University of Southern California research and development spending, FY2024

  • Los Angeles, CA
  • R1
  • Private nonprofit
  • Standard form filer

University of Southern California in FY2024

$1.3 billion

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

National rank
#27 of 925
Change on FY2023
up 9.5%
Rank change
up 1

University of Southern California reported $1.3 billion of research and development spending in FY2024, ranking #27 of the 925 institutions in the survey. That is up 9.5% on FY2023's $1.2 billion; its national rank was up 1 place. Federal government is its largest funding source at 58.5% ($739.4 million), followed by institution funds at 20.6%. Its largest field of research is life sciences, $843.4 million or 66.7% of the total.

Over time

Research spending, FY2010 to FY2024

University of Southern California research and development expenditures, FY2010 to FY2024A line from $592.8 million in FY2010 to $1.3 billion in FY2024. Every plotted figure is in the table below.$0$316.0M$632.1M$948.1M$1.3BFY2010FY2015FY2020FY2024

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

Year-by-year figures
University of Southern California research and development expenditures by fiscal year, NSF HERD.
Fiscal yearR&D expenditureRank in series
FY2010$592.8 million27
FY2011$603.3 million31
FY2012$623.5 million30
FY2013$645.6 million29
FY2014$687.2 million27
FY2015$691.0 million28
FY2016$702.9 million30
FY2017$764.3 million27
FY2018$891.6 million23
FY2019$909.7 million27
FY2020$941.2 million27
FY2021$955.6 million28
FY2022$1.0 billion27
FY2023$1.2 billion28
FY2024$1.3 billion27

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

University of Southern California research and development expenditures by funding source, NSF HERD FY2024.
SourceFY2024ShareChange on FY2023US rank
Federal government$739.4 million58.5%+8.1%25
Institution funds$260.9 million20.6%+8.9%31
Business$123.0 million9.7%+30.9%11
Nonprofit organizations$70.1 million5.5%−3.7%27
All other sources$53.8 million4.3%+1.6%16
State and local government$17.0 million1.3%+43.4%84
All sources$1.3 billion100.0%+9.5%27

Fields of research

The 9 NSF research fields University of Southern California reported in FY2024, largest first.

University of Southern California research and development expenditures by field of research, NSF HERD FY2024.
FieldFY2024ShareChange on FY2023US rank
Life sciences$843.4 million66.7%+13.4%28
Computer and information sciences$125.8 million10.0%+2.4%5
Engineering$90.8 million7.2%+9.9%57
Social sciences$84.3 million6.7%+3.2%8
Non-S&E$67.5 million5.3%−9.3%25
Physical sciences$21.4 million1.7%+17.7%86
Geosciences, atmospheric sciences, and ocean sciences$20.0 million1.6%−3.8%53
Psychology$8.9 million0.7%+10.0%63
Mathematics and statistics$1.9 million0.2%−4.9%119

Neighbours

Ranked around University of Southern California

Institutions ranked immediately above and below

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

Benchmark University of Southern California against its peers.

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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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