Technical Notes
1. Data sources
The Survey of Earned Doctorates (SED) is an annual census of all individuals who received a research doctorate from a U.S. academic institution. The reference period is 1 July through 30 June of each year. Response units are individuals. The SED collects data on the number and characteristics of individuals receiving research doctoral degrees from U.S. academic institutions. The field of doctorate data may not be comparable in 2021 and subsequent years to the prior year data because beginning in 2021, a modified version of the 2020 Classification of Instructional Programs (CIP) codes was used in the data collection; the historical field of study were constructed using the SED CIP code crosswalk. See Working Paper.
The Survey of Graduate Students and Postdoctorates in Science and Engineering (GSS) is an annual census of all academic institutions in the United States and its territories (Guam and Puerto Rico) that grant research-based master's degrees or doctorates in science, engineering, or health fields. The reference period of enrollment is the fall semester, typically mid-October, of each year. Response units are organizational units (e.g., academic departments, degree-granting programs, university-affiliated research centers, and health care facilities) in academic institutions. The purpose of the GSS is to collect counts of enrolled graduate students, postdoctoral researchers (postdocs), and other doctorate-holding nonfaculty researchers (NFRs) at academic institutions by demographics and other characteristics. Results are used to assess shifts in graduate enrollment, shifts in postdoc and NFR appointments, and trends in financial support. See data and reports from this survey.
The Higher Education Research and Development Survey (HERD) is an annual census of all known academic institutions which expended at least $150,000 in separately accounted for R&D in the FY. The reference period for most institutions is 1 July through 30 June. Response units are U.S. academic institutions. Institutions respond to one of two form types: a short form for institutions that reported at least $150 thousand but less than $1 million in total R&D expenditures during the previous fiscal year, and a standard form for institutions that reported at least $1 million in total R&D expenditures during the previous fiscal year. Academic institution profiles data come from both forms to capture all institutions. The HERD Survey is the primary source of information on separately accounted for R&D expenditures within higher education institutions in the United States and outlying areas. See data and reports from this survey.
The Survey of Science and Engineering Research Facilities is a biennial survey of U.S. academic institutions reporting at least $1 million in R&D expenditures from the HERD Survey. The reference period is 1 July through 30 June. Response units are U.S. academic institutions. The Survey of Science and Engineering Research Facilities is the primary source of information on the amount and cost of space at science and engineering (S&E) research facilities located at U.S. research-performing colleges and universities. The survey is the basis of public data used by Congress, higher education associations, state governments, academia, and architectural and engineering firms. See data and reports from this survey.
Ranking variables
The number of earned doctorates reflects the number of research doctorate recipients reported by the U.S. institutions in an academic year. Data for this measure comes from the Survey of Earned Doctorates from confirmed graduation lists submitted by the doctorate-granting institutions.
The number of full-time graduate students reflects the number of full-time graduate students enrolled in science, engineering, and selected health fields reported by the institution where they were enrolled as of fall of the survey year. Data for this variable comes from the Survey of Graduate Students and Postdoctorates in Science and Engineering. Organizational units report their number of full-time graduate students in question 3 of the 2021 survey questionnaire.
(Questionnaire item numbers may vary between survey waves.)
The total R&D expenditures reflects the expenditures in U.S. dollars for research and development (R&D) within higher education institutions. Data for this variable come from the HERD Survey. Institution total R&D expenditures are reported by U.S. academic institutions in question 1 of the 2022 standard form and short form survey questionnaire.
Research space reflects the net assignable square feet (NASF) of space in buildings within which science and engineering research activities take place during the FY. NASF is the sum of all areas on all floors of a building assigned to, or available to be assigned to, an occupant for a specific use, such as research or instruction. Data for this variable comes from the Science and Engineering Research Facilities Survey. Institution research space is reported by U.S. academic institutions in question 2 of the survey 2021 questionnaire.
Data tables using the Survey of Earned Doctorates
Data for Number of earned doctorates, by major field of study of recipients: 2022–13 comes from survey question item A3 of the 2022 survey questionnaire.
Data tables using the Survey of Graduate Students and Postdocs
Data for Full-time graduate students in science, engineering, and health, by selected characteristics: 2021–12 comes from survey question item 3 of the 2021 survey questionnaire (same item number for master's and doctoral student sections).
