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Digest of Education Statistics
2016 Tables and Figures All Years of Tables and Figures Most Recent Full Issue of the Digest


Table 402.10. Federal obligations for research, development, and R&D plant, by category of obligation, performer, and field of science and engineering: Fiscal years 2008 through 2016
[In millions]
  Actual Estimated
Category of obligation, performer, and field of science and engineering 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 Percent change, 2015 to 2016
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11
  Current dollars
Total obligations for research, development, and
       R&D plant
$129,049.4 $144,760.5 $146,967.8 $139,661.5 $140,635.8 $127,291.1 $132,496.3 $131,398.2 $142,555.0 8.5
                     
Research and development obligations 127,105.6 141,092.5 140,354.5 135,490.8 138,485.1 125,386.0 130,278.7 128,573.2 140,069.8 8.9
Performer                    
Federal intramural1 29,637.9 31,546.4 30,911.8 35,144.7 34,367.8 32,963.1 34,736.1 34,925.1 37,918.3 8.6
Industrial firms 56,337.6 59,749.3 59,867.8 53,550.2 58,910.1 49,538.1 50,236.5 47,455.2 53,727.9 13.2
Federally funded research and development centers
       (FFRDCs) administered by industrial firms
4,119.9 4,067.1 3,946.2 4,424.5 3,611.7 3,796.1 4,207.5 3,935.8 4,477.3 13.8
Universities and colleges 26,026.5 31,557.7 31,192.3 27,680.3 27,509.5 25,772.0 27,429.3 27,414.7 28,883.2 5.4
FFRDCs administered by universities and colleges 1,988.6 3,402.7 3,370.5 3,437.8 3,694.2 3,711.7 3,800.8 3,911.7 4,237.7 8.3
Other nonprofit institutions 5,965.0 7,049.7 7,245.3 6,636.6 6,347.0 5,915.0 6,134.9 6,136.2 6,345.6 3.4
FFRDCs administered by nonprofit institutions 2,083.0 2,730.7 2,784.1 2,923.7 2,752.2 2,571.9 2,557.1 3,271.4 2,910.5 -11.0
State and local governments 389.0 392.0 426.7 716.2 453.2 385.6 446.4 487.0 567.8 16.6
Foreign 558.1 596.9 609.9 976.8 839.5 732.4 730.1 1,036.0 1,001.7 -3.3
                     
Research obligations 53,893.6 63,694.3 63,728.0 58,023.7 61,946.9 59,198.2 62,908.8 63,645.3 67,760.7 6.5
Performer                    
Federal intramural1  11,921.7 13,321.2 13,280.9 12,663.4 14,295.0 13,416.8 14,305.6 15,006.5 15,486.7 3.2
Industrial firms 5,782.4 6,280.2 6,625.5 6,037.4 7,794.0 7,365.5 8,057.5 8,110.4 9,325.7 15.0
FFRDCs administered by industrial firms 2,929.7 3,070.5 2,960.1 2,984.4 2,678.7 2,713.8 3,217.5 3,098.0 3,662.0 18.2
Universities and colleges 24,323.2 30,168.8 29,607.8 26,253.2 26,289.9 24,771.7 26,110.1 25,962.1 27,255.8 5.0
FFRDCs administered by universities and colleges 1,623.1 2,148.1 2,151.6 2,224.4 2,856.9 3,089.7 3,090.9 3,226.8 3,489.3 8.1
Other nonprofit institutions 5,397.5 6,500.7 6,687.0 5,760.8 5,812.9 5,445.5 5,648.4 5,710.6 5,833.8 2.2
FFRDCs administered by nonprofit institutions 1,205.7 1,462.0 1,633.6 1,447.7 1,457.0 1,686.8 1,725.7 1,616.9 1,794.8 11.0
State and local governments 338.8 343.6 352.8 282.2 352.2 313.5 394.7 420.3 425.0 1.1
Foreign 371.5 399.3 428.6 370.2 410.3 394.8 358.5 493.7 487.6 -1.2
Field                    
Engineering 8,975.5 10,285.0 11,081.2 10,057.2 11,403.4 10,948.2 11,887.5 11,955.6 13,113.7 9.7
Environmental sciences 2,984.6 3,751.1 3,338.9 3,207.2 3,884.3 4,041.0 4,365.8 4,413.7 4,677.8 6.0
Life sciences 28,918.8 33,267.1 33,909.1 29,408.6 30,966.7 29,328.4 30,668.2 30,473.0 32,041.6 5.1
Mathematics and computer sciences 3,047.3 3,611.8 3,411.8 3,374.3 3,527.5 3,427.0 3,883.2 3,862.7 4,208.3 8.9
Physical sciences 5,072.6 5,821.1 5,870.8 5,426.6 6,407.5 6,281.9 6,483.1 6,510.3 6,757.3 3.8
Psychology 1,740.8 2,086.3 2,155.6 1,886.8 2,086.6 1,935.2 1,968.0 1,994.9 2,119.5 6.2
Social sciences 977.0 1,159.2 1,197.3 1,262.4 1,124.5 1,237.3 1,435.1 1,136.3 1,287.3 13.3
Other sciences 2,177.1 3,712.7 2,763.2 3,400.5 2,546.3 1,999.3 2,217.9 3,298.8 3,555.1 7.8
                     
