U.S. Air Force Academy

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 | 236 | 74.5 | 914 | |||||||||
2022 | 236 | 74.1 | 900 | |||||||||
2021 | 237 | 74.2 | 908 | |||||||||
2020 | 217 | 76.6 | 916 | |||||||||
2019 | 214 | 76.9 | 914 | |||||||||
2018 | 223 | 75.8 | 911 | |||||||||
2017 | 199 | 78.2 | 898 | |||||||||
2016 | 191 | 79 | 896 | |||||||||
2015 | 213 | 76.6 | 898 | |||||||||
2014 | 201 | 77.7 | 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

Field | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | 2019 | 2018 | 2017 | 2016 | 2015 | 2014 | ||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
All R&D fields | 44,880 | 36,506 | 32,086 | 42,197 | 43,941 | 35,925 | 48,287 | 55,358 | 38,326 | 44,663 | ||||||||||
Science | 8,313 | 3,335 | 2,954 | 3,496 | 6,451 | 4,822 | 6,804 | 13,644 | 10,889 | 10,051 | i | |||||||||
Computer and information sciences | 1,285 | 210 | 150 | 490 | 640 | 1,044 | 703 | 4,585 | 3,401 | 836 | i | |||||||||
Geosciences, atmospheric sciences, and ocean sciences | 53 | 120 | 34 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2,399 | i | |||||||||
Atmospheric science and meteorology | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 738 | i | |||||||||
Geological and earth sciences | 7 | 97 | 34 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 918 | i | |||||||||
Ocean sciences and marine sciences | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | i | |||||||||
Geosciences, atmospheric sciences, and ocean sciences nec | 46 | 23 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 743 | i | |||||||||
Life sciences | 4,130 | 244 | 369 | 0 | 140 | 341 | 338 | 485 | 526 | 1,026 | i | |||||||||
Agricultural sciences | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | i | |||||||||
Biological and biomedical sciences | 4,130 | 194 | 317 | 0 | 140 | 341 | 338 | 485 | 526 | 1,026 | i | |||||||||
Health sciences | 0 | 0 | 19 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | i | |||||||||
Natural resources and conservation | 0 | 0 | 33 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||||||||
Life sciences nec | 0 | 50 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | i | |||||||||
Mathematics and statistics | 34 | 451 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 535 | 657 | 572 | 549 | 738 | i | |||||||||
Physical sciences | 1,679 | 2,310 | 2,398 | 2,714 | 2,933 | 1,521 | 3,433 | 5,231 | 4,044 | 4,004 | i | |||||||||
Astronomy and astrophysics | 1,104 | 661 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 50 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | i | |||||||||
Chemistry | 0 | 74 | 552 | 0 | 330 | 627 | 703 | 1,169 | 801 | 446 | i | |||||||||
Materials science | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||||||||
Physics | 575 | 1,150 | 1,846 | 2,714 | 2,603 | 844 | 2,730 | 4,062 | 3,243 | 3,558 | i | |||||||||
Physical sciences nec | 0 | 425 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | i | |||||||||
Psychology | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 274 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1,053 | 1 | i | |||||||||
Social sciences | 118 | 0 | 3 | 292 | 2,464 | 1,381 | 1,673 | 2,771 | 1,316 | 1,047 | i | |||||||||
Anthropology | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||||||||
Economics | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 24 | 268 | 365 | 428 | 574 | 849 | i | |||||||||
Political science and government | 27 | 0 | 0 | 203 | 2,133 | 484 | 470 | 597 | 580 | 124 | i | |||||||||
Sociology, demography, and population studies | 0 | 0 | 0 | 24 | 307 | 629 | 838 | 1,746 | 162 | 0 | i | |||||||||
Social sciences nec | 91 | 0 | 0 | 65 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 74 | i | |||||||||
Sciences nec | 1,014 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | i | |||||||||
Engineering | 36,441 | 33,169 | 29,132 | 29,812 | 28,489 | 28,645 | 33,831 | 37,015 | 24,268 | 31,488 | i | |||||||||
Aerospace, aeronautical, and astronautical engineering | 4,963 | 1,772 | 2,823 | 4,358 | 2,830 | 2,775 | 3,178 | 6,072 | 5,214 | 2,894 | i | |||||||||
Bioengineering and biomedical engineering | 231 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | i | |||||||||
Chemical engineering | 203 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 42 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | i | |||||||||
Civil engineering | 0 | 479 | 0 | 0 | 50 | 359 | 590 | 473 | 501 | 385 | i | |||||||||
Electrical, electronic, and communications engineering | 242 | 327 | 923 | 325 | 140 | 748 | 699 | 1,424 | 1,006 | 580 | i | |||||||||
Industrial and manufacturing engineering | 73 | 895 | 482 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||||||||
Mechanical engineering | 74 | 28,282 | 24,904 | 25,073 | 25,090 | 24,556 | 29,364 | 29,046 | 17,547 | 27,604 | i | |||||||||
Metallurgical and materials engineering | 30,509 | 314 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | i | |||||||||
Engineering nec | 146 | 1,100 | 0 | 56 | 379 | 165 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 25 | i | |||||||||
Non-S&E | 126 | 2 | 0 | 8,889 | 9,001 | 2,458 | 7,652 | 4,699 | 3,169 | 3,124 | i | |||||||||
Business management and business administration | 65 | 2 | 0 | 802 | 833 | 717 | 694 | 707 | 913 | 130 | i | |||||||||
Communication and communications technologies | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | i | |||||||||
Education | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7,841 | 7,814 | 29 | 34 | 34 | 446 | 2,890 | i | |||||||||
Humanities | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 108 | 691 | 1,016 | 631 | 821 | 104 | i | |||||||||
Law | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 215 | 230 | 230 | 222 | 0 | i | |||||||||
Social work | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | i | |||||||||
Visual and performing arts | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | i | |||||||||
