Foreign students continue to seek out educa- 

 tion in RlUs. They are a major presence in 

 graduate education in science and engineering at 

 these institutions, less so at the undergraduate 

 level (Figure 10). Baccalaureate degrees awarded 

 to foreign students in 1990 amounted to 3 percent 

 of the institutions' science and engineering total, 

 and 4 percent for the natural sciences and en- 

 gineering, barely changed from the mid-70s. On 

 the other hand, the share of Ph.D.s awarded to 

 foreign students has continued to increase, even 

 as the total number of these degrees has grown. 

 Foreigners earned 30 percent of the science and 

 engineering Ph.D.s awarded by U.S. institutions 

 in 1991, an increase of 15 percentage points since 

 1977; and they earned 36 percent of the Ph.D.s in 

 the natural sciences and engineering, a rise of 17 

 points over the period. 



Figure 10: Fraction of Total S&E or NSArE Degrees Awarded to 

 ( ilizeii^ by Research-Intensive Universities by Degree level 



RO'^ 



fiO'i 



40% 



- 20% 



0% 



197S 1978 1981 1984 1987 1990 



* S&E l«ss medlcKl «nd social sciences and p9ycholOj>y, bachelors dcfree data unavailable 



Source: National Science Foundation, apeclal tabulation from 



NSK and Deparlmcai of Education data (see reference 10) 



FEDERAL SUPPORT OF R&D AT RESEARCH- 

 INTENSIVE UNIVERSITIES 



The Federal government has been, and remains, the largest single source of funding for R&D at RIUs (Figure 

 1 1 ). However, support from other sources has grown more rapidly than Federal funds. As a result, the share of total 

 funds provided by the Federal government has steadily declined from a 1966 high of 74 percent to an estimated 58 

 percent in 1990. 



The mix of R&D functions supported by the Federal government has been remarkably stable since the early 

 1970s (Figure 12). Basic research has fluctuated between 70 and 75 percent of Federal support, applied research be- 

 tween 20 and 25 percent, and development has constituted 3 to 5 percent of the total. 



100% 



B0% 



60% 



40% 



20% 



Figure 11: Federal Share of R&D Funding 

 at Research — Intensive Universities 



100% 



80% 



- 60% 



40% 



20% 



1961 1964 1967 1970 1973 1976 1979 1982 1985 1988 1991 



I9til-7I eallmated from Federal share of total academic R&D: 1991 data unavailable 

 Source National Science FouDdalion. special tabulation (see relerence II) 



Figure 12: Fraction of Federal Academic R&D Support 

 Allocated to Different Types of R&D 



100% — 1 100% 



80% 



60% 



40% 



20% 



0% 



Basic Research 



80% 



- 60% 



I ' ' ' I ' ' ' I ' ' ' I ' ' ' I ' ' ' I ' ' ' I ' ' ' I ' ' ' I 



40% 



20% 



1953 1957 1961 1965 1969 1973 1977 1981 1985 1989 



Suurce National Science Foundatiou (see reference 12) 



19 



