Research expenditures by university in North Carolina, FY2024

22 institutions in North Carolina reported to the NSF HERD survey in FY2024, and together they spent $4.7 billion, 4.0% of the US total. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, The leads at $1.6 billion — #11 nationally, ahead of Duke University at $1.6 billion. 15 spent more than in FY2023 and 6 spent less, and one more reported for the first time. The list runs down to Shaw University at $452 thousand; every name on it links to that institution's own page.

Institutions: 22
FY2024 R&D: $4.7 billion
Share of the US total: 4.0%

The 22 institutions in North Carolina ranked by total research and development expenditures, NSF HERD FY2024.
In North Carolina	Institution	US rank	FY2024 R&D	Change on FY2023	Rank change
1	University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, The	#11	$1.6B	+3.2%	down 2
2	Duke University	#13	$1.6B	+4.8%	down 2
3	North Carolina State University	#52	$717.0M	+13.2%	up 1
4	Wake Forest University	#101	$344.5M	+11.5%	up 2
5	University of North Carolina at Charlotte, The	#181	$94.9M	+3.1%	down 1
6	North Carolina A&T State University	#192	$81.8M	+31.4%	up 15
7	University of North Carolina at Greensboro, The	#199	$77.4M	+27.6%	up 14
8	East Carolina University	#206	$72.5M	+8.1%	down 4
9	University of North Carolina at Wilmington, The	#304	$22.7M	+3.6%	down 6
10	North Carolina Central University	#324	$16.2M	−1.2%	down 1
11	Winston-Salem State University	#349	$12.7M	+45.9%	up 28
12	Appalachian State University	#360	$11.3M	+33.2%	up 20
13	University of North Carolina at Asheville, The	#451	$5.7M	−16.0%	down 44
14	Davidson College	#481	$4.5M	+54.6%	up 39
15	Fayetteville State University	#495	$3.9M	+10.3%	up 1
16	Elon University	#541	$3.0M	+17.8%	up 3
17	Western Carolina University	#580	$2.3M	−8.3%	down 35
18	University of North Carolina, general administration	#655	$1.4M	−75.5%	down 222
19	Elizabeth City State University	#692	$1.1M	−34.3%	down 84
20	High Point University	#702	$1.0M	new	—
21	Johnson C. Smith University	#708	$936K	−41.6%	down 95
22	Shaw University	#822	$452K	+9.7%	down 9
All 22			$4.7B

Rank is a competition rank: two institutions that spent the same share a rank and the next one is skipped. Figures are NSF's own, as revised in the FY2024 release, and are shown to one decimal. How these numbers are built.

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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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