Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State U.

Rankings

Data year Earned doctorates Full-time graduate students Total R&D expenditures Research space
Rank Percentile Institutions ranked Rank Percentile Institutions ranked Rank Percentile Institutions ranked Rank Percentile Institutions ranked
2024 35 92.6 459 35 94.7 631 56 94.1 925
2023 32 93.3 459 35 95 679 57 93.9 911 37 94.1 602
2022 35 92.6 457 36 94.9 680 53 94.3 900
2021 26 94.4 447 37 94.8 691 54 94.2 908 39 93.5 583
2020 28 94 450 38 94.7 698 49 94.8 916
2019 39 91.6 447 40 94.4 697 48 94.9 914 39 93.6 589
2018 36 91.9 428 41 94.3 700 47 95 911
2017 33 92.5 425 34 95.2 684 46 95 898 39 93.4 575
2016 30 93.3 430 34 95.3 697 43 95.4 896
2015 32 92.8 426 35 95.1 693 44 95.2 898 41 93 570
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 470 502 459 465 495 405 426 438 472 451
  Science and engineering 397 427 388 399 431 344 362 374 400 388
    Agricultural sciences and natural resources 42 40 31 39 51 39 33 37 38 38
      Agricultural sciences 33 31 24 28 39 33 25 24 24 23
      Natural resources and conservation 9 9 7 11 12 6 8 13 14 15
    Biological and biomedical sciences 56 53 43 48 45 43 40 48 51 50
      Biochemistry and biophysics 4 3 5 5 4 1 4 2 4 3
      Biology and biomedical sciences, general 10 11 4 7 8 7 5 7 6 4
      Bioinformatics, biostatistics, and computational biology 5 4 2 5 4 2 4 6 11 4
      Cellular and developmental biology, and anatomy . 1 . . . 1 . . . 1
      Ecology, evolutionary biology, and epidemiology 6 5 4 5 3 5 1 2 1 14
      Genetics and genomics . 1 1 1 . . . 2 2 .
      Microbiology and immunology 11 13 6 5 6 8 9 6 8 11
      Molecular biology 1 . 1 2 1 3 3 2 2 1
      Neurobiology and neurosciences 7 3 5 7 3 3 1 2 1 1
      Pharmacology and toxicology . 2 . . . . . . . .
      Physiology, pathology, and cancer biology 3 4 2 1 . 2 2 1 1 1
      Biology and biomedical sciences, other 9 6 13 10 16 11 11 18 15 10
    Computer and information sciences 21 23 20 31 25 15 24 28 22 25
      Computer science 18 15 17 27 23 14 20 26 19 25
      Computer and information sciences, other 3 8 3 4 2 1 4 2 3 .
    Engineering 183 208 178 166 195 144 165 154 171 168
      Aerospace, aeronautical, and astronautical engineering 21 25 13 15 16 7 11 9 12 12
      Bioengineering and biomedical engineering 11 21 7 13 13 14 15 12 13 12
      Chemical and petroleum engineering 11 11 14 11 11 11 3 4 8 8
      Civil, environmental, and transportation engineering 21 41 30 13 28 17 24 34 30 30
      Electrical and computer engineering 44 45 51 51 40 34 49 46 39 44
      Industrial engineering and operations research 20 11 10 8 12 9 8 7 13 9
      Materials and mining engineering 13 10 9 10 13 12 4 5 5 8
      Mechanical engineering 31 27 25 32 37 21 36 22 31 22
      Engineering, other 11 17 19 13 25 19 15 15 20 23
    Geosciences, atmospheric, and ocean sciences 12 9 8 11 9 6 8 13 7 8
      Geological sciences 10 6 6 9 7 3 7 13 5 5
      Ocean, marine, and atmospheric sciences 2 3 2 2 2 3 1 . 2 3
    Health sciences 5 5 6 6 4 6 4 1 5 1
      Nursing science . . . . . . . . . .
      Public health . . 1 1 2 2 3 1 4 1
      Health sciences, other 5 5 5 5 2 4 1 . 1 .
    Mathematics and statistics 13 13 13 16 15 11 13 12 20 17
      Applied mathematics 1 2 1 2 3 . 3 4 6 3
      Mathematics . . . 2 1 1 1 2 . 1
      Statistics 6 5 5 7 5 4 4 4 6 12
      Mathematics and statistics, other 6 6 7 5 6 6 5 2 8 1
    Physical sciences 24 27 40 37 36 36 29 29 32 38
      Astronomy and astrophysics . 1 2 . 1 . . . 1 .
      Chemistry 13 19 27 19 19 20 20 18 18 26
      Physics 11 7 11 18 16 16 9 11 13 12
    Psychology 13 15 21 15 21 12 16 25 21 13
      Clinical psychology 1 5 4 2 5 2 6 4 8 3
      Counseling and applied psychology 1 3 3 3 9 4 3 9 2 2
      Research and experimental psychology 5 1 8 4 2 2 1 4 4 3
      Psychology, other 6 6 6 6 5 4 6 8 7 5
    Social sciences 28 34 28 30 30 32 30 27 33 30
      Anthropology . . . 1 . . . . 2 1
      Economics 5 8 10 9 3 4 8 8 7 6
      Political science and government 2 1 1 4 2 3 2 3 4 6
      Public policy analysis . . . . . . 1 . . .
      Sociology, demography, and population studies 2 6 5 5 4 7 4 7 5 3
      Social sciences, other 19 19 12 11 21 18 15 9 15 14
  Non-science and engineering 73 75 71 66 64 61 64 64 72 63
    Business 11 16 14 9 10 6 10 13 8 16
      Business 11 16 14 9 10 6 10 13 8 16
    Education 34 37 35 36 38 36 40 36 45 30
      Education leadership and administration 2 2 . 4 . . 5 2 3 2
      Education research 16 19 22 23 25 16 26 25 31 21
      Teacher education and teaching fields 16 14 12 8 10 15 6 8 8 6
      Education, other . 2 1 1 3 5 3 1 3 1
    Humanities and arts 7 4 10 7 5 3 4 7 1 6
      Letters 3 2 6 5 2 3 2 5 . 4
      History 2 . 1 . . . 1 . 1 1
      Philosophy and religious studies . . 1 1 . . 1 1 . 1
      Music and performing arts . . 1 . . . . . . .
      Humanities and arts, other 2 2 1 1 3 . . 1 . .
    Other non-science and engineering 21 18 12 14 11 16 10 8 18 11
      Communication . . . . . . . . 1 .
      Public administration and social services 9 5 4 3 5 9 4 3 5 6
      Non-science and engineering, other 12 13 8 11 6 7 6 5 12 5