Development obligations 73,211.9 77,398.2 76,626.5 77,467.1 76,538.3 66,187.8 67,369.9 64,927.8 72,309.1 11.4
Performer                    
Federal intramural1  17,716.1 18,225.2 17,630.9 22,481.3 20,072.8 19,546.3 20,430.5 19,918.5 22,431.5 12.6
Industrial firms 50,555.2 53,467.0 53,242.3 47,512.8 51,116.1 42,172.6 42,179.1 39,344.9 44,402.2 12.9
FFRDCs administered by industrial firms 1,190.2 996.6 986.1 1,440.1 933.0 1,082.3 990.0 837.8 815.2 -2.7
Universities and colleges 1,703.3 1,389.0 1,584.5 1,427.1 1,219.6 1,000.2 1,319.2 1,452.6 1,627.4 12.0
FFRDCs administered by universities and colleges 365.5 1,254.6 1,218.9 1,213.3 837.3 622.1 709.9 684.9 748.4 9.3
Other nonprofit institutions 567.5 549.0 558.3 875.8 534.1 469.5 486.5 425.6 511.8 20.3
FFRDCs administered by nonprofit institutions 877.3 1,268.7 1,150.4 1,476.0 1,295.2 885.1 831.5 1,654.5 1,115.7 -32.6
State and local governments 50.2 48.4 73.9 434.0 101.0 72.1 51.6 66.7 142.7 113.8
Foreign 186.6 197.6 181.3 606.6 429.2 337.6 371.6 542.3 514.2 -5.2
                     
R&D plant obligations 1,943.8 3,668.0 6,613.3 4,170.7 2,150.7 1,905.1 2,217.6 2,825.1 2,485.2 -12.0
Performer                    
Federal intramural1 494.0 804.7 1,953.3 846.5 486.2 673.3 642.5 1,417.2 860.5 -39.3
Industrial firms 449.0 396.3 1,751.2 2,030.0 460.5 231.5 323.3 275.6 270.2 -2.0
FFRDCs administered by industrial firms 175.6 127.7 167.7 118.3 51.8 79.5 91.2 101.7 88.8 -12.7
Universities and colleges 210.2 607.0 1,532.6 286.0 372.5 236.6 325.8 292.2 354.1 21.2
FFRDCs administered by universities and colleges 334.4 706.5 491.4 242.9 248.1 246.2 308.5 376.3 545.9 45.1
Other nonprofit institutions 23.7 154.4 245.9 141.3 200.8 184.1 212.8 151.3 200.1 32.3
FFRDCs administered by nonprofit institutions 253.8 868.2 465.3 491.0 323.1 249.8 309.8 210.6 165.4 -21.5
State and local governments # 1.2 2.0 0.2 # 0.2 0.3 # # #
Foreign 3.1 2.0 4.0 14.6 7.6 3.9 3.4 0.1 0.1 32.6
  Constant fiscal year 2016 dollars2 
Total obligations for research, development, and
       R&D plant
$145,704.3 $163,116.1 $163,043.5 $151,390.6 $149,456.2 $133,524.1 $136,944.4 $133,917.8 $142,555.0 6.4
                     
