Massachusetts Institute of Technology research and development spending, FY2024

  • Cambridge, MA
  • R1
  • Private nonprofit
  • Standard form filer

Massachusetts Institute of Technology in FY2024

$1.1 billion

spent on research and development in FY2024, as reported to the NSF HERD Survey

National rank
#33 of 925
Change on FY2023
up 6.5%
Rank change
held

Massachusetts Institute of Technology reported $1.1 billion of research and development spending in FY2024, ranking #33 of the 925 institutions in the survey. That is up 6.5% on FY2023's $1.0 billion; its national rank was unchanged. Federal government is its largest funding source at 55.8% ($595.1 million), followed by business at 17.0%. Its largest field of research is engineering, $413.9 million or 38.8% of the total.

Over time

Research spending, FY2010 to FY2024

Massachusetts Institute of Technology research and development expenditures, FY2010 to FY2024A line from $677.1 million in FY2010 to $1.1 billion in FY2024. Every plotted figure is in the table below.$0$266.4M$532.8M$799.2M$1.1BFY2010FY2015FY2020FY2024

Standard-form totals FY2010 onwards as revised by NCSES in the newest release; rank is within that series.

Year-by-year figures
Massachusetts Institute of Technology research and development expenditures by fiscal year, NSF HERD.
Fiscal yearR&D expenditureRank in series
FY2010$677.1 million23
FY2011$723.6 million20
FY2012$824.1 million15
FY2013$900.5 million12
FY2014$908.0 million12
FY2015$930.7 million13
FY2016$946.2 million14
FY2017$952.0 million14
FY2018$964.3 million16
FY2019$1.0 billion18
FY2020$988.0 million23
FY2021$949.1 million29
FY2022$989.2 million30
FY2023$1.0 billion33
FY2024$1.1 billion33

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 Massachusetts Institute of Technology reported in FY2024, largest first. Shares are of its own FY2024 total, and the rank is national within that source.

Massachusetts Institute of Technology research and development expenditures by funding source, NSF HERD FY2024.
SourceFY2024ShareChange on FY2023US rank
Federal government$595.1 million55.8%+6.3%30
Business$181.6 million17.0%+3.0%4
Nonprofit organizations$127.6 million12.0%+13.3%12
Institution funds$90.1 million8.5%+22.6%102
All other sources$68.6 million6.4%−9.6%12
State and local government$2.6 million0.2%+26.6%224
All sources$1.1 billion100.0%+6.5%33

Fields of research

The 10 NSF research fields Massachusetts Institute of Technology reported in FY2024, largest first.

Massachusetts Institute of Technology research and development expenditures by field of research, NSF HERD FY2024.
FieldFY2024ShareChange on FY2023US rank
Engineering$413.9 million38.8%+2.3%6
Physical sciences$199.0 million18.7%+9.9%6
Life sciences$132.2 million12.4%+3.3%106
Computer and information sciences$121.4 million11.4%+1.5%7
Non-S&E$64.8 million6.1%+29.6%29
Social sciences$58.7 million5.5%+5.5%13
Geosciences, atmospheric sciences, and ocean sciences$39.3 million3.7%+36.5%29
Other sciences$23.7 million2.2%+8.4%11
Mathematics and statistics$11.7 million1.1%+13.6%17
Psychology$999 thousand0.1%+90.3%212

Neighbours

Ranked around Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Institutions ranked immediately above and below

The five institutions ranked above Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the five below it in the FY2024 national ranking.

Institutions ranked immediately above and below Massachusetts Institute of Technology, NSF HERD FY2024.
RankInstitutionFY2024 R&D
28Northwestern University$1.3B
29Emory University$1.2B
30Washington University in St. Louis$1.2B
31University of Texas at Austin, The$1.1B
32University of California, Berkeley$1.1B
33Massachusetts Institute of Technology$1.1B
34Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai$1.0B
35University of Arizona, The$1.0B
36University of California, Davis$1.0B
37Arizona State University$1.0B
38Michigan State University$931.8M

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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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