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

Full-time graduate students in science, engineering, and health, by selected characteristics: 2024–15
All races 2024 2023 2022 2021 2020 2019 2018 2017 2016 2015
  U.S. citizens and permanent residents 2,081 2,040 2,016 1,993 1,821 1,796 1,753 1,775 1,923 1,920
    Hispanic or Latino 188 167 159 146 134 136 133 121 136 125
    Not Hispanic or Latino 1,861 1,838 1,822 1,806 1,641 1,618 1,581 1,613 1,749 1,761
      American Indian or Alaska Native 1 4 4 5 4 4 6 5 3 3
      Asian 251 215 187 167 131 122 119 119 110 117
      Black or African American 147 125 134 131 120 114 101 107 118 119
      Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0
      White 1,353 1,403 1,407 1,420 1,308 1,295 1,274 1,314 1,456 1,463
      More than one race 109 90 90 83 78 83 80 68 62 59
    Unknown ethnicity and race 32 35 35 41 46 42 39 41 38 34
  Temporary visa holders 2,196 2,173 2,052 1,850 1,415 1,599 1,502 1,585 1,760 1,687
  Science and engineering 4,224 4,153 4,002 3,787 3,190 3,308 3,173 3,280 3,630 3,489
    Science 2,456 2,350 2,169 2,029 1,628 1,665 1,590 1,577 1,664 1,684
      Agricultural and veterinary sciences 233 229 224 205 185 141 143 158 280 292
      Biological and biomedical sciences 425 405 373 351 329 336 325 279 347 350
      Communication 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 15 17
      Computer and information sciences 807 752 635 576 312 297 241 231 227 211
      Family and consumer sciences and human sciences 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 44 52
      Geosciences, atmospheric, and ocean sciences 67 64 60 57 44 50 53 54 58 58
      Mathematics and statistics 131 124 129 119 107 108 109 118 127 137
      Multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary sciences 58 27 24 28 25 30 22 23 24 26
      Natural resources and conservation 173 174 177 173 141 152 153 143 0 0
      Physical sciences 246 246 228 197 195 204 218 214 213 212
      Psychology 97 91 91 90 97 58 50 59 64 70
      Social sciences 219 238 228 233 193 289 276 298 265 259
    Engineering 1,768 1,803 1,833 1,758 1,562 1,643 1,583 1,703 1,966 1,805
      Aerospace, aeronautical, and astronautical engineering 189 193 217 220 172 152 123 117 114 122
      Biological, biomedical, and biosystems engineering 84 71 73 71 58 54 64 56 54 59
      Chemical, petroleum, and chemical-related engineering 97 96 82 93 89 91 98 100 47 39
      Civil, environmental, transportation and related engineering fields 256 260 288 283 256 289 279 309 324 289
      Electrical, electronics, communications and computer engineering 538 533 516 457 424 457 421 467 484 439
      Industrial, manufacturing, systems engineering and operations research 144 164 166 149 120 121 118 138 168 135
      Mechanical engineering 241 251 266 254 215 241 237 256 281 285
      Metallurgical, mining, materials and related engineering fields 61 70 68 77 82 87 92 94 133 123
      Other engineering 158 165 157 154 146 151 151 166 361 314
    Health 53 60 66 56 46 87 82 80 53 118
      Clinical medicine 53 60 66 56 46 43 45 44 53 62
      Other health 0 0 0 0 0 44 37 36 0 56

