FY 2018 University Research and Development Expenditures

College Search & Selection
1

A list of the top 66 universities which spent the most on R&D in fiscal year 2018:

  1. Johns Hopkins University–$2.66 billion

  2. University of Michigan–$1.6 billion

  3. Univ. of California–San Francisco–$1.596 billion

  4. Univ. of Pennsylvania–$1.442 billion

  5. Univ. of Washington–Seattle–$1.414 billion

  6. UCLA–$1.318 billion

  7. UC-San Diego–$1.265 billion

  8. Univ. of Wisconsin–$1.2055 billion

  9. Harvard–$1.173 billion

  10. Duke–$1.168 billion

  11. Stanford–$1.157 billion

  12. UNC–$1.136 billion

  13. Cornell–$1.072 billion

  14. Univ. of Pittsburgh–$1 billion

  15. Yale–$990 million

  16. MIT–$964 million

  17. Minnesota–$955 million

  18. Columbia–$947 million

  19. U. Texas MD Cancer Center–$930 million

  20. Texas A&M–$922 million

  21. Penn State–$909 million

  22. Georgia Tech–$892 million

  23. USC–$892 million

  24. NYU–$888 million

  25. Ohio State–$875 million

  26. Univ. of Florida–$865 million

  27. WashUStL–$816 million

  28. Northwestern University–$806 million

  29. UCal-Berkeley–$796 million

  30. UC-Davis–$789 million

Whenever I review these R&D expenditure lists, I am always surprised that #5 University of Washington is not higher ranked by US News.

2

Continuing the FY 2018 University R&D Expenditure list:

  1. Vanderbilt & Vanderbilt Medical Center–$738 million

  2. Michigan State–$715 million

  3. Emory University–$712 million

  4. Rutgers-NB–$706 million

  5. Univ. of Arizona–$687 million

  6. Univ. of Texas-Austin–$680 million

  7. Illinois–$653 million

  8. Mount Sinai-Icahn–$640 million

  9. Purdue–$632 million

  10. Baylor College of Medicine–$623 million

  11. Arizona State University–$618 million

  12. Univ. of Alabama at Birmingham–$588 million

  13. USF-Tampa–$582 million

  14. Indiana–$567 million

  15. Utah–$552 million

  16. Virginia–$552 million

  17. Maryland–$541 million

  18. Virginia Tech–$532 million

  19. U. Colorado-Denver & Medical–$526 million

  20. Univ. of Colorado-Boulder–$515 million

  21. Iowa–$512 million

  22. NC State–$510 million

  23. Boston University–$484 million

  24. Univ. of Cincinnati–$480 million

  25. Univ. of Maryland at Baltimore–$475 million

  26. U Texas SW Medical Center–$475 million

  27. Univ. of Georgia–$453 million

  28. Case Western Reserve–$434 million

  29. UC-Irvine–$427 million

  30. Univ. of Chicago–$424 million

  31. SUNY-Buffalo–$410 million

  32. Scripps res. Inst.–$397 million

  33. Kentucky–$393 million

  34. CalTach–$391 million

  35. Colorado State–$375 million

  36. Princeton University–$374 million

3

@Publisher , Washington was 41 or 42 in the US News ranking from 2008 to 2012. Its ranking dropped rapidly over the past few years and is 62 this year.

US News ranking over time:

2008-2015:

https://publicuniversityhonors.com/2015/06/13/u-s-news-national-university-rankings-2008-present/

2013-2020:

https://publicuniversityhonors.com/2016/09/18/average-u-s-news-rankings-for-126-universities-2010-1017/

Its “academic reputation” score has remained relatively high (ranked 32), and it has always had strong departments across the board. The academic profile of the entering class has improved considerably over the past several years, but it must be underperforming on some parts of the US News ranking methodology.

https://publicuniversityhonors.com/2019/09/14/u-s-news-2020-dept-rank-vs-academic-rep-vs-overall-rank-plus-social-mobility/

See also:

http://www.stat.tamu.edu/~jnewton/nrc_rankings/nrc1.html#TOP60

4

Among the 8 Ivy League schools, Princeton, Dartmouth College, & Brown University have the least amount of funded R&D.

Ivies:

  1. UPenn–$1.442 billion

  2. Harvard–$1.173 billion

  3. Cornell–$1.072 billion

  4. Yale–$990 million

  5. Columbia–$947 million

  6. Princeton–$374 million

  7. Dartmouth College–$324 million

  8. Brown University–$245 million

5

@UWfromCA : Not sure why, but it may be due in part to the “predicted” versus “actual” graduation rate. UW gets a minus (-4) four, (88% predicted v. 84% actual).

Some universities ranked above UW benefit greatly from this category. For example, both the University of Georgia & the University of Florida get a plus (+8) eight as their predicted graduation rates were 78% & 82% respectively. Florida has an outstanding 90% six year graduation rate.

But, I am baffled how Syracuse University, Florida State, Pepperdine, and a few others rank higher than UW. Maybe it has something to do with class size & student/faculty ratio ?

UW is a serious campus with very strong job placement & outstanding R&D activity–especially that which is funded by the federal government.

I suspect that UW does little to nothing in an effort to please US News or to “game the system”.

6

^ I suspect you’re right.

The universities on that list have a tremendous impact on their local communities and the nation as a whole. Using Washington as an example:

“More than 141,000 private donors contributed $684 million during the 2018-19 fiscal year, according to a recent report.”

“The school drove $15.7 billion of economic activity in Washington in the fiscal year that ended June 30; its operations supported or sustained more than 100,000 jobs and generated $752.7 million in state and local taxes, according to an economic impact study released last week.“

“[UW alumni] can be found in every sector of our economy — public and private. They are doctors, teachers, entrepreneurs, elected officials and public servants. Moreover, state and local leaders frequently call on researchers and experts on UW campuses to help find solutions to challenges in governance, education and many other fields.“

https://www.seattletimes.com/opinion/editorials/the-virtuous-cycle-of-supporting-public-universities/

I’m sure similar articles could be written about many of the universities on that list.

7

When I read through this list of 2018 R&D expenditures, I see some universities–such as #5 Univ. of Washington & #8 Wisconsin–in a new light. Lots of research opportunities at both schools.

8

The LACs are always interesting, albeit on a much, much smaller scale:

Wellesley – $11,530,000
Wesleyan – $10,662,000
Bryn Mawr – $10,282,000
Smith – $5, 954,000
Claremont-McKenna – $5,693,000
Grinnell – $5,573,000
Carleton – $5,515,000
Williams – $5,506,000
Amherst – $4,849,000
Vassar – $$4,185,000
Swarthmore – $3,921,000
Colgate – $3,823,000
Harvey Mudd – $3,790,000
Barnard – $3,458,000
Haverford – $3,041,000
Mount Holyoke – $3,027,000
Pomona – $2,983,000
URichmond – $2,790,000
Bowdoin – $2,724,000
Reed – $2,607,000
Colorado – $2,560,000
Spelman – $2,350,000
Colby – $2,240,000
Middlebury – $1,895,000
Oberlin – $1,803,000
Hamilton – $1,792,000
Davidson – $1,638,000
Bates – $1,635,000