Western Washington University research and development spending, FY2024
- Bellingham, WA
- Public
- Standard form filer
Western Washington University in FY2024
$23.3 million
spent on research and development in FY2024, as reported to the NSF HERD Survey
- National rank
- #302 of 925
- Change on FY2023
- up 9.0%
- Rank change
- held
Western Washington University reported $23.3 million of research and development spending in FY2024, ranking #302 of the 925 institutions in the survey. That is up 9.0% on FY2023's $21.4 million; its national rank was unchanged. Institution funds is its largest funding source at 49.1% ($11.4 million), followed by federal government at 38.4%. Its largest field of research is geosciences, atmospheric sciences, and ocean sciences, $5.9 million or 25.3% 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 | $10.6 million | 304 |
| FY2011 | $9.5 million | 315 |
| FY2012 | $7.6 million | 341 |
| FY2013 | $8.2 million | 330 |
| FY2014 | $8.6 million | 323 |
| FY2015 | $9.9 million | 310 |
| FY2016 | $10.7 million | 316 |
| FY2017 | $13.0 million | 304 |
| FY2018 | $13.1 million | 305 |
| FY2019 | $12.0 million | 320 |
| FY2020 | $14.6 million | 299 |
| FY2021 | $18.0 million | 285 |
| FY2022 | $18.7 million | 295 |
| FY2023 | $21.4 million | 302 |
| FY2024 | $23.3 million | 302 |
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 Western Washington 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Institution funds | $11.4 million | 49.1% | +18.1% | 252 |
| Federal government | $8.9 million | 38.4% | +19.7% | 318 |
| State and local government | $1.3 million | 5.5% | +10.0% | 297 |
| Nonprofit organizations | $917 thousand | 3.9% | −45.7% | 288 |
| Business | $355 thousand | 1.5% | +437.9% | 317 |
| All other sources | $338 thousand | 1.5% | −73.7% | 261 |
| All sources | $23.3 million | 100.0% | +9.0% | 302 |
Fields of research
The 10 NSF research fields Western Washington University reported in FY2024, largest first.
| Field | FY2024 | Share | Change on FY2023 | US rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Geosciences, atmospheric sciences, and ocean sciences | $5.9 million | 25.3% | +2.9% | 121 |
| Non-S&E | $4.8 million | 20.7% | +29.2% | 228 |
| Other sciences | $3.6 million | 15.3% | +3.7% | 77 |
| Physical sciences | $3.3 million | 14.0% | −3.8% | 215 |
| Social sciences | $1.9 million | 8.1% | +22.4% | 205 |
| Life sciences | $1.3 million | 5.6% | +47.0% | 453 |
| Psychology | $823 thousand | 3.5% | −34.4% | 221 |
| Mathematics and statistics | $618 thousand | 2.7% | +26.1% | 195 |
| Engineering | $614 thousand | 2.6% | −1.1% | 321 |
| Computer and information sciences | $504 thousand | 2.2% | +69.7% | 281 |
Neighbours
Ranked around Western Washington University
Institutions ranked immediately above and below
The five institutions ranked above Western Washington University and the five below it in the FY2024 national ranking.
| Rank | Institution | FY2024 R&D |
|---|---|---|
| 297 | New School, The | $23.9M |
| 298 | Loma Linda University | $23.9M |
| 299 | Florida Gulf Coast University | $23.8M |
| 300 | Meharry Medical College | $23.7M |
| 301 | Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science | $23.7M |
| 302 | Western Washington University | $23.3M |
| 303 | Albany Medical College | $23.1M |
| 304 | University of North Carolina at Wilmington, The | $22.7M |
| 305 | Wright State University | $22.6M |
| 306 | Montana Technological University | $22.6M |
| 307 | City University of New York, The, Advanced Science Research Center | $22.5M |
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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