Research and development obligations 143,509.6 158,983.0 155,706.9 146,869.7 147,170.6 131,525.7 134,652.4 131,038.6 140,069.8 6.9
Performer                    
Federal intramural1 33,462.9 35,546.5 34,293.0 38,096.2 36,523.3 34,577.2 35,902.3 35,594.8 37,918.3 6.5
Industrial firms 63,608.4 67,325.5 66,416.3 58,047.5 62,604.8 51,963.8 51,923.0 48,365.2 53,727.9 11.1
Federally funded research and development centers
       (FFRDCs) administered by industrial firms
4,651.6 4,582.8 4,377.8 4,796.1 3,838.2 3,982.0 4,348.8 4,011.3 4,477.3 11.6
Universities and colleges 29,385.4 35,559.2 34,604.2 30,005.0 29,234.8 27,034.0 28,350.2 27,940.4 28,883.2 3.4
FFRDCs administered by universities and colleges 2,245.2 3,834.2 3,739.2 3,726.5 3,925.9 3,893.4 3,928.4 3,986.7 4,237.7 6.3
Other nonprofit institutions 6,734.8 7,943.6 8,037.8 7,194.0 6,745.1 6,204.6 6,340.9 6,253.9 6,345.6 1.5
FFRDCs administered by nonprofit institutions 2,351.8 3,077.0 3,088.6 3,169.2 2,924.8 2,697.8 2,642.9 3,334.1 2,910.5 -12.7
State and local governments 439.2 441.7 473.4 776.3 481.6 404.5 461.4 496.3 567.8 14.4
Foreign 630.1 672.6 676.6 1,058.8 892.2 768.3 754.6 1,055.9 1,001.7 -5.1
                     
Research obligations 60,849.0 71,770.7 70,698.7 62,896.7 65,832.1 62,096.9 65,020.8 64,865.7 67,760.7 4.5
Performer                    
Federal intramural1  13,460.3 15,010.3 14,733.6 13,726.9 15,191.6 14,073.8 14,785.9 15,294.3 15,486.7 1.3
Industrial firms 6,528.7 7,076.5 7,350.2 6,544.4 8,282.8 7,726.2 8,328.0 8,265.9 9,325.7 12.8
FFRDCs administered by industrial firms 3,307.8 3,459.8 3,283.9 3,235.0 2,846.7 2,846.7 3,325.5 3,157.4 3,662.0 16.0
Universities and colleges 27,462.3 33,994.2 32,846.4 28,458.0 27,938.8 25,984.7 26,986.7 26,459.9 27,255.8 3.0
FFRDCs administered by universities and colleges 1,832.6 2,420.5 2,386.9 2,411.2 3,036.1 3,241.0 3,194.7 3,288.7 3,489.3 6.1
Other nonprofit institutions 6,094.1 7,325.0 7,418.4 6,244.6 6,177.5 5,712.1 5,838.0 5,820.1 5,833.8 0.2
FFRDCs administered by nonprofit institutions 1,361.3 1,647.4 1,812.3 1,569.3 1,548.4 1,769.4 1,783.6 1,647.9 1,794.8 8.9
State and local governments 382.5 387.2 391.4 305.9 374.3 328.9 408.0 428.4 425.0 -0.8
Foreign 419.4 449.9 475.5 401.3 436.0 414.1 370.5 503.2 487.6 -3.1
Field                    
Engineering 10,133.9 11,589.1 12,293.3 10,901.8 12,118.6 11,484.3 12,286.6 12,184.8 13,113.7 7.6
Environmental sciences 3,369.8 4,226.7 3,704.1 3,476.5 4,127.9 4,238.9 4,512.4 4,498.3 4,677.8 4.0
Life sciences 32,651.0 37,485.4 37,618.2 31,878.4 32,908.9 30,764.5 31,697.8 31,057.3 32,041.6 3.2
Mathematics and computer sciences 3,440.6 4,069.8 3,785.0 3,657.7 3,748.7 3,594.8 4,013.6 3,936.8 4,208.3 6.9
Physical sciences 5,727.3 6,559.2 6,513.0 5,882.3 6,809.4 6,589.5 6,700.7 6,635.1 6,757.3 1.8
Psychology 1,965.5 2,350.8 2,391.4 2,045.3 2,217.5 2,030.0 2,034.1 2,033.2 2,119.5 4.2
Social sciences 1,103.1 1,306.2 1,328.3 1,368.4 1,195.0 1,297.9 1,483.3 1,158.1 1,287.3 11.2
Other sciences 2,458.1 4,183.5 3,065.4 3,686.1 2,706.0 2,097.2 2,292.4 3,362.1 3,555.1 5.7
                     
