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Introduction

The Higher Education Research and Development Survey (HERD) is the primary source of information on Research and Development (R&D) expenditures at U.S. colleges and universities. The survey collects information on R&D expenditures by field of research and source of funds and also gathers information on types of research and expenses. The survey is an annual census of institutions that expended at least $150,000 in separately accounted for R&D in the fiscal year.

This brief explores UH’s R&D data from FY 2010 to FY 2019. It includes summary trends and rankings for UH by different cross-sections and comparison groups. It also provides expenditure data for the following:

For more information on data definitions please visit National Science Foundation Public Use Data Files documentation. See HERD Fiscal Year 2019 for data tables and institution rankings that motivate this report.

All Research & Development Expenditures

UH has increased in rank consistently since 2012 to #117 among 647 institutional units for all R&D expenditures. This places UH among the top 82% of NSF reported institutions. All dollar amounts in thousands.

UH Rank by all R&D Expenditures (hover for details)

NSF HERD ranking by all R&D, FY 2019 (dollars in thousands)

Non-medical schools

Among non-medical schools,1 UH ranks among the top 10% since FY 2010 and ranked #33 in FY 2019 (N=489). This places UH ahead of Texas Tech (#34), Rice University (#38), UT-Dallas (#53), and Baylor (#114).

Public Institutions

Among Public Institutions, UH ranks #79 in FY 2019 (N=489).

High Hispanic Enrollment Institutions

Among High Hispanic Enrollment institutions, UH ranks among the top 10% at #10 in FY 2019 (N=88).

Texas Institutions

Among Texas institutions, UH ranks #7 in FY 2019 (N=45).

All R&D expenditures by source of funds

UH ranks among the top 10% for State and local government funds for FY 2019 (#28). This puts UH ahead of Stanford (#32), Arizona State (#36), UC-Berkeley (#40), Texas Tech (#51), UT-Austin (#56), UT-Dallas (#84), and University of Central Florida (#88).

UH Rank All R&D Expenditures by Source, FY 2010-2019 (hover for details)

Non-medical schools

Among non-medical schools, UH Ranks in the top 10% for all funding sources (excluding All other sources):

  • State and local government #13
  • Institution funds and Non-profit organizations #28
  • Business #33
  • Federal government #45
  • All other sources #38

Public Institutions

UH ranks among the top 10% of public institutions for State and local government funding for FY 2019 (#14). UH is among the 80th percentile and higher for the following fund sources:

  • Nonprofit organizations #34
  • Business #39
  • Institution funds #40
  • All other sources #50
  • Federal government #59

High Hispanic Enrollment Institutions

UH ranks among the top 10% of high hispanic enrollment institutions for the following:

  • State and local government #2
  • Institution funds #6
  • Business #7

UH ranks in the 89th percentile and 83rd percentile for Federal government (#10) and All other sources (#10), respectively.

Texas institutions

Among Texas institutions, UH ranks in the top 10% for State and local government (#3) and Institution funds (#5). Other rankings include:

  • Business #6
  • Federal government and All other sources #7
  • Nonprofit organizations #9

NSF HERD ranking by R&D Fund Source, Texas Schools FY 2019 (dollars in thousands)

Visit the Appendix for extensive tables for all R&D Expenditures.

Federal Expenditures by Field

Among all institutions, UH ranks in the top 10% for Psychology federal expenditures (all) at #20. This places UH ahead of Carnegie Mellon (#22), Florida State (#23), University of Utah (#24), UC-Berkeley (#30), Yale (#37), Cornell (#53), and Johns Hopkins University (#62). UT-Austin is ranked #18.

UH is ranked in the 80th and 88th percentiles for Civil Engineering (#48) and Mathematics and statistics (all, #44).

UH NSF HERD ranking by Federal R&D and Field, FY 2019 (dollars in thousands)

Non-medical schools

Among non-medical schools, UH ranks in the top 10% for:

UH NSF HERD ranking by Federal R&D and Field, Non-Medical Schools FY 2019 (dollars in thousands)

Public Institutions

Among public institutions, UH ranks in the top 10% for Psychology, all (#17).

