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Yes. Research grants are a major source of revenue for universities. NSF grants include close to 50% “overhead” funds that go directly to the school.</p>
<p>Research does NOT increase the cost of college. I’m not sure why Sowell even mentions research in an article about the high cost of college, since he himself states that research grants bring in outside money to the university:
I’m also not sure about his claim that teaching loads in general have been cut – I’ve never seen any data about this. I do know that most professors in science fields at research universities teach fewer classes than humanities professors due to research. Research is encouraged because, even though it takes time away from teaching, the grants provide a large revenue stream for the university. The same outside research funding is generally not available in the humanities fields and therefore the course loads are larger for those professors.</p>