University of California, Santa Barbara research and development spending, FY2024

  • Santa Barbara, CA
  • R1
  • Public
  • Standard form filer

University of California, Santa Barbara in FY2024

$303.4 million

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

National rank
#111 of 925
Change on FY2023
down 0.7%
Rank change
down 6

University of California, Santa Barbara reported $303.4 million of research and development spending in FY2024, ranking #111 of the 925 institutions in the survey. That is down 0.7% on FY2023's $305.5 million; its national rank was down 6 places. Federal government is its largest funding source at 56.4% ($171.2 million), followed by institution funds at 22.7%. Its largest field of research is engineering, $108.1 million or 35.6% of the total.

Over time

Research spending, FY2010 to FY2024

University of California, Santa Barbara research and development expenditures, FY2010 to FY2024A line from $225.7 million in FY2010 to $303.4 million in FY2024. Every plotted figure is in the table below.$0$76.4M$152.7M$229.1M$305.5MFY2010FY2015FY2020FY2024

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

Year-by-year figures
University of California, Santa Barbara research and development expenditures by fiscal year, NSF HERD.
Fiscal yearR&D expenditureRank in series
FY2010$225.7 million85
FY2011$230.4 million83
FY2012$233.9 million84
FY2013$236.5 million82
FY2014$231.3 million86
FY2015$222.9 million91
FY2016$230.1 million93
FY2017$238.2 million92
FY2018$235.2 million96
FY2019$243.8 million98
FY2020$254.4 million99
FY2021$249.0 million103
FY2022$278.9 million101
FY2023$305.5 million105
FY2024$303.4 million111

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 University of California, Santa Barbara reported in FY2024, largest first. Shares are of its own FY2024 total, and the rank is national within that source.

University of California, Santa Barbara research and development expenditures by funding source, NSF HERD FY2024.
SourceFY2024ShareChange on FY2023US rank
Federal government$171.2 million56.4%−4.8%100
Institution funds$68.9 million22.7%+5.7%130
Nonprofit organizations$26.0 million8.6%−5.1%74
All other sources$19.8 million6.5%+82.2%44
State and local government$8.9 million2.9%+22.4%126
Business$8.6 million2.8%−41.7%115
All sources$303.4 million100.0%−0.7%111

Fields of research

The 10 NSF research fields University of California, Santa Barbara reported in FY2024, largest first.

University of California, Santa Barbara research and development expenditures by field of research, NSF HERD FY2024.
FieldFY2024ShareChange on FY2023US rank
Engineering$108.1 million35.6%−2.6%48
Physical sciences$56.4 million18.6%−17.7%37
Geosciences, atmospheric sciences, and ocean sciences$55.5 million18.3%+42.5%20
Other sciences$26.4 million8.7%+42.0%10
Non-S&E$17.7 million5.8%+18.4%118
Computer and information sciences$14.9 million4.9%−35.3%62
Social sciences$10.6 million3.5%−4.2%91
Life sciences$7.1 million2.3%−46.0%292
Psychology$5.0 million1.6%+12.9%107
Mathematics and statistics$1.8 million0.6%+2.7%125

Neighbours

Ranked around University of California, Santa Barbara

Institutions ranked immediately above and below

The five institutions ranked above University of California, Santa Barbara and the five below it in the FY2024 national ranking.

Institutions ranked immediately above and below University of California, Santa Barbara, NSF HERD FY2024.
RankInstitutionFY2024 R&D
106State University of New York, Stony Brook University$319.3M
107Temple University$315.0M
108University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, The$312.8M
109Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution$308.2M
110Rockefeller University, The$305.3M
111University of California, Santa Barbara$303.4M
112Wayne State University$291.7M
113University of Central Florida$284.9M
114University of Massachusetts Amherst$281.7M
115George Mason University$281.7M
116Tufts University$278.3M

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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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