Research expenditures by university in Tennessee, FY2024

17 institutions in Tennessee reported to the NSF HERD survey in FY2024, and together they spent $2.1 billion, 1.8% of the US total. Vanderbilt University and Vanderbilt University Medical Center leads at $1.3 billion — #24 nationally, more than 3 times University of Tennessee, The, Knoxville's $386.9 million. 12 spent more than in FY2023 and 4 spent less, and one more reported for the first time. The list runs down to University of Tennessee, The, Martin at $250 thousand; every name on it links to that institution's own page.

Institutions: 17
FY2024 R&D: $2.1 billion
Share of the US total: 1.8%

The 17 institutions in Tennessee ranked by total research and development expenditures, NSF HERD FY2024.
In Tennessee	Institution	US rank	FY2024 R&D	Change on FY2023	Rank change
1	Vanderbilt University and Vanderbilt University Medical Center	#24	$1.3B	+6.0%	held
2	University of Tennessee, The, Knoxville	#89	$386.9M	+14.2%	up 3
3	University of Tennessee, The, Health Science Center	#169	$124.8M	−4.4%	down 3
4	University of Memphis, The	#175	$108.9M	+8.8%	up 2
5	East Tennessee State University	#246	$42.5M	+0.5%	down 7
6	Tennessee Technological University	#255	$36.4M	+75.0%	up 50
7	Tennessee State University	#257	$35.0M	+24.0%	up 13
8	Meharry Medical College	#300	$23.7M	+7.7%	down 4
9	University of Tennessee, The, Chattanooga	#353	$12.1M	−17.5%	down 24
10	Middle Tennessee State University	#387	$8.7M	−8.8%	down 19
11	Austin Peay State University	#464	$5.1M	+28.4%	up 18
12	Fisk University	#524	$3.4M	−29.6%	down 68
13	Lipscomb University	#595	$2.0M	+3.3%	down 9
14	Lincoln Memorial University	#617	$1.8M	+7.0%	down 9
15	Southern College of Optometry	#686	$1.1M	+290.6%	up 175
16	Sewanee: The University of the South	#747	$771K	+30.2%	up 10
17	University of Tennessee, The, Martin	#888	$250K	new	—
All 17			$2.1B

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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