Infographic: Research Funding Before the Cuts
Infographic: Research Funding Before the Cuts
Which American mechanical engineering programs brought in the most Federal money? The National Science Foundation has made a list.
Funding for university research is in a state of flux (to say the least) as the first six months of the second Trump Administration have seen persistent efforts to slash the budgets of Federal agencies that distribute research grants. The untargeted nature of these cuts—which affect the National Science Foundation (NSF), the National Institutes of Health, NASA, and other agencies—mean that virtually every field gets starved of resources.
On a state-by-state level, some places will get hit disproportionately. The NSF has produced an annual Higher Education Research and Development Survey since 2010 that shows how much money colleges and universities spend on research and development, and where that money came from. Of the $109 billion spent on R&D in 2023 (the most recent year with complete data), $59.7 billion—or around 55 percent—were from Federal sources, while only $33 billion were from state governments or the institutions themselves. That means that places with the highest per capita university R&D spending will see a disproportionate level of cuts.
Mechanical engineering programs will also need to brace for spending reductions. In 2023, $1.55 billion in Federal funding flowed to universities for mechanical engineering research. The top 10 recipients include some of the nation’s top mechanical engineering programs, and it remains to be seen how they will be affected by the scaling back of resources.
On a state-by-state level, some places will get hit disproportionately. The NSF has produced an annual Higher Education Research and Development Survey since 2010 that shows how much money colleges and universities spend on research and development, and where that money came from. Of the $109 billion spent on R&D in 2023 (the most recent year with complete data), $59.7 billion—or around 55 percent—were from Federal sources, while only $33 billion were from state governments or the institutions themselves. That means that places with the highest per capita university R&D spending will see a disproportionate level of cuts.
Mechanical engineering programs will also need to brace for spending reductions. In 2023, $1.55 billion in Federal funding flowed to universities for mechanical engineering research. The top 10 recipients include some of the nation’s top mechanical engineering programs, and it remains to be seen how they will be affected by the scaling back of resources.
Which American mechanical engineering programs brought in the most Federal money? The National Science Foundation has made a list.
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