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

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 12 97.6 459 25 97.4 925
2023 15 97 459 26 97.3 911 16 97.5 602
2022 15 97 457 28 97 900
2021 14 97.1 447 26 97.3 908 19 96.9 583
2020 11 97.8 450 22 97.7 916
2019 17 96.4 447 23 97.6 914 17 97.3 589
2018 13 97.2 428 21 97.8 911
2017 12 97.4 425 23 97.6 898 18 97.1 575
2016 12 97.5 430 21 97.8 896
2015 13 97.2 426 22 97.7 898 12 98.1 570
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 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: 2024–15
(Dollars in thousands)
Field 2024 2023 2022 2021 2020 2019 2018 2017 2016 2015
  All R&D fields   1,302,971   1,206,793   1,019,940   970,544   991,923   949,679   908,708   854,815   825,561   791,031
    Science   782,624   708,955   596,695   557,340   602,727   573,640   560,659   514,342   521,751   477,692
      Computer and information sciences   125,328   108,873   79,162   73,737   89,490   69,638   55,939   36,680   47,112   55,400
      Geosciences, atmospheric sciences, and ocean sciences   35,939   33,406   35,715   31,930   41,590   46,390   50,302   44,378   42,273   54,902
        Atmospheric science and meteorology   13,262   13,193   17,891   16,523   19,239   20,694   19,050   17,726   17,694   21,533
        Geological and earth sciences   17,517   16,417   14,664   13,007   18,116   21,998   23,989   19,169   21,068   27,304
        Ocean sciences and marine sciences   5,160   3,796   3,160   2,400   4,235   3,698   3,824   2,755   2,023   6,065
        Geosciences, atmospheric sciences, and ocean sciences nec   0   0   0   0   0   0   3,439   4,728   1,488   0
      Life sciences   393,100   346,482   319,598   291,733   291,299   266,143   280,091   260,627   261,912   241,215
        Agricultural sciences   87,837   76,450   85,040   79,424   100,221   95,580   100,909   86,583   87,140   86,469
        Biological and biomedical sciences   117,903   110,439   105,362   112,135   98,382   84,873   90,168   80,560   80,497   52,860
        Health sciences   170,144   144,332   118,266   91,303   90,967   84,968   88,833   92,705   90,904   101,886
        Natural resources and conservation   17,216   15,261   10,930   8,871   1,729   722   181   779   3,371   0
        Life sciences nec   0   0   0   0   0   0   0   0   0   0
      Mathematics and statistics   29,530   24,625   17,140   14,090   17,706   25,057   19,251   16,451   34,141   12,424
      Physical sciences   124,762   111,514   73,580   89,035   94,201   99,485   93,913   87,175   72,314   51,598
        Astronomy and astrophysics   12,921   12,462   14,227   13,659   15,788   20,021   16,678   16,124   11,043   10,696
        Chemistry   19,526   18,226   15,578   16,923   17,696   18,532   18,013   17,085   18,248   18,141
        Materials science   58,293   52,509   22,202   38,139   34,436   34,258   33,043   31,675   22,906   0
        Physics   34,022   28,317   21,573   20,314   26,281   26,674   26,179   22,291   20,117   22,761
        Physical sciences nec   0   0   0   0   0   0   0   0   0   0
      Psychology   35,984   41,284   30,225   29,685   40,599   38,984   30,520   27,175   22,464   24,406
      Social sciences   37,981   42,771   41,275   27,130   27,842   27,943   30,643   41,313   41,232   37,747
        Anthropology   2,001   980   559   424   2,331   3,617   2,621   3,521   61   0
        Economics   5,896   5,506   6,662   4,478   1,611   1,511   3,524   4,652   2,727   3,008
        Political science and government   3,058   2,171   1,822   1,269   930   1,005   1,470   3,219   6,094   4,683
        Sociology, demography, and population studies   27,026   34,114   32,232   20,959   22,970   21,810   23,028   27,591   30,130   30,056
        Social sciences nec   0   0   0   0   0   0   0   2,330   2,220   0
      Sciences nec   0   0   0   0   0   0   0   543   303   0
    Engineering   471,961   453,476   385,594   378,667   367,730   350,391   325,002   312,341   288,234   296,692
      Aerospace, aeronautical, and astronautical engineering   31,911   26,041   34,060   32,084   32,250   28,351   21,446   17,991   17,610   16,509
      Bioengineering and biomedical engineering   22,800   20,050   33,997   30,144   19,563   19,077   11,220   14,980   8,067   5,925
      Chemical engineering   16,852   17,388   13,450   12,167   18,370   22,879   22,319   14,778   17,012   12,445
      Civil engineering   19,327   18,300   12,444   10,826   12,155   15,740   11,578   19,160   21,981   21,558
      Electrical, electronic, and communications engineering   156,632   151,174   123,291   108,919   101,850   100,673   96,377   85,424   61,089   88,443
      Industrial and manufacturing engineering   18,376   12,076   6,773   3,459   23,296   30,168   24,149   24,213   18,398   0
      Mechanical engineering   154,757   150,058   107,002   131,856   109,852   90,336   92,912   63,667   76,086   73,514
      Metallurgical and materials engineering   51,306   58,389   54,577   49,212   50,394   43,167   45,001   51,565   58,483   78,298
      Engineering nec   0   0   0   0   0   0   0   20,563   9,508   0
    Non-S&E   48,386   44,362   37,651   34,537   21,466   25,648   23,047   28,132   15,576   16,647
      Business management and business administration   6,633   7,865   8,148   8,760   3,480   6,638   5,999   9,542   5,844   6,454
      Communication and communications technologies   2,661   1,933   2,159   1,561   504   510   795   1,049   390   427
      Education   27,414   25,309   18,556   16,457   10,890   11,333   10,078   10,144   5,208   3,996
      Humanities   6,853   5,123   5,587   5,333   5,592   5,946   5,492   3,091   3,873   5,298
      Law   2,003   2,113   1,703   359   279   541   502   1,547   84   211
