 32,201 5,021 610 3,275 7,578
        Biological and biomedical sciences 110,439 80,726 1,779 21,983 1,245 3,167 1,539
        Health sciences 144,332 67,315 3,273 44,618 8,296 6,525 14,305
        Natural resources and conservation 15,261 2,994 1,774 10,103 4 157 229
        Life sciences nec 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
      Mathematics and statistics 24,625 21,148 24 3,038 115 132 168
      Physical sciences 111,514 58,927 61 33,730 1,746 2,014 15,036
        Astronomy and astrophysics 12,462 9,966 0 1,882 0 489 125
        Chemistry 18,226 11,765 40 5,119 260 802 240
        Materials science 52,509 15,174 0 21,509 1,117 130 14,579
        Physics 28,317 22,022 21 5,220 369 593 92
        Physical sciences nec 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
      Psychology 41,284 28,731 5 9,965 179 2,153 251
      Social sciences 42,771 19,189 3,354 16,029 167 3,171 861
        Anthropology 980 402 13 215 26 276 48
        Economics 5,506 3,843 53 1,078 109 363 60
        Political science and government 2,171 879 61 161 15 750 305
        Sociology, demography, and population studies 34,114 14,065 3,227 14,575 17 1,782 448
        Social sciences nec 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
      Sciences nec 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
    Engineering 453,476 348,549 5,455 77,945 14,717 3,166 3,644
      Aerospace, aeronautical, and astronautical engineering 26,041 20,993 0 4,492 241 58 257
      Bioengineering and biomedical engineering 20,050 14,815 15 4,128 335 729 28
      Chemical engineering 17,388 9,142 14 5,817 1,937 337 141
      Civil engineering 18,300 9,154 1,672 5,742 270 542 920
      Electrical, electronic, and communications engineering 151,174 133,655 1,563 12,296 3,064 290 306
      Industrial and manufacturing engineering 12,076 8,878 38 2,620 351 134 55
      Mechanical engineering 150,058 108,688 2,078 34,537 2,555 556 1,644
      Metallurgical and materials engineering 58,389 43,224 75 8,313 5,964 520 293
      Engineering nec 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
    Non-S&E 44,362 15,458 762 21,353 616 3,663 2,510
      Business management and business administration 7,865 3,066 359 2,901 0 181 1,358
      Communication and communications technologies 1,933 794 67 635 33 174 230
      Education 25,309 8,832 220 13,854 583 1,661 159
      Humanities 5,123 1,089 85 1,780 0 1,541 628
      Law 2,113 809 1 1,177 0 27 99
      Social work 959 836 0 52 0 71 0
      Visual and performing arts 1,060 32 30 954 0 8 36
      Non-S&E nec 0 0 0 0 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

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 781,303 681,159 622,532 638,930 600,489 565,348 538,164 538,938 513,410 520,574
  DOD 343,365 274,204 263,661 330,115 300,261 268,763 213,104 215,261 207,510 209,259
  DOE 44,141 45,400 36,453 33,203 29,606 28,080 27,253 33,909 37,744 48,612
  HHS 186,358 169,289 149,293 142,227 132,733 128,098 126,632 134,205 118,760 117,770
  NASA 20,924 18,875 15,518 17,901 18,524 17,238 15,032 13,632 12,093 12,324
  NSF 84,781 75,302 68,873 65,585 67,436 71,671 73,010 67,271 66,835 66,059
  USDA 34,662 35,157 32,604 33,490 32,342 31,264 32,848 28,893 27,691 27,033
  Other 67,072 62,932 56,130 16,409 19,587 20,234 50,285 45,767 42,777 39,517

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 12,559 i 2,456 10,103 i .
2018 11,613 i 2,239 9,374 i .
2017 13,605 i 3,140 10,465 i .

i=imputed

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 2,611 2,444 2,420 2,311 2,561
    Agricultural sciences 386 373 242 242 540
    Biological and biomedical sciences 570 534 643 639 632
    Computer and information sciences 22 20 18 15 36
    Engineering 738 653 672 611 684
    Geosciences, atmospheric sciences, and ocean sciences 64 60 53 68 144
    Health sciences 369 360 368 332 182
    Mathematics and statistics 20 18 9 4 9
    Natural resources and conservation 108 100 116 108 5
    Physical sciences 226 220 220 202 207
    Psychology 41 41 36 42 60
    Social sciences 66 65 42 48 62
    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 21,552 52,102 134,488 33,600 112,770
    Agricultural sciences 0 12,902 9,767 20,000 29,970
    Biological and biomedical sciences 0 0 0 13,000 38,000
    Engineering 0 0 124,721 600 44,800
    Physical sciences 21,552 0 0 0 0
    Social sciences 0 39,200 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

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 26,850 62,854 29,062 16,800 32,900
    Agricultural sciences 12,000 0 10,946 0 5,000
    Biological and biomedical sciences 11,100 5,581 1,975 7,000 10,000
    Computer and information sciences 0 0 0 0 0
    Engineering 0 46,473 8,139 6,000 8,000
    Geosciences, atmospheric sciences, and ocean sciences 0 0 255 3,400 1,000
    Health sciences 2,250 5,500 6,615 0 400
    Mathematics and statistics 0 0 0 0 0
    Natural resources and conservation 0 0 0 0 500
    Physical sciences 1,500 3,900 802 0 6,000
    Psychology 0 0 0 0 0
    Social sciences 0 1,400 330 400 2,000
    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

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