NOTE:
  • . = data were not collected at this level or institution was not eligible to participate for this survey year.
  • Fields of study are grouped as they appear in survey data table (https://www.nsf.gov/statistics/srvygradpostdoc/#tabs-2).

SOURCE: National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics, Survey of Graduate Students and Postdoctorates in Science and Engineering

Part-time graduate students in science, engineering, and health, by selected characteristics: 2024–15
All races 2024 2023 2022 2021 2020 2019 2018 2017 2016 2015
  U.S. citizens and permanent residents 1,146 1,157 1,206 1,216 1,168 1,108 1,093 1,077 1,129 1,176
    Hispanic or Latino 103 107 105 98 79 60 51 60 58 57
    Not Hispanic or Latino 1,007 1,002 1,037 1,038 1,011 1,011 1,003 984 1,040 1,087
      American Indian or Alaska Native 2 1 2 3 3 2 2 3 2 1
      Asian 157 125 131 140 138 130 130 127 104 87
      Black or African American 74 73 65 68 62 71 63 60 85 92
      Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander 1 1 1 0 0 1 2 2 1 0
      White 727 750 784 781 772 768 763 754 825 882
      More than one race 46 52 54 46 36 39 43 38 23 25
    Unknown ethnicity and race 36 48 64 80 78 37 39 33 31 32
  Temporary visa holders 185 138 149 103 129 135 179 181 193 153
  Science and engineering 1,325 1,286 1,350 1,311 1,283 1,212 1,234 1,219 1,312 1,289
    Science 904 910 971 979 962 911 894 850 927 895
      Agricultural and veterinary sciences 124 134 134 118 107 82 77 92 162 187
      Biological and biomedical sciences 22 18 22 25 18 25 27 13 47 46
      Communication 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 3
      Computer and information sciences 515 477 523 519 561 564 542 477 407 317
      Family and consumer sciences and human sciences 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 37 45
      Geosciences, atmospheric, and ocean sciences 4 5 4 3 3 2 4 5 4 4
      Mathematics and statistics 14 12 16 22 22 11 11 8 14 6
      Multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary sciences 26 23 29 30 28 29 29 30 29 31
      Natural resources and conservation 97 123 123 124 103 64 71 74 0 0
      Physical sciences 7 6 5 11 8 14 9 11 11 6
      Psychology 21 12 14 25 20 8 13 12 10 14
      Social sciences 74 100 101 102 92 112 111 128 202 236
    Engineering 421 376 379 332 321 301 340 369 385 394
      Aerospace, aeronautical, and astronautical engineering 76 68 83 81 63 44 50 56 42 36
      Biological, biomedical, and biosystems engineering 3 1 7 2 6 6 1 2 1 4
      Chemical, petroleum, and chemical-related engineering 5 4 3 7 8 9 6 4 2 6
      Civil, environmental, transportation and related engineering fields 37 32 41 28 39 60 68 75 52 51
      Electrical, electronics, communications and computer engineering 145 130 112 103 84 78 88 91 127 115
      Industrial, manufacturing, systems engineering and operations research 77 56 58 45 40 36 43 59 50 43
      Mechanical engineering 40 41 36 24 37 34 40 38 42 47
      Metallurgical, mining, materials and related engineering fields 11 12 10 7 11 11 23 19 17 19
      Other engineering 27 32 29 35 33 23 21 25 52 73
    Health 6 9 5 8 14 31 38 39 10 40
      Clinical medicine 6 9 5 8 14 7 5 13 10 15
      Other health 0 0 0 0 0 24 33 26 0 25

NOTE:
  • . = data were not collected at this level or institution was not eligible to participate for this survey year.
  • Fields of study are grouped as they appear in survey data table (https://www.nsf.gov/statistics/srvygradpostdoc/#tabs-2).

