Texas A&M Leads Texas Universities In Research Expenditures

Texas A&M University continues to rank among the top 20 among all U.S. research universities and in the top 10 among U.S. public research universities, based on total annual research and development expenditures for fiscal year 2017, according to the latest survey from the National Science Foundation (NSF).

In NSF’s Higher Education Research and Development (HERD) survey released on Nov. 20, Texas A&M ranked 19th among all U.S. research universities, based on total expenditures of more than $905.4 million during fiscal year 2017.

“To see that we are leading in Texas is extremely rewarding because it means we are fulfilling our mission of service to the state by conducting life-changing research and growing the economy,” Texas A&M President Michael K. Young said. “When funding agencies such as the NSF put their faith into our students, faculty and staff, we know that means our research efforts are truly bettering the lives of Texans and people all across the world. Congratulations to everyone whose imagination, ingenuity and expertise have contributed to this superb ranking.”

Among other Texas-based universities ranked in the top 50, The University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center moved from 19th to 21st on the latest survey with $888 million; The University of Texas at Austin from 34th to 35th with $652 million; and the Baylor College of Medicine remained at 39th with $604.9 million. The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center stayed at 52nd with $461.7 million.

The NSF ranked Texas A&M 10th among U.S. public research universities.

“Texas A&M University’s ranking is a reflection of our fearless commitment to solve grand, complex global challenges and make meaningful impacts that advance knowledge,” Provost and Executive Vice President Carol A. Fierke said. “We are pleased to be the only institution in Texas ranked in the Top 20 for research expenditures, and we will continue to pursue high quality research and compete with the nation’s foremost research institutions for grants.”

“Our mission as a land-grant, research-driven university is to discover and develop solutions to the large-scale problems that challenge society and our planet,” Vice President for Research Mark A. Barteau said. “Our strategic investment in campus infrastructure will continue to bolster faculty engagement in these interdisciplinary challenges and to grow our research enterprise in size, scope and impact.”

The NSF survey for fiscal year 2017 provides a census of 903 degree-granting colleges and universities in the United States, each with a minimum budget of at least $150,000 in research and development expenditures. The latest survey found that U.S. universities recorded a total of $75.3 billion in research and development expenditures in fiscal 2017, an increase of 4.7 percent from fiscal year 2016’s total of $71.9 billion.

Johns Hopkins University led the latest survey with $2.56 billion in expenditures, followed by the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, with $1.53 billion and the University of California, San Francisco, with $1.40 billion.

Below is a link to NSF’s Higher Education R&D Expenditures for FY 2017 ranked by total R&D expenditures and by R&D field: https://ncsesdata.nsf.gov/herd/2017/html/herd2017_dst_22.html.

About Research at Texas A&M University: As one of the world’s leading research institutions, Texas A&M is at the forefront in making significant contributions to scholarship and discovery, including that of science and technology. Research conducted at Texas A&M represented annual expenditures of more than $905.4 million in fiscal year 2017, ranking Texas A&M in the top 20 of the National Science Foundation’s Higher Education Research and Development survey (2017). Texas A&M’s research creates new knowledge that provides basic, fundamental and applied contributions resulting, in many cases, in economic benefits to the state, nation and world. To learn more, visit http://research.tamu.edu.