Cornell University research and development spending, FY2024
- Ithaca, NY
- R1
- Private nonprofit
- Standard form filer
Cornell University in FY2024
$1.6 billion
spent on research and development in FY2024, as reported to the NSF HERD Survey
- National rank
- #10 of 925
- Change on FY2023
- up 11.1%
- Rank change
- up 3
Cornell University reported $1.6 billion of research and development spending in FY2024, ranking #10 of the 925 institutions in the survey. That is up 11.1% on FY2023's $1.5 billion; its national rank was up 3 places. Federal government is its largest funding source at 49.1% ($792.1 million), followed by institution funds at 19.6%. Its largest field of research is life sciences, $1.1 billion or 69.0% 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 | $749.7 million | 17 |
| FY2011 | $781.7 million | 17 |
| FY2012 | $802.4 million | 16 |
| FY2013 | $845.2 million | 16 |
| FY2014 | $883.3 million | 14 |
| FY2015 | $954.4 million | 12 |
| FY2016 | $974.2 million | 13 |
| FY2017 | $984.5 million | 13 |
| FY2018 | $1.1 billion | 13 |
| FY2019 | $1.1 billion | 13 |
| FY2020 | $1.2 billion | 12 |
| FY2021 | $1.2 billion | 14 |
| FY2022 | $1.3 billion | 14 |
| FY2023 | $1.5 billion | 13 |
| FY2024 | $1.6 billion | 10 |
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 Cornell 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 | $792.1 million | 49.1% | +12.3% | 21 |
| Institution funds | $315.7 million | 19.6% | +14.1% | 23 |
| All other sources | $187.7 million | 11.6% | +0.5% | 2 |
| Nonprofit organizations | $140.4 million | 8.7% | +8.8% | 8 |
| State and local government | $109.3 million | 6.8% | +14.9% | 9 |
| Business | $68.3 million | 4.2% | +15.6% | 29 |
| All sources | $1.6 billion | 100.0% | +11.1% | 10 |
Fields of research
The 10 NSF research fields Cornell University reported in FY2024, largest first.
| Field | FY2024 | Share | Change on FY2023 | US rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Life sciences | $1.1 billion | 69.0% | +9.1% | 16 |
| Engineering | $176.1 million | 10.9% | +17.5% | 24 |
| Physical sciences | $153.7 million | 9.5% | +12.4% | 8 |
| Non-S&E | $70.4 million | 4.4% | +19.2% | 23 |
| Computer and information sciences | $42.8 million | 2.7% | +30.4% | 12 |
| Social sciences | $32.3 million | 2.0% | +7.5% | 30 |
| Psychology | $12.9 million | 0.8% | +4.1% | 45 |
| Geosciences, atmospheric sciences, and ocean sciences | $7.4 million | 0.5% | +28.4% | 106 |
| Mathematics and statistics | $4.4 million | 0.3% | +4.7% | 60 |
| Other sciences | $244 thousand | 0.0% | +68.3% | 190 |
Neighbours
Ranked around Cornell University
Institutions ranked immediately above and below
The five institutions ranked above Cornell University and the five below it in the FY2024 national ranking.
| Rank | Institution | FY2024 R&D |
|---|---|---|
| 5 | University of Wisconsin-Madison | $1.9B |
| 6 | University of California, Los Angeles | $1.9B |
| 7 | University of California, San Diego | $1.9B |
| 8 | University of Washington, Seattle | $1.7B |
| 9 | Stanford University | $1.6B |
| 10 | Cornell University | $1.6B |
| 11 | University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, The | $1.6B |
| 12 | Ohio State University, The | $1.6B |
| 13 | Duke University | $1.6B |
| 14 | University of Maryland | $1.5B |
| 15 | Georgia Institute of Technology | $1.5B |
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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