The University of Florida's $1.085 billion in research expenditures in fiscal year 2022 placed it 25th among all U.S. universities, up from 27th in 2021, in a new national ranking of R&D spending by the National Science Foundation. UF was 15th among public universities, up from 16th.
The rankings are based on NSF's annual Higher Education Research and Development, or HERD, survey, which compiles research expenditure data from more than 600 higher education institutions in the United States.
In fiscal year 2023, UF rose another 15% to $1.25 billion in expenditures, which will be reflected in next year's HERD report.
"UF's commitment to research is reflected here in these numbers as well as in the thousands of breakthroughs and discoveries that occur across campus and cascade into the broader world every year," said UF President Ben Sasse. "We are going to keep raising the impact and the speed of the work we do, and I look forward to seeing these numbers continue to go up."
Spending for research is a key indicator of the health of an institution's research enterprise. Other highly ranked institutions include UCLA at $1.54 billion, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill at $1.36 billion, Yale at $1.19 billion, Penn State at $1.02 billion and MIT at $989 million. Only 29 universities exceeded $1 billion in research spending in FY2022.
"UF uses research funding from federal, state and private sponsors to address the most important opportunities and challenges facing our state, the nation and the world," said David Norton, UF's vice president for research. "Our research faculty, students and staff are seeking cures for diseases, improving crops to feed the world, unraveling the mysteries of the universe, and developing technologies that will drive tomorrow's economic and national security."
