Well over half of the $75.2 billion that colleges spent on research and development in the 2017 fiscal year was devoted to the life sciences. Non-science-and-engineering fields like business, the humanities, and the arts together accounted for nearly 6 percent of spending, a share that surpassed those for the environmental, social, and computer sciences, and psychology and mathematics.
| Field | FY 2017 spending (in thousands) | Percentage |
| Life sciences | $43,095,195 | 57.3% |
| Engineering | $11,897,397 | 15.8% |
| Physical sciences | $5,049,175 | 6.7% |
| All non-S&E fields | $4,345,468 | 5.8% |
| Environmental sciences | $3,154,446 | 4.2% |
| Social sciences | $2,550,173 | 3.4% |
| Computer and information sciences | $2,191,762 | 2.9% |
| Psychology | $1,242,853 | 1.7% |
| Other sciences | $947,387 | 1.3% |
| Math and statistics | $701,085 | 0.9% |
Note: Figures include research-and-development spending supported by federal, state, and local governments; institutional resources; business; nonprofit organizations; and all other sources. Data are based on a survey of 903 institutions in the United States and outlying territories. The category “all non-S&E fields” includes non-science-and-engineering fields like business, communication, education, humanities, law, social work, and visual and performing arts. “Environmental sciences” includes geosciences, atmospheric sciences, and ocean sciences. More data can be found here. Questions or comments on the Almanac should be sent to Ruth Hammond.
Source: National Science Foundation, National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics, Higher Education Research and Development Survey; Chronicle analysis
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