      Social work   1,379   959   611   1,012   0   0   0   567   0   0
      Visual and performing arts   1,443   1,060   887   1,055   721   680   181   643   177   261
      Non-S&E nec   0   0   0   0   0   0   0   1,549   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: 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   1,302,971   858,666   55,826   294,157   37,874   31,390   25,058
    Science   782,624   468,851   48,400   206,392   16,884   24,356   17,741
      Computer and information sciences   125,328   98,607   81   23,092   1,359   1,380   809
      Geosciences, atmospheric sciences, and ocean sciences   35,939   28,747   620   4,971   247   1,323   31
        Atmospheric science and meteorology   13,262   11,198   170   1,530   40   322   2
        Geological and earth sciences   17,517   12,757   450   3,121   204   956   29
        Ocean sciences and marine sciences   5,160   4,792   0   320   3   45   0
        Geosciences, atmospheric sciences, and ocean sciences nec   0   0   0   0   0   0   0
      Life sciences   393,100   194,624   44,216   112,233   12,017   15,777   14,233
        Agricultural sciences   87,837   31,528   33,659   13,983   787   4,093   3,787
        Biological and biomedical sciences   117,903   82,312   1,726   28,190   1,938   3,204   533
        Health sciences   170,144   76,857   6,699   59,529   9,242   8,277   9,540
        Natural resources and conservation   17,216   3,927   2,132   10,531   50   203   373
        Life sciences nec   0   0   0   0   0   0   0
      Mathematics and statistics   29,530   24,923   33   3,949   265   237   123
      Physical sciences   124,762   72,399   44   45,757   2,622   1,786   2,154
        Astronomy and astrophysics   12,921   10,555   0   1,808   0   183   375
        Chemistry   19,526   12,322   17   5,761   187   801   438
        Materials science   58,293   22,552   0   32,031   2,168   202   1,340
        Physics   34,022   26,970   27   6,157   267   600   1
        Physical sciences nec   0   0   0   0   0   0   0
      Psychology   35,984   28,964   2   5,546   120   1,295   57
      Social sciences   37,981   20,587   3,404   10,844   254   2,558   334
        Anthropology   2,001   911   8   711   30   335   6
        Economics   5,896   3,992   70   1,289   153   377   15
        Political science and government   3,058   1,722   85   262   40   702   247
        Sociology, demography, and population studies   27,026   13,962   3,241   8,582   31   1,144   66
        Social sciences nec   0   0   0   0   0   0   0
      Sciences nec   0   0   0   0   0   0   0
    Engineering   471,961   374,697   6,168   64,065   17,816   3,189   6,026
      Aerospace, aeronautical, and astronautical engineering   31,911   26,307   0   4,770   313   45   476
      Bioengineering and biomedical engineering   22,800   18,167   39   3,514   326   607   147
      Chemical engineering   16,852   9,020   7   4,867   2,526   362   70
      Civil engineering   19,327   10,455   1,968   4,751   197   669   1,287
      Electrical, electronic, and communications engineering   156,632   132,612   1,783   14,721   6,035   149   1,332
      Industrial and manufacturing engineering   18,376   14,635   3   2,512   945   223   58
      Mechanical engineering   154,757   119,643   2,326   25,740   4,022   521   2,505
      Metallurgical and materials engineering   51,306   43,858   42   3,190   3,452   613   151
      Engineering nec   0   0   0   0   0   0   0
    Non-S&E   48,386   15,118   1,258   23,700   3,174   3,845   1,291
      Business management and business administration   6,633   2,758   450   2,401   0   80   944
      Communication and communications technologies   2,661   524   149   1,686   12   235   55
      Education   27,414   8,787   349   13,203   3,150   1,870   55
      Humanities   6,853   1,195   239   3,776   0   1,527   116
      Law   2,003   558   13   1,225   12   78   117
      Social work   1,379   1,251   0   86   0   42   0
      Visual and performing arts   1,443   45   58   1,323   0   13   4
      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: 2024–15
(Dollars in thousands)
Source of funds 2024 2023 2022 2021 2020 2019 2018 2017 2016 2015
Federal Agencies   858,666   781,303   681,159   622,532   638,930   600,489   565,348   538,164   538,938   513,410
  DOD   397,029   343,365   274,204   263,661   330,115   300,261   268,763   213,104   215,261   207,510
  DOE   44,352   44,141   45,400   36,453   33,203   29,606   28,080   27,253   33,909   37,744
  HHS   205,076   186,358   169,289   149,293   142,227   132,733   128,098   126,632   134,205   118,760
  NASA   20,162   20,924   18,875   15,518   17,901   18,524   17,238   15,032   13,632   12,093
  NSF   85,850   84,781   75,302   68,873   65,585   67,436   71,671   73,010   67,271   66,835
  USDA   38,507   34,662   35,157   32,604   33,490   32,342   31,264   32,848   28,893   27,691
  Other   67,690   67,072   62,932   56,130   16,409   19,587   20,234   50,285   45,767   42,777

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   12,559 i   2,456   10,103 i   .
2018   11,613 i   2,239   9,374 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
    Computer and information sciences   0   0   0   0   0
    Engineering   0   0   124,721   600   44,800
    Geosciences, atmospheric sciences, and ocean sciences   0   0   0   0   0
    Health sciences   0   0   0   0   0
    Mathematics and statistics   0   0   0   0   0
    Natural resources and conservation   0   0   0   0   0
    Physical sciences   21,552   0   0   0   0
    Psychology   0   0   0   0   0
    Social sciences   0   39,200   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   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