Wake Forest University research and development spending, FY2024
- Winston-Salem, NC
- R2
- Private nonprofit
- Standard form filer
Wake Forest University in FY2024
$344.5 million
spent on research and development in FY2024, as reported to the NSF HERD Survey
- National rank
- #101 of 925
- Change on FY2023
- up 11.5%
- Rank change
- up 2
Wake Forest University reported $344.5 million of research and development spending in FY2024, ranking #101 of the 925 institutions in the survey. That is up 11.5% on FY2023's $309.0 million; its national rank was up 2 places. Federal government is its largest funding source at 65.1% ($224.3 million), followed by business at 10.8%. Its largest field of research is life sciences, $325.4 million or 94.4% 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 | $192.0 million | 96 |
| FY2011 | $209.1 million | 92 |
| FY2012 | $204.3 million | 93 |
| FY2013 | $182.7 million | 102 |
| FY2014 | $176.4 million | 107 |
| FY2015 | $171.9 million | 108 |
| FY2016 | $170.0 million | 116 |
| FY2017 | $182.2 million | 115 |
| FY2018 | $191.4 million | 112 |
| FY2019 | $238.9 million | 102 |
| FY2020 | $244.6 million | 100 |
| FY2021 | $264.2 million | 101 |
| FY2022 | $269.1 million | 105 |
| FY2023 | $309.0 million | 103 |
| FY2024 | $344.5 million | 101 |
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 Wake Forest 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 | $224.3 million | 65.1% | +9.6% | 87 |
| Business | $37.4 million | 10.8% | +11.5% | 57 |
| Nonprofit organizations | $33.2 million | 9.6% | +38.9% | 59 |
| Institution funds | $26.2 million | 7.6% | −2.5% | 195 |
| All other sources | $13.0 million | 3.8% | +5.6% | 60 |
| State and local government | $10.5 million | 3.0% | +36.5% | 114 |
| All sources | $344.5 million | 100.0% | +11.5% | 101 |
Fields of research
The 8 NSF research fields Wake Forest University reported in FY2024, largest first.
| Field | FY2024 | Share | Change on FY2023 | US rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Life sciences | $325.4 million | 94.4% | +11.7% | 62 |
| Non-S&E | $6.9 million | 2.0% | −13.5% | 200 |
| Social sciences | $5.4 million | 1.6% | +41.1% | 137 |
| Physical sciences | $3.3 million | 1.0% | +40.8% | 213 |
| Engineering | $1.5 million | 0.4% | 0.0% | 273 |
| Psychology | $1.0 million | 0.3% | +46.3% | 209 |
| Mathematics and statistics | $642 thousand | 0.2% | −10.3% | 189 |
| Computer and information sciences | $410 thousand | 0.1% | −34.8% | 298 |
Neighbours
Ranked around Wake Forest University
Institutions ranked immediately above and below
The five institutions ranked above Wake Forest University and the five below it in the FY2024 national ranking.
| Rank | Institution | FY2024 R&D |
|---|---|---|
| 96 | Medical College of Wisconsin | $360.3M |
| 97 | University of New Mexico, The | $354.9M |
| 98 | University of Massachusetts Medical School | $349.6M |
| 99 | Northeastern University | $346.9M |
| 100 | University of Notre Dame | $345.8M |
| 101 | Wake Forest University | $344.5M |
| 102 | Mississippi State University | $342.1M |
| 103 | Clemson University | $338.5M |
| 104 | Florida International University | $325.8M |
| 105 | Medical University of South Carolina | $321.0M |
| 106 | State University of New York, Stony Brook University | $319.3M |
Keep looking
Where this institution sits
Related rankings
Benchmark Wake Forest University against its peers.
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.
Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.