Analysis Useful for Assessing University Federal R&D Funding – Useful Stats: Federal R&D Loads for Students, Faculty by State

A new report assessing 2002 federal research and development (R&D) funding in U.S. universities and colleges, finds that 45 percent of all federal R&D funds went directly to the nation’s 126 medical schools. This striking discovery, the authors contend, raises the question of whether other areas having substantial R&D funding needs such as environment, energy, homeland security and education, are receiving the attention they require.

The federal government’s investment in university R&D has grown considerably in recent years, according to the report, and represents a pivotal part of the U.S. innovation system. The analysis from the Science and Technology Institute for the National Science Foundation, is the first of its kind to assess state-by-state trends in R&D funding for institutions of higher education. Vital Assets: Federal Investment in Research and Development at the Nation’s Universities and Colleges, draws upon FY 1996-02 data from the Research and Development in the U.S. (RaDiUS) database. Highlights from the report include:

* Total R&D funds appropriated to universities and colleges increased 45.7 percent between FY 1996-02, from $12.8 billion to $21.4 billion;

* 55 percent of all federal R&D university funding went to institutions in nine states: California, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Texas;

* Approximately two-thirds of federal R&D funding was focused on only one area of science–life science;

* In FY 2002, 71 percent of total federal R&D funding went to the top 80 universities and colleges; and,

* Funding was primarily concentrated at only a few research universities.

Universities and colleges have always lacked long-term, consistent data to enable them to measure their success at acquiring R&D funding, according to the report, and this analysis will allow them access to accurate information on various funding issues. For example, all universities and colleges with federal R&D activity will be able to know where they stand relative to others in ability to obtain funding. Also, having access to information on funding mechanisms the federal government uses to transmit R&D funds to them, universities and colleges can better assess intellectual property issues that arise from R&D.

Other questions arise from the findings of the analysis regarding where funding is being distributed and why. According to the authors, the report is also intended to stimulate and enable further research of state trends, priorities, and resource allocations of federal R&D funding in order to answer these questions.

Vital Assets: Federal Investment in Research and Development at the Nation’s Universities and Colleges is available from the RAND Corp. at: http://www.rand.org/publications/MR/MR1824/

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Useful Stats: Federal R&D Loads for Students, Faculty by State

Most states recognize the importance university research plays in building a strong knowledge economy; it is a prominent component of the strongest regional technology clusters. Many states are increasingly focused on expanding their university research capacity and increasing the number of students in key science and engineering fields.

To help policymakers assess their relative position regarding university R&D, SSTI has through its Useful Stats column in the SSTI Weekly Digest produced or reproduced several tables standardizing relevant data across states using other commonly available data. An example includes federal research obligations or industrial R&D expenditures at institutions of higher education.

"R&D intensity" measures some data set relative to the gross state product; "per capita" simply means the data set was characterized by a population set or subset, such as total state population or number of science and engineering doctorates. Other ratios and averages are used to standardize useful academic research data as well.

SSTI reminds readers of the above points because we are not aware of a catchy or simplified name for the statistics in this week’s Useful Stats. Using data presented in Vital Assets: Federal Investment in Research and Development at the Nation’s Universities and Colleges (see related article in this issue), SSTI has produced a table presenting 2002 federal R&D obligations received by each state’s higher education institutions as a function of the size of the faculty and as a function of the number of graduate and first professional degree students. States are ranked by each result.

To differentiate the measures from other academic R&D indicators, SSTI labeled them "R&D Load." For example, the U.S. average federal R&D Load per university faculty member in 2002 is $28,691. Per graduate student, the U.S. average federal R&D Load is $9,944.

Alaska captures the top spot for Federal R&D Load per graduate student at $33,030, yet ranks 25th for the faculty R&D load indicator. Maryland is first overall for faculty R&D load at $79,345 and only slips to second for grad student R&D load. Massachusetts ranks third for faculty R&D load, but falls to 14th for student R&D load.

The table is available at: http://www.ssti.org/Digest/Tables/061404t.htm

What’s it all mean? We think these might serve as another set of interesting measures for assessing a state’s position relative to other states regarding university research, research infrastructure or knowledge economy inputs.

How the figures are interpreted and how they could or should affect tech-based economic development policy and programs, however, is open to much discussion. Schools building "speculative research facilities" counting on overhead from increased federal and industrial research grants to pay off the buildings could find the measure helpful in determining the validity of those approaches. Or, for example, would excluding students pursuing MBAs, law degrees or Masters of Education significantly alter the results? Would it matter if it did?

We look forward to your comments and suggestions. Please send them to [email protected].

SSTI Weekly Digest
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