Development obligations 82,660.5 87,212.3 85,008.1 83,973.0 81,338.6 69,428.8 69,631.6 66,172.8 72,309.1 9.3
Performer                    
Federal intramural1  20,002.5 20,536.2 19,559.4 24,369.3 21,331.7 20,503.4 21,116.4 20,300.4 22,431.5 10.5
Industrial firms 57,079.8 60,246.6 59,066.1 51,503.1 54,322.0 44,237.7 43,595.1 40,099.3 44,402.2 10.7
FFRDCs administered by industrial firms 1,343.8 1,123.0 1,094.0 1,561.0 991.5 1,135.3 1,023.2 853.9 815.2 -4.5
Universities and colleges 1,923.1 1,565.1 1,757.8 1,547.0 1,296.1 1,049.2 1,363.5 1,480.5 1,627.4 9.9
FFRDCs administered by universities and colleges 412.7 1,413.7 1,352.2 1,315.2 889.8 652.6 733.7 698.0 748.4 7.2
Other nonprofit institutions 640.7 618.6 619.4 949.4 567.6 492.5 502.8 433.8 511.8 18.0
FFRDCs administered by nonprofit institutions 990.5 1,429.6 1,276.2 1,600.0 1,376.4 928.4 859.4 1,686.2 1,115.7 -33.8
State and local governments 56.7 54.5 82.0 470.4 107.3 75.6 53.3 68.0 142.7 109.9
Foreign 210.7 222.7 201.1 657.5 456.1 354.1 384.1 552.7 514.2 -7.0
                     
R&D plant obligations 2,194.7 4,133.1 7,336.7 4,521.0 2,285.6 1,998.4 2,292.0 2,879.3 2,485.2 -13.7
Performer                    
Federal intramural1 557.8 906.7 2,167.0 917.6 516.7 706.3 664.1 1,444.4 860.5 -40.4
Industrial firms 506.9 446.6 1,942.8 2,200.5 489.4 242.8 334.2 280.9 270.2 -3.8
FFRDCs administered by industrial firms 198.3 143.9 186.0 128.2 55.0 83.4 94.3 103.7 88.8 -14.3
Universities and colleges 237.3 684.0 1,700.2 310.0 395.9 248.2 336.7 297.8 354.1 18.9
FFRDCs administered by universities and colleges 377.6 796.1 545.2 263.3 263.7 258.3 318.9 383.5 545.9 42.3
Other nonprofit institutions 26.8 174.0 272.8 153.2 213.4 193.1 219.9 154.2 200.1 29.8
FFRDCs administered by nonprofit institutions 286.6 978.3 516.2 532.2 343.4 262.0 320.2 214.6 165.4 -22.9
State and local governments # 1.4 2.2 0.2 # 0.2 0.3 # # #
Foreign 3.5 2.3 4.4 15.8 8.1 4.1 3.5 0.1 0.1 -1.9
#Rounds to zero.
1 Includes costs associated with the administration of intramural and extramural programs by federal personnel as well as actual intramural performance.
2 Data adjusted by the federal budget composite deflator reported in U.S. Office of Management and Budget, Budget of the U.S. Government, Historical Tables, Fiscal Year 2017.
NOTE: Some data have been revised from previously published figures. Detail may not sum to totals because of rounding. Totals do not include the Central Intelligence Agency.
SOURCE: National Science Foundation, National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics, Survey of Federal Funds for Research and Development, 2006 through 2016, retrieved April 5, 2017, from https://ncsesdata.nsf.gov/fedfunds/2015/. (This table was prepared April 2017.)

2016 Tables and Figures All Years of Tables and Figures Most Recent Full Issue of the Digest