Yale, UConn Among Top 100 in R&D Expenditures, Federal Data Shows

Yale University and the University of Connecticut both rank in the top 100 higher education institutions in the level of expenditures for research and development (R&D), according to data compiled by the National Science Foundation. Yale ranked at #21 and UConn at #86 in the rankings for fiscal year 2013, in the Higher Education Research and Development Survey compiled by the NSF and the National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics.

The top 10 institutions are Johns Hopkins, University of Michigan (Ann Arbor), University of Washington (Seattle), University of Wisconsin (Madison), University of California (San Diego), University of California (San Francisco), Harvard, Duke, University of North Carolina (Chapel Hill) and University of California (Los Angeles).

Among local colleges and universities in addition to Yale and UConn, nine other institutions in Connecticut appeared in the national rankings, including  Fairfield University at #343 and Wesleyan University at#348.  Southern Connecticut State University ranked #522, Connecticut College ranked #531,  University of Hartford ranked #535,Trinity College ranked #536 and Central Connecticut State University at #552.  In addition, University of New Haven ranked #575, and Quinnipiac University #611 in the analysis that reported 645 higher education institution R&D expenditures.

The Higher Education Research and Development Survey is the primary source of information on R&D expenditures at U.S. colleges and universities, according to the NSF website.

The survey collects information on R&D expenditures by field of research and source of funds and also gathers information on types of research and expenses and headcounts of R&D personnel. The survey is an annual census of institutions that expended at least $150,000 in separately budgeted R&D during the fiscal year.

UConn’s R&D expenditures, $242,251,000 in fiscal year 2013 according to the data, has increased from $215,098,000 in 2004.  At Yale University, R&D spending has nearly doubled - growing from $423,664,000 to $788,784,000 during the same period.

Such R&D spending often is seen as a gauge of innovation in a state, because research can turn into technology transfer or new companies and the quality of research can attract top students, the Bangor Daily News has reported.

Overall across the country, university spending on research and development in all fields totaled $67.2 billion in FY 2013, according to data from the NSF Higher Education Research and Development Survey.

When adjusted for inflation, higher education R&D increased by less than half a percent in FY 2013 from the previous year, according to NSF. Officials noted that the overall amount represents the reported totals from 891 degree-granting institutions that spent at least $150,000 in R&D in the previous fiscal year.

The published survey results include the 645 institutions that reported at least $1 million in R&D during their previous fiscal year and who contributed 99.8 percent of the total R&D expenditures reported in FY 2013.  The data was released by the NSF in late February 2015.

Note:  this article was revised to include a number of Connecticut institutions inadvertently omitted in initial publication.