In FY 2023, Federal Science and Engineering Support for Higher Education Totaled $49 Billion; Federal R&D to Nonprofits Totaled $12 Billion
Federal agency obligations to higher education institutions for support of science and engineering (S&E) activities totaled $49.0 billion in FY 2023, an increase of 9.7% from the $44.6 billion in FY 2022 (table 1). Federal S&E support is composed of five main categories: research and experimental development (R&D); R&D plant; facilities and equipment for instruction in S&E; S&E fellowships, traineeships, and training grants (FTTGs); and other general support for S&E. In FY 2023, R&D was the largest component of federal S&E support ($45.0 billion), increasing 9.0% from the FY 2022 total of $41.3 billion. Federal obligations for S&E FTTGs totaled $2.5 billion in FY 2023, increasing 26.5% from the FY 2022 total of $1.9 billion.
Federal obligations for science and engineering to universities and colleges, by type of activity: FYs 2022–23
S&E = science and engineering.
Note(s):
Detail may not add to total because of rounding.
Source(s):
National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics, Federal Science and Engineering Support module of the Survey of Federal Funds for Research and Development.
FY 2023 obligations for S&E support to higher education reached an all-time high in current dollars ($49.0 billion). When adjusted for inflation, federal obligations showed an increase of 4.9% on a constant dollar basis from $38.2 billion in FY 2022 to $40.1 billion in FY 2023 (figure 1). Furthermore, the constant dollar adjustment showed that the FY 2023 total was below the all-time adjusted high of $40.3 billion set in FY 2009 when federal obligations were supported from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (P.L. 111-5). Unless otherwise noted, all data presented in this report are in current dollars. These and other estimates in this InfoBrief are from the FY 2023 Survey of Federal Science and Engineering Support to Universities, Colleges, and Nonprofit Institutions conducted by the National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics (NCSES) within the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF).
Federal obligations for science and engineering to universities and colleges: FYs 1963–2023
| Fiscal year | Billions of current dollars | Billions of 2017 constant dollars |
|---|---|---|
| 1963 | 1.3 | 8.3 |
| 1964 | 1.5 | 9.4 |
| 1965 | 1.8 | 11.0 |
| 1966 | 2.2 | 12.8 |
| 1967 | 2.3 | 13.4 |
| 1968 | 2.3 | 13.1 |
| 1969 | 2.4 | 12.6 |
| 1970 | 2.2 | 11.1 |
| 1971 | 2.3 | 11.3 |
| 1972 | 2.6 | 11.9 |
| 1973 | 2.5 | 10.8 |
| 1974 | 2.7 | 11.2 |
| 1975 | 2.8 | 10.5 |
| 1976 | 3.0 | 10.3 |
| 1977 | 3.4 | 10.9 |
| 1978 | 4.0 | 12.1 |
| 1979 | 4.5 | 12.6 |
| 1980 | 4.8 | 12.4 |
| 1981 | 5.1 | 12.0 |
| 1982 | 5.2 | 11.4 |
| 1983 | 5.7 | 12.0 |
| 1984 | 6.4 | 13.0 |
| 1985 | 7.3 | 14.4 |
| 1986 | 7.5 | 14.4 |
| 1987 | 8.6 | 16.3 |
| 1988 | 9.2 | 16.8 |
| 1989 | 10.2 | 17.9 |
| 1990 | 10.7 | 18.2 |
| 1991 | 12.3 | 20.0 |
| 1992 | 13.4 | 21.4 |
| 1993 | 13.5 | 21.0 |
| 1994 | 14.0 | 21.4 |
| 1995 | 14.6 | 21.8 |
| 1996 | 14.6 | 21.4 |
| 1997 | 15.3 | 22.0 |
| 1998 | 16.3 | 23.2 |
| 1999 | 18.1 | 25.5 |
| 2000 | 20.0 | 27.5 |
| 2001 | 22.6 | 30.4 |
| 2002 | 24.6 | 32.5 |
| 2003 | 26.7 | 34.7 |
| 2004 | 27.4 | 34.8 |
| 2005 | 28.2 | 34.7 |
| 2006 | 28.4 | 33.9 |
| 2007 | 28.4 | 33.0 |
| 2008 | 28.6 | 32.5 |
| 2009 | 35.9 | 40.3 |
| 2010 | 35.9 | 40.1 |
| 2011 | 31.8 | 34.7 |
| 2012 | 31.2 | 33.5 |
| 2013 | 29.4 | 31.0 |
| 2014 | 31.2 | 32.3 |
| 2015 | 30.6 | 31.3 |
| 2016 | 31.6 | 32.2 |
| 2017 | 32.4 | 32.4 |
| 2018 | 35.3 | 34.5 |
| 2019 | 38.1 | 36.6 |
| 2020 | 39.1 | 37.1 |
| 2021 | 43.2 | 39.6 |
| 2022 | 44.6 | 38.2 |
| 2023 | 49.0 | 40.1 |
Note(s):
Detail may not add to total because of rounding. Gross domestic product implicit price deflators (2017 = 1.00000) were used to adjust current dollars for inflation. The federal fiscal year cycle changed in FY 1977, from 1 July–30 June to the current 1 October–30 September cycle; no data were collected for the 3-month transition period of July–September 1976. FYs 2009 and 2010 obligations include additional funding provided by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. For the FY 2020 survey, the Department of Defense (DOD) S&E support to higher education institutions and R&D to nonprofit organizations are known to be understated. However, the magnitude of the missing data is unknown. Data users should use caution when conducting any time series analysis that includes DOD obligations data for FY 2020. FYs 2020–22 obligations include additional funding provided by supplemental COVID-19 pandemic-related appropriations.