SOURCE: National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics, Survey of Graduate Students and Postdoctorates in Science and Engineering

Full-time graduate students in science, engineering, and health receiving primary support from federal sources, by field: 2024–15
Field 2024 2023 2022 2021 2020 2019 2018 2017 2016 2015
All surveyed fields 1,072 1,053 973 964 883 834 795 756 759 775
  Science and engineering 1,068 1,050 969 964 881 824 783 748 755 765
    Science 537 470 444 410 341 320 314 312 317 350
      Agricultural and veterinary sciences 68 56 55 48 39 20 29 26 58 75
      Biological and biomedical sciences 161 145 112 106 104 89 79 71 74 74
      Communication 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
      Computer and information sciences 100 86 100 74 56 70 75 75 80 89
      Family and consumer sciences and human sciences 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 5 5
      Geosciences, atmospheric, and ocean sciences 23 23 19 19 7 10 16 16 18 15
      Mathematics and statistics 17 16 9 15 18 17 12 11 22 18
      Multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary sciences 5 0 2 3 2 2 2 1 1 2
      Natural resources and conservation 57 46 39 42 24 28 35 40 0 0
      Physical sciences 73 63 70 63 59 45 33 37 29 38
      Psychology 10 14 11 9 9 11 9 9 12 14
      Social sciences 23 21 27 31 23 28 24 26 18 20
    Engineering 531 580 525 554 540 504 469 436 438 415
      Aerospace, aeronautical, and astronautical engineering 57 69 67 75 67 56 42 31 29 35
      Biological, biomedical, and biosystems engineering 15 12 22 29 19 15 18 15 15 18
      Chemical, petroleum, and chemical-related engineering 40 42 27 28 23 23 27 23 9 11
      Civil, environmental, transportation and related engineering fields 67 67 70 64 61 49 42 50 56 60
      Electrical, electronics, communications and computer engineering 155 171 152 155 178 173 170 153 145 116
      Industrial, manufacturing, systems engineering and operations research 24 33 29 32 35 23 19 11 9 12
      Mechanical engineering 82 89 79 83 71 69 68 73 78 77
      Metallurgical, mining, materials and related engineering fields 31 31 35 33 44 50 35 32 39 30
      Other engineering 60 66 44 55 42 46 48 48 58 56
    Health 4 3 4 0 2 10 12 8 4 10
      Clinical medicine 4 3 4 0 2 5 5 3 4 1
      Other health 0 0 0 0 0 5 7 5 0 9

NOTE:
  • . = data were not collected at this level or institution was not eligible to participate for this survey year.
  • Fields of study are grouped as they appear in survey data table (https://www.nsf.gov/statistics/srvygradpostdoc/#tabs-2).

SOURCE: National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics, Survey of Graduate Students and Postdoctorates in Science and Engineering

Full-time graduate students in science, engineering, and health, by type and primary source of support: 2024–15
Type and primary source of support 2024 2023 2022 2021 2020 2019 2018 2017 2016 2015
All types and sources of support 4,277 4,213 4,068 3,843 3,236 3,395 3,255 3,360 3,683 3,607
  Fellowships 91 80 87 78 70 77 65 76 61 70
    Federal 69 55 61 53 52 48 38 28 35 38
    Institutional 15 13 21 15 17 24 13 33 24 29
    Nonfederal 7 12 5 10 1 5 14 15 2 3
  Research assistantships 1,865 1,883 1,805 1,710 1,592 1,574 1,550 1,538 1,561 1,569
    Federal 972 985 900 907 821 781 749 720 714 726
    Institutional 688 686 686 595 576 591 558 591 619 600
    Nonfederal 205 212 219 208 195 202 243 227 228 243
  Teaching assistantships 1,177 1,078 1,136 1,096 1,025 1,157 1,068 1,065 1,159 1,111
    Federal 18 1 3 1 4 2 6 6 1 7
    Institutional 1,146 1,075 1,127 1,093 1,016 1,149 1,056 1,056 1,154 1,101
    Nonfederal 13 2 6 2 5 6 6 3 4 3
  Other types of support 1,144 1,172 1,040 959 549 587 572 681 902 857
    Federal 13 12 9 3 6 3 2 2 9 4
    Institutional 133 196 138 110 79 80 109 101 117 148
    Nonfederal 11 15 5 3 2 7 1 2 2 0
    Personal resources 987 949 888 843 462 497 460 576 774 705