Non-S&E nec | 61 | 0 | 0 | 246 | 246 | 806 | 5,678 | 3,097 | 767 | 0 | i |
i=imputed
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
Field | All R&D expenditures | Federal government | State and local government | Institution funds | Business | Nonprofit organizations | All other sources | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
All R&D fields | 44,880 | 44,056 | 0 | 0 | 357 | 0 | 467 | |||||||
Science | 8,313 | 8,252 | 0 | 0 | 54 | 0 | 7 | |||||||
Computer and information sciences | 1,285 | 1,260 | 0 | 0 | 25 | 0 | 0 | |||||||
Geosciences, atmospheric sciences, and ocean sciences | 53 | 46 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 0 | |||||||
Atmospheric science and meteorology | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||||||
Geological and earth sciences | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 0 | |||||||
Ocean sciences and marine sciences | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||||||
Geosciences, atmospheric sciences, and ocean sciences nec | 46 | 46 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||||||
Life sciences | 4,130 | 4,130 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||||||
Agricultural sciences | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||||||
Biological and biomedical sciences | 4,130 | 4,130 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||||||
Health sciences | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||||||
Natural resources and conservation | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||||||
Life sciences nec | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||||||
Mathematics and statistics | 34 | 27 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | |||||||
Physical sciences | 1,679 | 1,669 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 0 | 0 | |||||||
Astronomy and astrophysics | 1,104 | 1,094 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 0 | 0 | |||||||
Chemistry | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||||||
Materials science | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||||||
Physics | 575 | 575 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||||||
Physical sciences nec | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||||||
Psychology | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||||||
Social sciences | 118 | 106 | 0 | 0 | 12 | 0 | 0 | |||||||
Anthropology | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||||||
Economics | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||||||
Political science and government | 27 | 15 | 0 | 0 | 12 | 0 | 0 | |||||||
Sociology, demography, and population studies | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||||||
Social sciences nec | 91 | 91 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||||||
Sciences nec | 1,014 | 1,014 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||||||
Engineering | 36,441 | 35,804 | 0 | 0 | 225 | 0 | 412 | |||||||
Aerospace, aeronautical, and astronautical engineering | 4,963 | 4,481 | 0 | 0 | 140 | 0 | 342 | |||||||
Bioengineering and biomedical engineering | 231 | 231 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||||||
Chemical engineering | 203 | 203 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||||||
Civil engineering | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||||||
Electrical, electronic, and communications engineering | 242 | 160 | 0 | 0 | 35 | 0 | 47 | |||||||
Industrial and manufacturing engineering | 73 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 50 | 0 | 23 | |||||||
Mechanical engineering | 74 | 74 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||||||
Metallurgical and materials engineering | 30,509 | 30,509 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||||||
Engineering nec | 146 | 146 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||||||
Non-S&E | 126 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 78 | 0 | 48 | |||||||
Business management and business administration | 65 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 57 | 0 | 8 | |||||||
Communication and communications technologies | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||||||
Education | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||||||
Humanities | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||||||
Law | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||||||
Social work | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||||||
Visual and performing arts | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||||||
Non-S&E nec | 61 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 21 | 0 | 40 |
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
Source of funds | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | 2019 | 2018 | 2017 | 2016 | 2015 | 2014 | ||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Federal Agencies | 44,056 | 35,826 | 31,818 | 33,554 | 35,294 | 27,973 | 40,062 | 46,958 | 30,637 | 34,669 | ||||||||||
DOD | 43,793 | 35,311 | 31,818 | 33,115 | 33,955 | 27,263 | 39,077 | 44,934 | 28,160 | 33,392 | ||||||||||
DOE | 90 | 450 | 0 | 0 | 108 | 96 | 385 | 114 | 79 | 69 | ||||||||||
HHS | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 140 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||||||||
NASA | 146 | 37 | 0 | 103 | 100 | 436 | 277 | 247 | 123 | 98 | ||||||||||
NSF | 27 | 28 | 0 | 90 | 745 | 85 | 5 | 197 | 348 | 147 | ||||||||||
USDA | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||||||||
Other | 0 | 0 | 0 | 246 | 246 | 93 | 318 | 1,466 | 1,927 | 963 |
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
Year | ||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2023 | . | . | . | . | ||||
2022 | . | . | . | . | ||||
2021 | . | . | . | . | ||||
2020 | . | . | . | . | ||||
2019 | 677 | i | 136 | 541 | i | . | ||
2018 | 618 | i | 136 | 482 | i | . | ||
2017 | 703 | i | 136 | 567 | 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