University of Wisconsin-Madison research and development spending, FY2024
- Madison, WI
- R1
- Public
- Standard form filer
University of Wisconsin-Madison in FY2024
$1.9 billion
spent on research and development in FY2024, as reported to the NSF HERD Survey
- National rank
- #5 of 925
- Change on FY2023
- up 11.6%
- Rank change
- up 1
University of Wisconsin-Madison reported $1.9 billion of research and development spending in FY2024, ranking #5 of the 925 institutions in the survey. That is up 11.6% on FY2023's $1.7 billion; its national rank was up 1 place. Federal government is its largest funding source at 48.1% ($930.6 million), followed by institution funds at 31.0%. Its largest field of research is life sciences, $1.2 billion or 61.6% 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 | $1.0 billion | 3 |
| FY2011 | $1.1 billion | 4 |
| FY2012 | $1.2 billion | 3 |
| FY2013 | $1.1 billion | 4 |
| FY2014 | $1.1 billion | 4 |
| FY2015 | $1.1 billion | 6 |
| FY2016 | $1.2 billion | 6 |
| FY2017 | $1.2 billion | 6 |
| FY2018 | $1.2 billion | 8 |
| FY2019 | $1.3 billion | 8 |
| FY2020 | $1.4 billion | 8 |
| FY2021 | $1.4 billion | 8 |
| FY2022 | $1.5 billion | 8 |
| FY2023 | $1.7 billion | 6 |
| FY2024 | $1.9 billion | 5 |
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 Wisconsin-Madison 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 | $930.6 million | 48.1% | +13.9% | 14 |
| Institution funds | $598.7 million | 31.0% | +10.3% | 3 |
| Nonprofit organizations | $158.0 million | 8.2% | +3.2% | 6 |
| State and local government | $148.6 million | 7.7% | +18.3% | 6 |
| All other sources | $51.3 million | 2.7% | +7.6% | 18 |
| Business | $46.0 million | 2.4% | −0.2% | 43 |
| All sources | $1.9 billion | 100.0% | +11.6% | 5 |
Fields of research
The 10 NSF research fields University of Wisconsin-Madison reported in FY2024, largest first.
| Field | FY2024 | Share | Change on FY2023 | US rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Life sciences | $1.2 billion | 61.6% | +12.4% | 11 |
| Engineering | $195.0 million | 10.1% | +13.7% | 21 |
| Non-S&E | $125.0 million | 6.5% | +7.9% | 4 |
| Physical sciences | $116.4 million | 6.0% | +2.4% | 14 |
| Social sciences | $89.0 million | 4.6% | +17.1% | 7 |
| Geosciences, atmospheric sciences, and ocean sciences | $81.8 million | 4.2% | +5.0% | 13 |
| Other sciences | $72.0 million | 3.7% | +24.4% | 2 |
| Computer and information sciences | $38.9 million | 2.0% | +0.7% | 14 |
| Psychology | $12.7 million | 0.7% | −3.9% | 47 |
| Mathematics and statistics | $12.3 million | 0.6% | +38.9% | 15 |
Neighbours
Ranked around University of Wisconsin-Madison
Institutions ranked immediately above and below
The four institutions ranked above University of Wisconsin-Madison and the five below it in the FY2024 national ranking.
| Rank | Institution | FY2024 R&D |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Johns Hopkins University | $4.1B |
| 2 | University of Pennsylvania | $2.2B |
| 3 | University of California, San Francisco | $2.1B |
| 4 | University of Michigan, Ann Arbor | $2.1B |
| 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 |
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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