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 Graduate Students and Postdoctorates in Science and Engineering

Postdoctorates in science, engineering, and health, by selected characteristics: 2024–15
All races 2024 2023 2022 2021 2020 2019 2018 2017 2016 2015
  Science and engineering 306 264 243 229 220 199 207 221 205 203
    Science 222 183 174 162 151 124 126 127 116 120
      Agricultural and veterinary sciences 33 34 33 34 27 16 12 14 29 28
      Biological and biomedical sciences 40 27 30 27 30 24 21 21 21 44
      Communication 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
      Computer and information sciences 12 10 3 4 4 2 4 2 2 5
      Family and consumer sciences and human sciences 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
      Geosciences, atmospheric, and ocean sciences 7 4 4 5 3 1 2 3 2 4
      Mathematics and statistics 17 15 9 5 5 5 3 3 1 1
      Multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary sciences 38 34 30 28 34 23 35 32 35 8
      Natural resources and conservation 17 16 15 15 10 12 10 12 0 0
      Physical sciences 49 35 41 37 36 38 34 35 22 25
      Psychology 4 2 0 0 0 1 2 1 1 1
      Social sciences 5 6 9 7 2 2 3 4 3 4
    Engineering 84 81 69 67 69 75 81 94 89 83
      Aerospace, aeronautical, and astronautical engineering 3 4 3 4 3 4 3 2 1 4
      Biological, biomedical, and biosystems engineering 4 5 6 4 6 8 6 4 4 5
      Chemical, petroleum, and chemical-related engineering 2 1 4 1 2 0 1 4 4 3
      Civil, environmental, transportation and related engineering fields 26 25 16 16 10 10 23 24 23 21
      Electrical, electronics, communications and computer engineering 19 15 15 14 18 23 20 21 17 16
      Industrial, manufacturing, systems engineering and operations research 1 0 0 0 3 3 3 4 1 2
      Mechanical engineering 13 15 16 19 15 13 13 22 22 13
      Metallurgical, mining, materials and related engineering fields 6 5 2 4 5 4 4 5 9 8
      Other engineering 10 11 7 5 7 10 8 8 8 11
    Health 2 3 4 5 2 10 11 9 9 22
      Clinical medicine 2 3 4 5 2 3 1 2 2 14
      Other health 0 0 0 0 0 7 10 7 7 8

NOTE:
  • . = data were not collected at this level or institution was not eligible to participate for this survey year.
  • Fields of study are grouped as they appear in survey data table (https://www.nsf.gov/statistics/srvygradpostdoc/#tabs-2).

SOURCE: National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics, Survey of Graduate Students and Postdoctorates in Science and Engineering

Federally supported science, engineering, and health postdoctorates, by field: 2024–15
Field 2024 2023 2022 2021 2020 2019 2018 2017 2016 2015
All surveyed fields 146 134 138 123 116 113 126 115 113 114
  Science and engineering 145 133 137 122 116 109 122 110 108 101
    Science 104 93 103 91 85 71 82 63 61 64
      Agricultural and veterinary sciences 14 16 20 20 12 10 7 8 16 17
      Biological and biomedical sciences 21 20 19 17 17 12 15 10 14 27
      Communication 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
      Computer and information sciences 3 2 3 2 1 0 4 1 2 4
      Family and consumer sciences and human sciences 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
      Geosciences, atmospheric, and ocean sciences 3 1 1 2 1 1 2 1 1 2
      Mathematics and statistics 3 4 2 1 2 2 2 3 1 0
      Multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary sciences 15 17 15 13 15 12 20 14 17 2
      Natural resources and conservation 10 10 9 10 7 5 4 5 0 0
      Physical sciences 34 23 33 26 29 29 28 20 10 11
      Psychology 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1
      Social sciences 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 1 0 0
    Engineering 41 40 34 31 31 38 40 47 47 37
      Aerospace, aeronautical, and astronautical engineering 1 2 2 2 1 3 2 1 0 2
      Biological, biomedical, and biosystems engineering 2 4 5 2 4 1 3 2 0 1
      Chemical, petroleum, and chemical-related engineering 2 1 2 0 1 0 0 0 1 1
      Civil, environmental, transportation and related engineering fields 12 15 6 5 2 5 13 10 14 8
      Electrical, electronics, communications and computer engineering 5 4 6 4 6 13 9 11 10 11
      Industrial, manufacturing, systems engineering and operations research 1 0 0 0 1 0 1 1 1 1
      Mechanical engineering 7 6 8 13 8 9 6 14 12 6
      Metallurgical, mining, materials and related engineering fields 4 1 1 2 5 3 2 3 5 0
      Other engineering 7 7 4 3 3 4 4 5 4 7
    Health 1 1 1 1 0 4 4 5 5 13
      Clinical medicine 1 1 1 1 0 1 1 1 1 7
      Other health 0 0 0 0 0 3 3 4 4 6

