ORIGINS AND NATURE OF THE RELATIONSHIP 



Origins 



The first long-term partnership of national scope between Federal and state governments in 

 support of higher education and research was initiated by the Morrill Act of 1862. The Act 

 granted parcels of Federal land to each state for the creation of a "land grant" college for instruc- 

 tion in agriculture and mechanic arts. Additional Acts, in 1887, 1900, and 1914 expanded the 

 scientific subject matter taught at these institutions and established agricultural experiment sta- 

 tions and extension services for research and dissemination of results. The Nation benefited sig- 

 nificantly from the availability of a constant source of new knowledge applied to agricultural 

 productivity. 



The current relationship between the Federal government and the RIUs, while consistent with 

 this pattern, is specifically rooted in policies established at the conclusion of the Second World 

 War. As noted by President Franklin D. Roosevelt, these policies, mindful of the contributions 

 of university research to the war effort, aimed to employ profitably "...the lessons to be found in 

 this experiment. ..in times of peace." 



During the 1950s and 1960s, Federal spending for academic research grew rapidly at all 

 agencies, as did broad support for general education and institution building activities by the Na- 

 tional Science Foundation (NSF), the Department of Defense (DOD), the National Aeronautics 

 and Space Administration (NASA), and the National Institutes of Health (NIH). New universities 

 came into being, particularly in the public sector, resulting in a broader distribution of research 

 capacity and funds among universities. 



Rapid growth in funding for academic research, in constant dollars, came to an abrupt end in 

 1968, and the 1968 funding level was not exceeded until ten years later. Beginning in the late 

 1960s and continuing into the early 1970s, the focus of Federal support for universities shifted 

 from defense and space to domestic and social concerns. For example, NIH initiated the wars on 

 cancer and heart disease in 1971 and 1972, respectively; NSF was explicitly authorized to include 

 applied research in its support; and DOD was directed by the Mansfield Amendment to limit its 

 research support at universities to areas directly focused on its mission. 



During the 1980s, Federal support for university research increased dramatically in constant 

 dollars. Furthermore, dispersion of research spending to a larger number of universities con- 

 tinued. The number of institutions with at least one research program over a million dollars (in- 



T)ata describing RIU contributions to U.S. research and education and the Federal role in supporting such RIU 

 activities are provided in Appendix A. 



3 



Letter from President Franklin Roosevelt to Vannevar Bush, reproduced in Vannevar Bush, The Endless Fron- 

 tier (NaUonaX Science Foundation: Washington, DC, 1990), p. 3. 



