News Release 18-062

Obligations increased from $30.5 billion to $31.6 billion between fiscal years 2015 and 2016

August 22, 2018

This material is available primarily for archival purposes. Telephone numbers or other contact information may be out of date; please see current contact information at media contacts.

In Fiscal Year (FY) 2016, federal agencies obligated $31.6 billion to institutions of higher education in support of science and engineering (S&E), an increase of $1.1 billion from FY2015.

The most up-to-date federal S&E obligation levels come from the FY2016 Survey of Federal Science and Engineering Support to Universities, Colleges, and Nonprofit Institutions (Federal S&E Support Survey), conducted by the National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics (NCSES) within the National Science Foundation (NSF). Federal obligations are funding commitments to support six categories:

• Research and development (R&D).
• R&D plant, or facilities and fixed equipment used in R&D.
• Facilities and equipment for instruction in S&E.
• Fellowships, traineeships and training grants.
• General support for S&E.

The 100 higher education institutions receiving the largest amounts of federal S&E support accounted for about 82 percent of the total federal obligations. Johns Hopkins University continued to be the leading academic recipient of federal S&E obligations, with nearly $1.9 billion for S&E support, followed by the University of Michigan with $668 million and the University of Washington with $642 million. The top 10 recipients among the academic institutions received a total of $7.1 billion in S&E obligations.

Five agencies accounted for 94 percent of federal S&E support to higher education institutions. These include the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) at 57 percent; NSF at 17 percent; the Department of Defense (DOD) at 12 percent; the Department of Agriculture (USDA) at 4 percent; and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) at 4 percent.

Sixty-six of the 105 Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) received $373 million in federal obligations for S&E support. Although this is the second year of decreasing total federal S&E support obligations to HBCUs (down 6 percent from FY2015 and down 9 percent from FY2014), support to HBCUs for R&D has remained stable. NSF's obligations to HBCUs rose about 12 percent between 2015 and 2016.

North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University was the leading recipient of federal obligations for S&E support to HBCUs in FY2016, with $26 million. Morehouse School of Medicine was the second-leading recipient, with $25 million.

High Hispanic Enrollment (HHE) institutions received $1.7 billion in federal obligations for S&E. The majority (55 percent) of the support for HHE institutions came from HHS, with nearly $941 million in obligations. NSF was the second-leading federal agency source of funding, with $390 million, or 23 percent of all federal S&E obligations to HHE academic institutions. The top ten HHE recipients of federal S&E support received a total of $1.2 billion, or 68 percent of the total support to all 134 HHE recipient institutions. The University of Arizona was the leading recipient among HHEs of federal obligations for support of S&E.

Federal S&E support to 33 tribal colleges and universities in FY2016 totaled $55 million. The Department of Education was the leading source of S&E support, with $33 million in obligations, followed by the USDA with $13 million and NSF with $8 million.

The nine High American Indian Enrollment (HAIE) institutions were obligated $75 million in federal funds for S&E support. NSF provided $28 million, followed by NASA with $16 million, HHS with $12 million, and USDA with $6 million. The University of Alaska, Fairbanks is the largest HAIE recipient of federal obligations, with $69 million in support for S&E. All other HAIEs combined were obligated $5.9 million in S&E support.

For more information, including data tables, please see the report.

-NSF-

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Media Contacts
Stanley Dambroski, NSF, (703) 292-7728, email: sdambros@nsf.gov

Program Contacts
Christopher Pece, NSF, (703) 292-7788, email: cpece@nsf.gov

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The U.S. National Science Foundation propels the nation forward by advancing fundamental research in all fields of science and engineering. NSF supports research and people by providing facilities, instruments and funding to support their ingenuity and sustain the U.S. as a global leader in research and innovation. With a fiscal year 2023 budget of $9.5 billion, NSF funds reach all 50 states through grants to nearly 2,000 colleges, universities and institutions. Each year, NSF receives more than 40,000 competitive proposals and makes about 11,000 new awards. Those awards include support for cooperative research with industry, Arctic and Antarctic research and operations, and U.S. participation in international scientific efforts.

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