UH NSF HERD ranking by Federal R&D and Field, Public Institutions FY 2019 (dollars in thousands)

High Hispanic Enrollment Institutions

Among high hispanic enrollment schools, UH ranks in the top 10% for:

UH NSF HERD ranking by Federal R&D and Field, High Hispanic Enrollment FY 2019 (dollars in thousands)

Texas Institutions

Among Texas schools, UH ranks in the top 10% for Psychology, all #2. UT-Austin is #1.

UH NSF HERD ranking by Federal R&D and Field, Texas Schools FY 2019 (dollars in thousands)

Federal Expenditures by Agency

Non-medical schools

Among non-medical schools, UH ranks in the top 10% for:

UH NSF HERD ranking by Federal R&D and Agency, Non-Medical Schools FY 2019 (dollars in thousands)

Public Institutions

UH NSF HERD ranking by Federal R&D and Agency, Public Schools FY 2019 (dollars in thousands)

High Hispanic Enrollment Institutions

Among high Hispanic enrollment schools, UH ranks in the top 10% for:

UH NSF HERD ranking by Federal R&D and Agency, High Hispanic Schools FY 2019 (dollars in thousands)

Texas Institutions

Among Texas schools, UH ranks in the top 10% for:

NSF HERD ranking by Federal R&D and Agency, Texas Schools FY 2019 (dollars in thousands)

Non-Federal Expenditures

UH NSF HERD ranking by Non-Federal R&D and Type, FY 2019 (dollars in thousands)

Non-medical schools

Among non-medical schools, UH ranks among the top 10% for Non-Federal expenditures by each fund type:

UH NSF HERD ranking by Non-Federal R&D and Type, Non-Medical Schools FY 2019 (dollars in thousands)

Public Institutions

UH NSF HERD ranking by Non-Federal R&D and Type, Public Institutions FY 2019 (dollars in thousands)

High Hispanic Enrollment Institutions

Among Hispanic institutions, UH ranks in the top 10% for State and local government, Institution funds, and Total Non-federal funds:

UH NSF HERD ranking by Non-Federal R&D and Type, High Hispanic Institutions FY 2019 (dollars in thousands)

Texas Institutions

Among Texas institutions, UH ranks in the top 10% for State and local government (#4), Institution funds (#7), and Total Non-federal funds (#8):

NSF HERD ranking by Non-Federal R&D and Type, Texas Institutions FY 2019 (dollars in thousands)

Appendix Tables

All R&D Expenditures broken down by group

Non-medical schools

Among non-medical schools, UH ranks among the top 10% since FY 2010 and ranked #33 in FY 2019 (N=489). This places UH ahead of Texas Tech (#34), Rice University (#38), UT-Dallas (#53), and Baylor (#114).

NSF HERD ranking by all R&D - Non-Medical Schools, FY 2019 (dollars in thousands)

Public Institutions

Among Public Institutions, UH ranks #79 in FY 2019 (N=489).

NSF HERD ranking by all R&D - Public Institutions, FY 2019 (dollars in thousands)

High Hispanic Enrollment Institutions

Among High Hispanic Enrollment institutions, UH ranks among the top 10% at #10 in FY 2019 (N=88).

NSF HERD ranking by all R&D - Hispanic Institutions, FY 2019 (dollars in thousands)

Texas Institutions

Among Texas institutions, UH ranks #7 in FY 2019 (N=45).

NSF HERD ranking by all R&D - Texas Institutions, FY 2019 (dollars in thousands)

All R&D expenditures by source of funds

NSF HERD ranking by all R&D - Source of Funds, FY 2019 (dollars in thousands)

Federal R&D expenditures by Agency

NSF R&D Expenditures by Agency, FY 2019 (dollars in thousands)

  1. Although NSF flags UH as having a medical school for FY 2019, this analysis ranks UH among non-medical school institutions for FY 2019. Money spent or received related to the UH medical school prior to its accreditation in Spring 2020 was likely related to planning and preparation and not operational.↩︎