NOTE:
  • . = data were not collected at this level or institution was not eligible to participate for this survey year.
  • Fields of study are grouped as they appear in survey data table (https://www.nsf.gov/statistics/srvygradpostdoc/#tabs-2).

SOURCE: National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics, Survey of Graduate Students and Postdoctorates in Science and Engineering

Total R&D expenditures, by field: 2024–15
(Dollars in thousands)
Field 2024 2023 2022 2021 2020 2019 2018 2017 2016 2015
  All R&D fields 656,916 598,113 591,861 542,045 556,341 541,969 531,636 522,425 521,773 504,282
    Science 349,640 311,809 313,070 284,517 282,461 273,941 274,820 284,530 284,052 269,800
      Computer and information sciences 41,836 30,263 28,642 25,466 30,405 23,536 27,614 33,035 27,386 24,646
      Geosciences, atmospheric sciences, and ocean sciences 6,616 6,047 4,652 3,534 3,068 4,185 3,867 4,503 4,385 6,107
        Atmospheric science and meteorology 286 140 149 185 61 0 0 0 0 52
        Geological and earth sciences 6,093 5,696 4,480 3,349 3,007 4,181 3,807 4,503 4,385 6,055
        Ocean sciences and marine sciences 221 36 0 0 0 4 60 0 0 0
        Geosciences, atmospheric sciences, and ocean sciences nec 16 175 23 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
      Life sciences 243,388 221,029 223,775 207,204 199,798 198,424 198,326 198,911 221,801 209,678
        Agricultural sciences 85,178 84,682 92,790 80,513 84,380 73,691 69,788 72,715 79,726 104,627
        Biological and biomedical sciences 60,817 45,172 49,745 46,515 40,276 46,123 51,145 50,905 66,005 62,429
        Health sciences 61,232 51,779 48,844 51,942 47,236 49,883 48,797 45,406 45,498 39,101
        Natural resources and conservation 32,553 28,412 27,874 26,106 25,921 26,604 26,896 28,219 28,518 0
        Life sciences nec 3,608 10,984 4,522 2,128 1,985 2,123 1,700 1,666 2,054 3,521
      Mathematics and statistics 9,686 12,051 12,917 8,107 6,776 5,031 5,765 10,281 2,901 2,734
      Physical sciences 27,023 22,452 23,394 24,374 24,214 26,835 21,049 18,453 15,547 14,025
        Astronomy and astrophysics 498 394 19 130 39 176 64 212 23 0
        Chemistry 15,224 13,571 13,810 14,389 14,242 16,338 12,149 9,149 8,691 8,526
        Materials science 2,793 1,448 1,292 1,184 1,025 1,188 960 1,017 942 0
        Physics 8,009 6,660 7,798 7,913 7,831 7,909 6,511 5,637 5,366 4,901
        Physical sciences nec 499 379 475 758 1,077 1,224 1,365 2,438 525 598
      Psychology 8,294 6,359 5,111 4,169 4,899 4,286 4,350 4,359 3,535 4,425
      Social sciences 12,797 13,608 14,507 11,574 13,082 11,273 13,299 14,604 7,799 7,001
        Anthropology 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 29 0 0
        Economics 6,821 6,332 6,429 5,176 5,163 1,340 2,070 2,871 1,334 1,932
        Political science and government 392 507 421 302 96 163 46 405 151 1,132
        Sociology, demography, and population studies 2,477 3,054 2,482 2,391 3,247 4,823 6,179 7,247 2,246 1,361
        Social sciences nec 3,107 3,715 5,175 3,705 4,576 4,947 5,004 4,052 4,068 2,576
      Sciences nec 0 0 72 89 219 371 550 384 698 1,184
    Engineering 277,605 261,707 260,158 246,965 263,711 258,213 245,755 226,810 228,281 225,702
      Aerospace, aeronautical, and astronautical engineering 27,985 23,321 26,384 20,824 18,219 14,890 12,490 9,738 12,215 11,344
      Bioengineering and biomedical engineering 23,282 33,666 28,433 20,998 22,519 28,445 15,709 20,463 12,374 12,522
      Chemical engineering 7,384 6,407 5,291 4,473 5,494 5,688 6,123 6,195 5,294 3,517
      Civil engineering 47,669 36,974 32,674 29,264 31,117 28,401 29,334 31,472 63,326 59,867
      Electrical, electronic, and communications engineering 65,991 61,525 67,367 56,194 62,349 60,818 51,152 51,376 50,139 49,920
      Industrial and manufacturing engineering 40,828 35,838 34,760 30,945 34,468 37,892 46,078 30,624 5,892 0
      Mechanical engineering 24,356 25,011 24,678 24,718 31,040 32,422 36,786 32,164 34,041 30,596
      Metallurgical and materials engineering 15,619 11,824 13,007 17,397 19,216 13,812 16,703 12,588 17,076 13,080
      Engineering nec 24,491 27,141 27,564 42,152 39,289 35,845 31,380 32,190 27,924 44,856
    Non-S&E 29,671 24,597 18,633 10,563 10,169 9,815 11,061 11,085 9,440 8,780
      Business management and business administration 4,416 4,983 4,875 3,748 3,232 2,426 288 902 770 352
      Communication and communications technologies 3 103 307 445 159 258 258 44 1 44
      Education 2,968 2,639 2,006 1,992 2,437 3,435 7,470 7,770 5,423 6,145
      Humanities 358 306 291 534 461 348 368 357 392 352
      Law 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 14 0
      Social work 0 0 0 72 73 67 0 0 3 88
      Visual and performing arts 489 743 901 413 522 578 930 771 1,206 804
      Non-S&E nec 21,437 15,823 10,253 3,359 3,285 2,703 1,747 1,241 1,631 995

