Northwestern University research and development spending, FY2024
- Evanston, IL
- R1
- Private nonprofit
- Standard form filer
Northwestern University in FY2024
$1.3 billion
spent on research and development in FY2024, as reported to the NSF HERD Survey
- National rank
- #28 of 925
- Change on FY2023
- up 12.9%
- Rank change
- up 1
Northwestern University reported $1.3 billion of research and development spending in FY2024, ranking #28 of the 925 institutions in the survey. That is up 12.9% on FY2023's $1.1 billion; its national rank was up 1 place. Federal government is its largest funding source at 58.5% ($735.7 million), followed by institution funds at 28.7%. Its largest field of research is life sciences, $902.3 million or 71.7% 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 | $575.1 million | 31 |
| FY2011 | $619.0 million | 29 |
| FY2012 | $631.1 million | 28 |
| FY2013 | $639.8 million | 30 |
| FY2014 | $645.3 million | 30 |
| FY2015 | $656.2 million | 29 |
| FY2016 | $713.5 million | 29 |
| FY2017 | $751.8 million | 29 |
| FY2018 | $805.7 million | 28 |
| FY2019 | $857.1 million | 29 |
| FY2020 | $874.7 million | 29 |
| FY2021 | $913.2 million | 30 |
| FY2022 | $1.0 billion | 29 |
| FY2023 | $1.1 billion | 29 |
| FY2024 | $1.3 billion | 28 |
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 Northwestern 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 | $735.7 million | 58.5% | +8.5% | 26 |
| Institution funds | $361.3 million | 28.7% | +18.9% | 14 |
| Business | $70.6 million | 5.6% | +5.2% | 28 |
| Nonprofit organizations | $68.6 million | 5.5% | +17.8% | 29 |
| All other sources | $15.8 million | 1.3% | +142.3% | 54 |
| State and local government | $5.8 million | 0.5% | +896.2% | 156 |
| All sources | $1.3 billion | 100.0% | +12.9% | 28 |
Fields of research
The 10 NSF research fields Northwestern University reported in FY2024, largest first.
| Field | FY2024 | Share | Change on FY2023 | US rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Life sciences | $902.3 million | 71.7% | +10.5% | 25 |
| Engineering | $120.8 million | 9.6% | +28.8% | 44 |
| Physical sciences | $110.2 million | 8.8% | +12.6% | 16 |
| Non-S&E | $43.8 million | 3.5% | +11.4% | 62 |
| Other sciences | $31.6 million | 2.5% | +43.6% | 8 |
| Social sciences | $24.3 million | 1.9% | +3.9% | 42 |
| Computer and information sciences | $14.9 million | 1.2% | +7.9% | 63 |
| Psychology | $4.5 million | 0.4% | +35.5% | 115 |
| Mathematics and statistics | $3.1 million | 0.2% | +34.3% | 82 |
| Geosciences, atmospheric sciences, and ocean sciences | $2.4 million | 0.2% | +35.5% | 176 |
Neighbours
Ranked around Northwestern University
Institutions ranked immediately above and below
The five institutions ranked above Northwestern University and the five below it in the FY2024 national ranking.
| Rank | Institution | FY2024 R&D |
|---|---|---|
| 23 | University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center, The | $1.4B |
| 24 | Vanderbilt University and Vanderbilt University Medical Center | $1.3B |
| 25 | Pennsylvania State University, The, University Park and Hershey Medical Center | $1.3B |
| 26 | University of Florida | $1.3B |
| 27 | University of Southern California | $1.3B |
| 28 | Northwestern University | $1.3B |
| 29 | Emory University | $1.2B |
| 30 | Washington University in St. Louis | $1.2B |
| 31 | University of Texas at Austin, The | $1.1B |
| 32 | University of California, Berkeley | $1.1B |
| 33 | Massachusetts Institute of Technology | $1.1B |
Keep looking
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Request a demoData: 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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