Washington University in St. Louis research and development spending, FY2024
- Saint Louis, MO
- R1
- Private nonprofit
- Standard form filer
Washington University in St. Louis in FY2024
$1.2 billion
spent on research and development in FY2024, as reported to the NSF HERD Survey
- National rank
- #30 of 925
- Change on FY2023
- up 6.4%
- Rank change
- down 3
Washington University in St. Louis reported $1.2 billion of research and development spending in FY2024, ranking #30 of the 925 institutions in the survey. That is up 6.4% on FY2023's $1.2 billion; its national rank was down 3 places. Federal government is its largest funding source at 66.1% ($821.9 million), followed by institution funds at 16.0%. Its largest field of research is life sciences, $1.1 billion or 88.7% 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 | $696.0 million | 18 |
| FY2011 | $725.0 million | 19 |
| FY2012 | $706.4 million | 22 |
| FY2013 | $684.8 million | 28 |
| FY2014 | $664.8 million | 29 |
| FY2015 | $694.1 million | 27 |
| FY2016 | $741.1 million | 28 |
| FY2017 | $754.5 million | 28 |
| FY2018 | $816.1 million | 27 |
| FY2019 | $887.1 million | 28 |
| FY2020 | $920.2 million | 28 |
| FY2021 | $989.2 million | 25 |
| FY2022 | $1.0 billion | 26 |
| FY2023 | $1.2 billion | 27 |
| FY2024 | $1.2 billion | 30 |
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 Washington University in St. Louis 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 | $821.9 million | 66.1% | +8.4% | 18 |
| Institution funds | $199.1 million | 16.0% | +5.3% | 44 |
| Business | $121.7 million | 9.8% | −6.3% | 12 |
| Nonprofit organizations | $98.5 million | 7.9% | +10.6% | 17 |
| All other sources | $1.5 million | 0.1% | −21.1% | 162 |
| State and local government | $401 thousand | 0.0% | −29.8% | 398 |
| All sources | $1.2 billion | 100.0% | +6.4% | 30 |
Fields of research
The 9 NSF research fields Washington University in St. Louis reported in FY2024, largest first.
| Field | FY2024 | Share | Change on FY2023 | US rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Life sciences | $1.1 billion | 88.7% | +5.7% | 17 |
| Engineering | $43.8 million | 3.5% | +30.1% | 109 |
| Non-S&E | $33.9 million | 2.7% | −5.4% | 73 |
| Physical sciences | $32.4 million | 2.6% | +7.0% | 62 |
| Psychology | $10.4 million | 0.8% | +23.4% | 53 |
| Geosciences, atmospheric sciences, and ocean sciences | $7.5 million | 0.6% | +6.8% | 104 |
| Computer and information sciences | $5.7 million | 0.5% | −2.2% | 122 |
| Social sciences | $4.9 million | 0.4% | +72.3% | 148 |
| Mathematics and statistics | $1.4 million | 0.1% | +9.5% | 140 |
Neighbours
Ranked around Washington University in St. Louis
Institutions ranked immediately above and below
The five institutions ranked above Washington University in St. Louis and the five below it in the FY2024 national ranking.
| Rank | Institution | FY2024 R&D |
|---|---|---|
| 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 |
| 34 | Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai | $1.0B |
| 35 | University of Arizona, The | $1.0B |
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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