Source(s):
National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics, Survey of Federal Science and Engineering Support to Universities, Colleges, and Nonprofit Institutions; National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics, Federal Science and Engineering Support Module of the Survey of Federal Funds for Research and Development. Gross domestic product implicit price deflators from Office of Management and Budget, Budget of the U.S. Government, Fiscal Year 2025.
Federal S&E Obligations to Higher Education Institutions
In FY 2023, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) obligated $28.2 billion, or 57.6% of all federal S&E support, to higher education institutions (figure 2). NSF, the second largest funding agency, accounted for $7.1 billion (14.4% of the total), followed by the Department of Defense (DOD) at $5.8 billion (11.8%). The Department of Energy and the Department of Agriculture each obligated $2.1 billion (4.3% each). The National Aeronautics and Space Administration obligations totaled $1.9 billion (3.9%), and all other agencies combined obligated $1.8 billion (3.8%).
Federal obligations for science and engineering to universities and colleges, by agency: FY 2023
| Agency | Percent | Dollars in millions |
|---|---|---|
| DOD | 11.8 | 5,755 |
| DOE | 4.3 | 2,117 |
| HHS | 57.6 | 28,200 |
| NASA | 3.9 | 1,896 |
| NSF | 14.4 | 7,052 |
| USDA | 4.3 | 2,097 |
| All other agencies | 3.8 | 1,845 |
DOD = Department of Defense; DOE = Department of Energy; HHS = Department of Health and Human Services; NASA = National Aeronautics and Space Administration; NSF = National Science Foundation; USDA = Department of Agriculture.
Note(s):
Detail may not add to total because of rounding.
Source(s):
National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics, Federal Science and Engineering Support FY 2023 module of the FYs 2023–24 Survey of Federal Funds for Research and Development.
In this year’s survey responses, several agencies noted the FY 2023 increase in obligations can be attributed, in part, to funding appropriated in FY 2022 that were not completely obligated until FY 2023. This includes obligations of funds originally appropriated as part of the FY 2022 Consolidated Appropriations Act (P.L. 117-103), which was not signed into law until 15 March 2022. As such, FY 2023 obligations not only include funds from the FY 2023 Consolidated Appropriations Act (P.L. 117-328), but some FY 2022 appropriations as well. In addition, DOD received increased appropriations to their research, development, test, and evaluation (RDT&E) account in FY 2023. According to the Congressional Budget Office, “Since the mid-2010s, RDT&E has accounted for a steadily increasing share of acquisition funding, reaching 46 percent in 2023.” While DOD’s RDT&E is obligated across multiple performing sectors of the economy, from businesses to nonprofit organizations, some RDT&E funding does go to higher education institutions. As such, the increase in overall RDT&E funding by DOD also contributes to increased obligations for S&E support to higher education institutions in FY 2023. DOD’s obligations for S&E support to all higher education institutions increased from $4.5 billion in FY 2022 to $5.8 billion in FY 2023.
Higher Education Recipient Institutions of Federal S&E Support
In FY 2023, federal agencies obligated S&E funding to 1,110 institutions of higher education in the United States. However, federal funding for S&E support is concentrated within a relatively few institutions. For example, the top 25 recipient institutions of federal obligations for S&E support accounted for $19.2 billion, or 39.3% of all federal S&E support, to all institutions of higher education (table 2). Of the $19.2 billion obligated to these 25 institutions, $18.3 billion (95.1%) was for R&D and $699 million (3.6%) was for S&E FTTGs. Johns Hopkins University continued to receive the largest amount of federal S&E support with $2.1 billion in FY 2023—nearly $1.2 billion more than the next institution, the University of Michigan, which received $966 million. Data users should note that Johns Hopkins University includes the Applied Physics Laboratory, 1 of 15 university affiliated research centers. The top 100 recipient institutions combined received $38.4 billion, or 78.4% of all federal S&E support to higher education institutions. Therefore, the remaining 1,010 institutions, or 90.1% of all higher education institutions receiving federal funds for S&E support, received $10.6 billion, or 21.6% of all federal S&E support. At these 1,010 institutions, R&D obligations totaled $8.8 billion, or 19.6% of all federal R&D obligations. When it comes to S&E FTTGs, often considered a means for building capacity for R&D, these same 1,010 institutions received $1.1 billion, or 45.0% of all S&E FTTG obligations in FY 2023.
