Boston University research and development spending, FY2024
- Boston, MA
- R1
- Private nonprofit
- Standard form filer
Boston University in FY2024
$784.4 million
spent on research and development in FY2024, as reported to the NSF HERD Survey
- National rank
- #48 of 925
- Change on FY2023
- up 1.4%
- Rank change
- down 2
Boston University reported $784.4 million of research and development spending in FY2024, ranking #48 of the 925 institutions in the survey. That is up 1.4% on FY2023's $773.2 million; its national rank was down 2 places. Federal government is its largest funding source at 53.8% ($421.8 million), followed by institution funds at 30.9%. Its largest field of research is life sciences, $474.4 million or 60.5% of the total.
Over time
Research spending, FY2010 to FY2024
Standard-form totals FY2010 onwards as revised by NCSES in the newest release; rank is within that series.
Year-by-year figures
| Fiscal year | R&D expenditure | Rank in series |
|---|---|---|
| FY2010 | $352.8 million | 57 |
| FY2011 | $355.9 million | 58 |
| FY2012 | $334.5 million | 66 |
| FY2013 | $368.3 million | 57 |
| FY2014 | $367.3 million | 56 |
| FY2015 | $388.3 million | 54 |
| FY2016 | $395.9 million | 55 |
| FY2017 | $421.4 million | 54 |
| FY2018 | $484.2 million | 50 |
| FY2019 | $534.2 million | 49 |
| FY2020 | $583.3 million | 48 |
| FY2021 | $652.1 million | 43 |
| FY2022 | $725.4 million | 43 |
| FY2023 | $773.2 million | 46 |
| FY2024 | $784.4 million | 48 |
FY2024 breakdown
Where the money came from, and what it paid for
FY2024 funding sources and research fields
Funding sources
The 6 NSF funding sources Boston University reported in FY2024, largest first. Shares are of its own FY2024 total, and the rank is national within that source.
| Source | FY2024 | Share | Change on FY2023 | US rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Federal government | $421.8 million | 53.8% | +3.0% | 48 |
| Institution funds | $242.1 million | 30.9% | +5.1% | 37 |
| Nonprofit organizations | $74.2 million | 9.5% | −20.7% | 26 |
| All other sources | $24.4 million | 3.1% | +53.4% | 39 |
| Business | $21.1 million | 2.7% | −9.5% | 78 |
| State and local government | $765 thousand | 0.1% | +53.0% | 338 |
| All sources | $784.4 million | 100.0% | +1.4% | 48 |
Fields of research
The 10 NSF research fields Boston University reported in FY2024, largest first.
| Field | FY2024 | Share | Change on FY2023 | US rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Life sciences | $474.4 million | 60.5% | −2.6% | 46 |
| Engineering | $114.1 million | 14.5% | +2.0% | 47 |
| Non-S&E | $49.5 million | 6.3% | +6.0% | 50 |
| Physical sciences | $48.0 million | 6.1% | +13.2% | 42 |
| Psychology | $31.8 million | 4.1% | +20.6% | 5 |
| Computer and information sciences | $25.7 million | 3.3% | +15.9% | 41 |
| Social sciences | $16.2 million | 2.1% | +15.4% | 63 |
| Geosciences, atmospheric sciences, and ocean sciences | $9.4 million | 1.2% | −6.8% | 94 |
| Other sciences | $9.3 million | 1.2% | +21.5% | 45 |
| Mathematics and statistics | $6.1 million | 0.8% | +21.8% | 43 |
Neighbours
Ranked around Boston University
Institutions ranked immediately above and below
The five institutions ranked above Boston University and the five below it in the FY2024 national ranking.
| Rank | Institution | FY2024 R&D |
|---|---|---|
| 43 | University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, The | $869.3M |
| 44 | University of Alabama at Birmingham, The | $865.9M |
| 45 | Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, New Brunswick | $836.8M |
| 46 | University of Virginia, Charlottesville | $813.8M |
| 47 | University of Utah, The | $789.3M |
| 48 | Boston University | $784.4M |
| 49 | University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus | $741.6M |
| 50 | University of Cincinnati | $739.9M |
| 51 | University of Colorado Boulder | $717.9M |
| 52 | North Carolina State University | $717.0M |
| 53 | University of Iowa | $703.3M |
Keep looking
Where this institution sits
Related rankings
Data: NSF HERD FY2024, built from NSF's published tables on September 8, 2026. Page updated September 13, 2026.
Data: National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics, National Science Foundation, Higher Education Research and Development Survey, FY2024.
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