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: 2024
(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 656,916 308,282 80,644 203,511 34,282 20,079 10,118
    Science 349,640 155,636 61,813 109,640 9,013 9,448 4,090
      Computer and information sciences 41,836 21,187 6,076 11,812 1,938 430 393
      Geosciences, atmospheric sciences, and ocean sciences 6,616 3,566 839 1,884 0 9 318
        Atmospheric science and meteorology 286 253 0 32 0 0 1
        Geological and earth sciences 6,093 3,263 839 1,670 0 9 312
        Ocean sciences and marine sciences 221 50 0 166 0 0 5
        Geosciences, atmospheric sciences, and ocean sciences nec 16 0 0 16 0 0 0
      Life sciences 243,388 100,245 50,866 75,613 5,754 7,941 2,969
        Agricultural sciences 85,178 23,958 27,889 28,175 3,129 1,280 747
        Biological and biomedical sciences 60,817 32,896 6,940 17,939 766 1,686 590
        Health sciences 61,232 27,624 6,550 22,011 482 3,869 696
        Natural resources and conservation 32,553 15,294 6,978 6,884 1,377 1,092 928
        Life sciences nec 3,608 473 2,509 604 0 14 8
      Mathematics and statistics 9,686 5,526 330 3,631 55 47 97
      Physical sciences 27,023 16,282 287 9,248 491 590 125
        Astronomy and astrophysics 498 371 0 48 0 78 1
        Chemistry 15,224 9,017 197 5,080 391 487 52
        Materials science 2,793 1,469 0 1,214 87 17 6
        Physics 8,009 5,186 90 2,647 13 8 65
        Physical sciences nec 499 239 0 259 0 0 1
      Psychology 8,294 4,691 889 2,140 449 44 81
      Social sciences 12,797 4,139 2,526 5,312 326 387 107
        Anthropology 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
        Economics 6,821 2,778 2,238 1,719 32 12 42
        Political science and government 392 17 261 61 52 0 1
        Sociology, demography, and population studies 2,477 1,066 3 856 230 284 38
        Social sciences nec 3,107 278 24 2,676 12 91 26
      Sciences nec 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
    Engineering 277,605 133,336 18,508 84,553 25,260 10,409 5,539
      Aerospace, aeronautical, and astronautical engineering 27,985 13,338 634 9,034 4,595 142 242
      Bioengineering and biomedical engineering 23,282 12,917 1,323 5,424 940 1,939 739
      Chemical engineering 7,384 4,800 0 1,939 561 1 83
      Civil engineering 47,669 21,935 8,540 12,413 880 2,932 969
      Electrical, electronic, and communications engineering 65,991 32,940 2,937 19,722 6,600 3,205 587
      Industrial and manufacturing engineering 40,828 19,949 2,755 11,686 4,591 854 993
      Mechanical engineering 24,356 11,775 827 5,737 4,122 1,146 749
      Metallurgical and materials engineering 15,619 8,129 102 6,702 325 107 254
      Engineering nec 24,491 7,553 1,390 11,896 2,646 83 923
    Non-S&E 29,671 19,310 323 9,318 9 222 489
      Business management and business administration 4,416 23 17 3,958 0 17 401
      Communication and communications technologies 3 0 0 0 0 3 0
      Education 2,968 1,606 141 1,073 0 101 47
      Humanities 358 95 0 169 0 81 13
      Law 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
      Social work 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
      Visual and performing arts 489 0 0 488 0 0 1
      Non-S&E nec 21,437 17,586 165 3,630 9 20 27