Data for Part-time graduate students in science, engineering, and health, by selected characteristics: 2021–12 comes from survey question item 2 for master's students and item 2 for doctoral students of the 2021 survey questionnaire (Same item number for master's and doctoral student sections).
Data for Full-time graduate students in science, engineering, and health receiving primary support from federal sources, by field: 2021–12 comes from survey question item 4 for master's students and item 4 for doctoral students of the 2021 survey questionnaire (Same item number for master's and doctoral student sections).
Data for Full-time graduate students in science, engineering, and health, by type and primary source of support: 2021–12 comes from survey question item 4 for master's students and item 4 for doctoral students of the 2021 survey questionnaire (Same item number for master's and doctoral student sections).
Data for Postdoctorates in science, engineering, and health, by selected characteristics: 2021–12 comes from survey question item 2A of the 2021 survey questionnaire.
Data for Federally supported science, engineering, and health postdoctorates, by field: 2021–12 comes from survey question item 2B of the 2021 survey questionnaire.
Data tables using the Higher Education Research and Development Survey
Data for Total R&D expenditures, by field: 2022–12 comes from survey question items 9A through 9K of the 2022 standard form and short form survey questionnaire.
Data for Total R&D expenditures, by source of funds and R&D field: 2022 comes from survey question items 11A through 11K of the 2022 standard form and short form survey questionnaire.
Data for Federally funded R&D expenditures, by federal agency: 2022–12 comes from survey question item 9K of the 2022 standard form and short form survey questionnaire.
Data for Headcount of R&D personnel: 2022–15 comes from survey questionnaire item 15. Total head count reflects the number of principal investigators and other personnel paid from R&D salaries, wages, and fringe benefits reported by respondents of the standard form survey questionnaire. The R&D personnel survey questions were revised for 2020 and data are not being displayed for individual institutions. The institution-level R&D personnel data will be displayed in the future.
Data tables using the Science and Engineering Research Facilities Survey
Data for Science and engineering research space in academic institutions, by field: 2021–12 comes from survey questionnaire item 2 of the survey 2021 survey questionnaire.
Data for New construction of science and engineering research space, by field and time of construction: 2021–14 comes from survey questionnaire item 10E of the survey 2021 survey questionnaire.
Data for Costs for repair and renovation of science and engineering research space in academic institutions, by field and time of repair and renovation: 2023–14 comes from survey questionnaire item 8 of the survey 2021 survey questionnaire. Costs for repair and renovation include planning, site preparation, construction, fixed equipment, nonfixed equipment that costs $1 million or more, and building infrastructure such as plumbing, lighting, air exchange, and safety systems either in the building or within 5 feet of the building foundation.
2. Institution rankings
For a given institution and variable, the rank is the number of institutions with values of the variable equal to or greater than the institution's value. Institutions with the same value are assigned the rank equal to the lowest possible ranking.
Percentiles represent the percentage of institutions whose values are at or below the institution's value for that variable. Percentiles are measured by dividing the rank of the institution by the total number of ranked institutions plus one. The formula used is:
3. Comparability across surveys
Institution labels represent parent institutions and subsidiary campuses (e.g., additional campuses, medical schools, system offices).
However, not all data for institutions are comparable across surveys due to variation in data collection and response techniques. Institutions are not comparable when they do not include the same group of subsidiary campuses across all survey responses. Institution subsidiaries that are not included in the main institution have their own profiles.
4. Comparability across years
Survey of Earned Doctorates
Beginning in 2021, field of study data are collected using a modified version of the 2020 Classification of Instructional Programs (CIP) codes and the field taxonomy was changed to better align with the National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics (NCSES) Taxonomy of Disciplines. Therefore, the field of study data in 2021 may not be comparable to prior survey cycle data; see the 2021 survey cycle "Technical Notes" at https://ncses.nsf.gov/sed for more information.
Survey of Graduate Students and Postdoctorates in Science and Engineering
Postdoctoral appointee and nonfaculty researcher data from 2010 and 2011 were reimputed following the 2013 data collection; these data supersede those contained in previous reports.