Federal obligations for science and engineering to universities and colleges, ranked by total amount received, by type of activity: FY 2023
* = amount greater than $0 but less than $500,000.
Note(s):
Detail may not add to total because of rounding. Institution order is based on total actual dollars received before amounts are rounded.
Source(s):
National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics, Federal Science and Engineering Support FY 2023 module of the FYs 2023–24 Survey of Federal Funds for Research and Development.
Federal R&D and R&D Plant Obligations to Nonprofit Organizations
In addition to S&E support to higher education institutions, the Federal Science and Engineering Support module within the Federal Funds for R&D Survey collects data on federal obligations to individually identified nonprofit organizations. In FY 2023, total federal obligations to all nonprofit organizations for R&D and R&D plant totaled $11.6 billion. HHS was the largest funder of nonprofits for R&D and R&D plant with $7.0 billion, or 60.7% of all FY 2023 federal obligations (figure 3). DOD is the second largest funder of R&D and R&D plant to nonprofit organizations with $2.8 billion, or 23.7% of total federal obligations.
Federal obligations for research and development and R&D plant to nonprofit institutions, by agency: FY 2023
| Agency | Percent | Dollars in millions |
|---|---|---|
| DOD | 23.7 | 2,750 |
| DOE | 1.5 | 171 |
| HHS | 60.7 | 7,039 |
| NASA | 1.8 | 204 |
| NSF | 4.5 | 527 |
| All other agencies | 7.7 | 895 |
DOD = Department of Defense; DOE = Department of Energy; HHS = Department of Health and Human Services; NASA = National Aeronautics and Space Administration; NSF = National Science Foundation.
Note(s):
Detail may not add to total because of rounding.
Source(s):
National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics, Federal Science and Engineering Support FY 2023 module of the FYs 2023–24 Survey of Federal Funds for Research and Development.
The concentration of funding to a relatively small set of recipient organizations discussed previously for federal S&E support to higher education institutions is similar to the distribution of federal obligations for R&D and R&D plant to nonprofit organizations. For example, out of 1,005 recipient nonprofit organizations, the top 25 accounted for $6.8 billion, or 59.0% of all federal R&D and R&D plant to nonprofits (table 3). The top 100 recipient organizations totaled $9.9 billion in FY 2023. The remaining 905 recipient organizations in total received $1.7 billion or 14.6% of all federal R&D and R&D plant to the nonprofit sector.
Federal obligations for science and engineering research and development and R&D plant to nonprofit institutions, ranked by total amount received, by agency: FY 2023
* = amount greater than $0 but less than $500,000.
DOD = Department of Defense; DOE = Department of Energy; HHS = Department of Health and Human Services; NASA = National Aeronautics and Space Administration; NSF = National Science Foundation; USDA = Department of Agriculture.
a Other includes obligations from the following agencies: Departments of Commerce, the Interior, Education, Homeland Security, Justice, Transportation, the Agency for International Development, the Appalachian Regional Commission, the Environmental Protection Agency, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Trust Fund, the Social Security Administration, and the Tennessee Valley Authority.
Note(s):
Detail may not add to total because of rounding. Institution order is based on total actual dollars received before amounts are rounded. Only those agencies that had obligations in the variables represented by this table appear in the table.
Source(s):
National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics, Federal Science and Engineering Support FY 2023 module of the FYs 2023–24 Survey of Federal Funds for Research and Development.
Data Sources, Limitations, and Availability
Effective with the FY 2021 survey cycle, the Survey of Federal Science and Engineering Support to Universities, Colleges, and Nonprofit Institutions has been collected as a module within the Federal Funds for R&D Survey. For FY 2023, data were obtained from 30 federal agencies (14 federal departments and 16 independent agencies) that had obligations for R&D during FY 2022 or FY 2023. Because multiple subdivisions of some federal departments completed the survey, there were 68 agency-level responses: 6 federal departments, 46 agencies (within another 8 federal departments), and 16 independent agencies. However, lower offices could also be authorized to enter data: in the Federal Funds for R&D nomenclature, agency-level offices could authorize program offices, program offices could authorize field offices, and field offices could authorize branch offices. When these suboffices are included, there were 587 total respondents: 68 agencies, 105 program offices, 183 field offices, and 231 branch offices. Of these, 52 agencies, 55 program offices, 12 field offices, and zero branch offices reported obligations within the Federal S&E Support module. The module collects federal S&E support data by funding agency, individually named institution, type of activity, type of institution, and geographic location.