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: 2024–15
(Dollars in thousands)
Source of funds 2024 2023 2022 2021 2020 2019 2018 2017 2016 2015
Federal Agencies 308,282 282,152 240,305 216,733 210,792 209,607 199,897 186,054 195,859 196,096
  DOD 79,525 71,734 56,414 47,432 49,263 54,557 48,716 42,806 42,177 41,359
  DOE 19,596 19,297 21,423 24,072 24,180 16,887 14,322 11,918 13,976 12,857
  HHS 68,891 61,996 48,876 40,865 38,223 37,013 37,715 35,745 36,715 36,079
  NASA 6,234 8,028 5,171 4,581 4,951 4,914 6,100 4,647 3,860 3,386
  NSF 64,465 58,394 51,087 48,740 46,235 43,603 41,651 39,598 37,153 32,749
  USDA 28,954 26,449 22,949 20,941 18,511 19,204 18,806 19,374 23,430 21,408
  Other 40,617 36,254 34,385 30,102 29,429 33,429 32,587 31,966 38,548 48,258

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: 2024–18 [temporarily discontinued]
Year
2024 . . . .
2023 . . . .
2022 . . . .
2021 . . . .
2020 . . . .
2019 8,395 1,156 7,239 .
2018 8,251 1,103 7,148 .

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 1,819 1,760 1,658 1,591 1,518
    Agricultural sciences 638 455 438 385 343
    Biological and biomedical sciences 202 220 227 242 215
    Computer and information sciences 24 21 19 18 18
    Engineering 490 563 548 523 507
    Geosciences, atmospheric sciences, and ocean sciences 22 22 21 23 20
    Health sciences 143 307 196 196 215
    Mathematics and statistics 1 1 1 1 1
    Natural resources and conservation 70 71 73 74 63
    Physical sciences 68 68 68 75 66
    Psychology 15 14 13 14 14
    Social sciences 1 2 1 1 1
    Other 143 15 53 39 55

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 186,550 152,320 95,773 113,568 4,875
    Agricultural sciences 0 0 77,451 18,785 4,875
    Biological and biomedical sciences 0 0 0 55,254 0
    Computer and information sciences 0 86,164 0 9,632 0
    Engineering 186,550 66,156 18,322 18,977 0
    Geosciences, atmospheric sciences, and ocean sciences 0 0 0 0 0
    Health sciences 0 0 0 10,920 0
    Mathematics and statistics 0 0 0 0 0
    Natural resources and conservation 0 0 0 0 0
    Physical sciences 0 0 0 0 0
    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

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 20,872 7,297 11,750 8,391 10,436
    Agricultural sciences 2,732 2,698 1,340 433 0
    Biological and biomedical sciences 854 2,594 0 1,253 4,204
    Computer and information sciences 300 0 0 881 3,337
    Engineering 2,285 1,291 6,232 976 1,200
    Geosciences, atmospheric sciences, and ocean sciences 0 0 0 0 0
    Health sciences 0 273 3,193 349 1,695
    Mathematics and statistics 0 441 0 0 0
    Natural resources and conservation 14,700 0 0 1,900 0
    Physical sciences 0 0 985 2,600 0
    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

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