APPENDIX A 



A DATA OVERVIEW OF RESEARCH- 

 INTENSIVE UNIVERSITIES 



This appendix provides some selected data about the role and activities of the research-intensive universities 

 (RIUs), the context in which they operate, and their Federally supported research activities. Data are presented in 

 four sections: 



• Research-intensive universities in the U.S. academic system 



• Research-intensive universities' operating revenues 



• Research-intensive universities' education outputs 



• Federal support of R&D at research-intensive universities 



The coverage is concise, and a list of data sources is provided for the benefit of readers who wish to pursue a 

 topic in more depth. 



The U.S. academic research enterprise is marked as much by its size and diversity as by its generally acknowl- 

 edged excellence. Some 1,100 universities, colleges, and specialty institutions in 1990 reported some amount of re- 

 search expenditures to the U.S. Department of Education. Major centers of research participate in this activity, along 

 with schools whose research portfolios are more limited, and still others whose participation may be limited to the 

 occasional activities of a handful of their professors. 



At the core of the academic research enterprise is a smaller number of institutions that have both a high volume 

 of sustained research activity over a large number of fields and training programs that contribute heavily to the 

 education of Ph.D.s in the sciences and engineering. For the present study, a set of 170 research-intensive universities 

 was identified which together accounted for at least 90 percent of each of the following national totals for 1981- 

 1990: 



• Academic R&D expenditures 



• Federal obligations for academic science and engineering 



• Federal obligations for academic R&D 



• Number of Ph.D.s awarded in all science and engineering fields 



» Number of Ph.D.s in natural sciences and engineering (NS&E), excluding medical and social sciences and 

 psychology 



There is of course no "natural" way of defining such a set, and judgment may differ over the "best" criteria to 

 use. Nevertheless, whichever reasonable definition is used, the general trends and central tendencies discussed here 

 will remain valid. 



RESEARCH-INTENSIVE UNIVERSITIES IN THE 

 ACADEMIC SYSTEM 



Academic institutions spent an estimated $17.2 billion for R&D in 1991, about 11 percent of the national total. 

 University-managed, Federally funded R&D centers (FFRDCs) accounted for an additional 3 percent of total R&D. 

 The prominence of academic institutions as performers of R&D varies with the type of research activity being con- 

 sidered. Universities perform almost half of the nation's basic research, about 28 percent of its total research, and less 



15 