The six funding categories of federal S&E support are defined as follows:
- Research and experimental development (R&D) includes all direct, indirect, incidental, or related costs resulting from or necessary to perform R&D by private individuals and organizations under grant, contract, or cooperative agreement.
- R&D plant includes all projects whose principal purpose is to provide support for construction, acquisition, renovation, modification, repair, or rental of facilities, land, works, or fixed equipment for use in scientific or engineering R&D.
- Facilities and equipment for S&E instruction includes all programs whose principal purpose is to provide support for construction, acquisition, renovation, modification, repair, or rental of facilities, land, works, or equipment for use in instruction in S&E.
- S&E Fellowships, traineeships, and training grants (FTTGs) includes all fellowship, traineeship, and training grant programs that are directed primarily toward the development and maintenance of the scientific workforce.
- General support for S&E includes funds used for scientific projects and support for activities within a specified discipline; explicit purpose is not specified.
- Other S&E activities includes all academic S&E obligations that cannot be assigned elsewhere and activities in support of technical conferences, teacher institutes, and programs aimed at increasing precollege and undergraduate students’ scientific knowledge.
The Federal Science and Engineering Support module within the Federal Funds for R&D Survey is a census of federal agencies that fund R&D and S&E support. As such, there is no sampling error; however, survey data are still subject to some degree of unmeasured nonsampling error that may include errors in classification or measurement of certain aspects of an agency’s S&E support. For additional information, see the “Survey Quality Measures” within the Technical Notes of the survey. The full set of data tables on the FY 2023 Survey of Federal Science and Engineering Support to Universities, Colleges, and Nonprofit Institutions are available at https://ncses.nsf.gov/surveys/federal-support-survey/2023#data. Data for the survey are also available in NCSES’s interactive data tool. For more information, please contact NCSES.
NCSES has reviewed this product for unauthorized disclosure of confidential information and approved its release (NCSES-DRN25-029).
Notes
1Obligations represent the amount for orders placed, contracts awarded, services received, and similar transactions during a given period, regardless of when the funds were appropriated or when future payment of money is required.
2Gross domestic product implicit price deflators were used to convert current dollars to constant 2017 dollars. Data on federal fiscal year historical figures, 1951–2023, can be found in: Office of Management and Budget (OMB). 2024. Budget of the U.S. Government, Fiscal Year 2025. Historical Tables. Table 10.1. Gross Domestic Product and Deflators Used in the Historical Tables: 1940–2029. Available at https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/BUDGET-2025-TAB/BUDGET-2025-TAB-11-1/context. Current dollar obligations for R&D are from the National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics, Survey of Federal Funds for Research and Development.
3Effective with the FY 2021 survey cycle, the Survey of Federal Science and Engineering Support to Universities, Colleges, and Nonprofit Institutions has been collected as a module within the Federal Funds for R&D Survey.
4All other agencies includes the Agency for International Development, Appalachian Regional Commission, Department of Homeland Security, Department of Commerce, Department of the Interior, Department of Justice, Department of Labor, Department of Transportation, Department of Education, Environmental Protection Agency, Nuclear Regulatory Commission, and the Social Security Administration.
5Department of Defense Releases the President’s Fiscal Year 2024 Defense Budget, 13 March 2023. Available at https://www.defense.gov/News/Releases/Release/Article/3326875/department-of-defense-releases-the-presidents-fiscal-year-2024-defense-budget/.
6Congressional Budget Office (CBO). 2023. Long-Term Implications of the 2024 Future Years Defense Program. p. 19. October 2023. Available at https://www.cbo.gov/system/files/2023-10/59511-FYDP.pdf.
7For specific RDT&E obligations by DOD for FY 2023, by type performer, see the Survey of Federal Funds for Research and Development’s full set of data tables: table 10.
8Details available in the full set of data tables: table 17.
9For data on specific university affiliated research centers, see the Survey of Federal Funds for Research and Development’s full set of data tables: tables 44–46.
10Details available in the full set of data tables: table 17.
11Details available in the full set of data tables: table 34.
12Survey technical notes are available at https://ncses.nsf.gov/surveys/federal-support-survey/2023#technical-notes.
Suggested Citation
National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics (NCSES). 2025. In FY 2023, Federal Science and Engineering Support for Higher Education Totaled $49 Billion; Federal R&D to Nonprofits Totaled $12 Billion. NSF 25-341. Alexandria, VA: U.S. National Science Foundation. Available at https://ncses.nsf.gov/pubs/nsf25341.
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NSF 25-341
|June 2, 2025