In 2014, the survey frame was updated following a comprehensive frame evaluation study. The study identified potentially eligible but not previously surveyed academic institutions in the United States with master's- or doctorate-granting programs in science, engineering, or health. A total of 151 newly eligible institutions were added, and two private for-profit institutions offering mostly practitioner-based graduate degrees were determined to be ineligible. For more information, see https://www.nsf.gov/statistics/2016/nsf16314.
As part of 2017 GSS redesign, the taxonomy was changed to align with the National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics (NCSES) Taxonomy of Disciplines, thus increasing comparability with other NCSES surveys. As a result, some eligible fields were reclassified and a small number of fields became fully or partially ineligible.
2020: The list of GSS-eligible CIP codes was updated to align with the revised 2020 CIP list and NCSES Taxonomy of Disciplines (TOD). Since most coordinators report graduate student data using CIP, it was important that GSS update the taxonomy to include the newest CIP codes on the same timeline as CIP. As part of this update, new CIP codes were added, CIP codes were changed, and a small number of CIP codes were removed. Most of the changes in CIP eligibility were made to ensure that the implementation of the new CIP codes included programs that were GSS eligible and likely were being reported (based on unit names). The GSS codes of Data science and data analytics and of Medical clinical sciences were added for reporting new CIP codes in these fields. Due to changes in CIP and TOD, Veterinary biomedical and clinical sciences were moved from Other health to Agricultural sciences (renamed Agricultural and veterinary sciences). To improve alignment with TOD, Human development moved from Social sciences to Psychology.
In addition to the adjustments made due to the changes in CIP and TOD, GSS made additional changes based on data reporting patterns that emerged due to the 2017 redesign. Generally, these changes created more detailed fields out of larger GSS codes or reorganized existing codes to align with current enrollment patterns. Broad fields were added to Engineering for the first time. In some cases, GSS codes with a small number of graduate students were combined for reporting purposes. For more information on these changes, see table A-17, table A-18a, and table A-18b in the 2020 Technical Notes.
Higher Education Research and Development Survey
Beginning with FY 2012, institutions reporting less than $1 million in total R&D expenditures completed a shorter version of the survey questionnaire. Prior to FY 2012, all institutions completed the standard form survey questionnaire.
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.
For the FY 2012 data collection, NCSES modified the survey instructions to clarify what types of institutionally funded activities should be included in reported data. The instructions explained that all expenditures for R&D from an institution's current operating funds that are separately accounted for should be reported. This includes expenditures separately budgeted for organized research and expenditures of other funds designated for research but not categorized as organized research. The instructions also specified that funds from an institution's 501(c)(3) foundation should be reported under institutionally financed research.
For the FY 2013 collection, the instructions were revised to clarify that funds from foreign and U.S. universities and colleges should be reported under All other sources (Question 1, row f). The instructions also specified that gifts designated by donors for research should be included in Question 1, row f.
For the FY 2016 questionnaire: Question 16 on the FY 2015 questionnaire, regarding the number of postdocs paid from R&D expenditures, was removed from the survey. Question 2, regarding foreign funding of R&D, was expanded to identify sources of foreign funding. The question now collects R&D expenditures funded by foreign governments, businesses, nonprofit organizations, and higher education (see the definition foreign sources for additional information).
For the FY 2016 questionnaire: Questions 9, 11, and 14 include revisions to the fields of R&D that better reflect the R&D currently being conducted at universities and colleges. The revisions make the HERD Survey fields more consistent with those used by other NCSES surveys as well as with the CIP codes.
For the FY 2018 collection, the instructions were revised to clarify that expenditures for institution research administration and support (e.g., office of sponsored programs) should be excluded from the institutionally financed research totals.
Survey of Science and Engineering Research Facilities
Fields of science and engineering and their disciplines were revised in FY 2015. Specifically, "Agricultural sciences and natural resources sciences" was split into "Agricultural sciences"
and "Natural resources and conservation." Prior to FY 2015, data for "Natural resources and conservation" are included in "Agricultural sciences." Details may not add to totals due to rounding.
The "All Research Space" total for 2011 only includes research space at responding institutions. A weighted estimation was used for nonresponding institutions. The 2011 national total for "All Research Space" is estimated to be 202.2 million NASF. Beginning in 2013, data for nonresponding institutions were imputed and are displayed in the profiles.