The latest authoritative statistics on university research and development (R&D) expenditures show that UC San Diego overall came in fifth place among all U.S. institutions of higher learning, with just over $1 billion in total R&D. Of that, $630,000 came from the federal government. UC San Diego ranked #5 following the universities of Wisconsin, Washington, Michigan and at #1, Johns Hopkins University.
Looking at R&D in the computer sciences only, UC San Diego ranked #10 in the nation for R&D spending, down from #8 the previous year. That drop reflected a 22 percent decline in computer-science R&D expenditures from fiscal 2012 to fiscal 2013 (pictured at right). Total R&D expenditures at UC San Diego in the computer sciences were just under $38 million in fiscal 2013, when less than half of the computer-science R&D came from federal sources (only $17.7 million).
It's worth noting that after pulling out of a slump in the early 2000s, total R&D expenditures in higher education went up in each of the past five years, from $1.5 billion in 2008 to just over $2 billion as of fiscal 2013. But it's also worth pointing out some comparisons which show how computer science stacks up with other fields when it comes to universities in search of R&D funding. The $2 billion total for the computer sciences in fiscal 2013 was less than what went to the social sciences, less than what went to the physical or environmental sciences, and less than one-tenth of what sent to the life sciences.
The Higher Education Research and Development Survey is the primary source of information on R&D spending at the 645 U.S. colleges and universities that reported at least $1 million a year on R&D in the latest year (which together account for more than 99 percent of total higher education R&D expenditures nationwide in fiscal 2013). Another talking point for UC San Diego: among the seven universities boasting at least $1 billion a year in R&D spending, UC San Diego received more funding from industry -- over $68 million -- than its six rivals.
Read more about the Higher Education Research and Development Survey.