Nationally, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) accounted for 59.4 percent ($22.6 billion) of all federal S&E support to IHEs in 2019, followed by the National Science Foundation (NSF) (15.9 percent, $6.1 billion); the Department of Defense (DoD) (12.3 percent, $4.7 billion); the Department of Energy (DOE) (3.6 percent, $1.4 billion); the Department of Agriculture (USDA) (3.3 percent, $1.2 billion); and NASA (2.8 percent, $1.1 billion). Combined, the remaining agencies (Department of Commerce (DOC), Department of the Interior (DOI), Department of Education (ED), Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and others*) accounted for 2.7 percent ($1.0 billion) of total federal support to IHEs for S&E in 2019.
As seen in the interactive graphic below, funding obligations for S&E to IHEs in 2019 from HHS accounted for the greatest share of agency funding in most states and territories. States where HHS accounted for the greatest share of federal S&E obligations in 2019 were Connecticut (80.8 percent, $556 million); Missouri (80.4 percent, $612 million); Kentucky (75.8 percent, $225 million); North Carolina (75.6 percent, $1.257 billion); and, New York (73.4 percent, $2.321 billion). The areas where S&E support to IHEs from HHS accounted for the lowest share of the total in 2019 were Wyoming (23.1 percent, $10.5 million); Idaho (21.3 percent, $15.2 million); Alaska (13.1 percent, $15.1 million); Maine (10.3 percent, $7.1 million); and, the Virgin Islands (10.1 percent, $0.6 million).
While NSF accounted for a much smaller share of the national total of federal S&E support to IHEs in 2019 when compared to HHS, there were several states where NSF support accounted for a significant share of the total. The areas where NSF constituted the greatest share of S&E obligations in 2019 were Wyoming (59.3 percent, $27.1 million); the Virgin Islands (52.9 percent, $2.9 million); Alaska (49.9 percent, $57.8 million); South Dakota (43.8 percent, $19.9 million); and, Idaho (42.6 percent, $30.4 million). The areas with the lowest shares of NSF S&E support for IHEs in 2019 were Connecticut (9.5 percent, $65.4 million); Utah (9.1 percent, $49.8 million); Missouri (6.4 percent, $48.9 million); Vermont (6.2 percent, $5.7 million); and Maryland (4.7 percent, $113.7 million).
Nationally, DoD was the only other single agency that accounted for more than 10 percent of total federal S&E support to IHEs in 2019. The states with the greatest concentration of DoD obligations to colleges and universities for S&E in 2019 were Maryland (40.5 percent, $979.2 million); Georgia (37.8 percent, $520.3 million); Mississippi (28.2 percent, $60.9 million); Maine (25.9 percent; $17.9 million); and, Utah (21.8 percent, $119 million). The areas where DoD funding accounted for the lowest share of total S&E support to IHEs in 2019 were North Dakota (2.4 percent, $1.2 million); Puerto Rico (2 percent, $1.9 million); South Dakota (1.9 percent, $0.87 million); Wyoming (1.9 percent, $0.86 million); and, the Virgin Islands (0.2 percent, $9,500).
For details on the remaining agencies, please reference the interactive map above, or click here for the SSTI spreadsheet used in this analysis.