Science and Technology in the Academic Enterprise: Status, Trends, and Issues (1989)

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STATUS OF THE ENTERPRISE. 8 of research personnel in public doctoral universities continued to grow, from 23,000 to 32,000, for private doctoral universities, the number declined from 23,000 to under 20,000 (Figure 1-7). With flat funding, average research expenditures (operating and capital) per academic researcher hovered around $160,000 (1988 dollars) (Figure 1-8). A major legacy of the leveling off of federal research funding was doubt raised about the continued federal stewardship of basic research in the United States.7 Many factors underlay the changing pattern of federal support, including rising general inflation, economic recession, the end of the manned moon mission, the Vietnam War, increased budgetary competition from other federal programs, and a re-assessment, by both government and universities, of the relationship between the federal government and the universities. In the view of some policy-makers, the institution building objective had been achieved by the 1970s, perhaps even over-achieved, and attention should be turned to the management of the expanded enterprise. Others in the academic research community feared that a long-term steady-state in federal support would reduce both the size and quality of the enterprise. Policy debates focused on cutbacks in federal support—primarily for student fellowships, facilities, and equipment—and increasingly restrictive regulations for monitoring the expenditure of federal research dollars by universities. The institutional base for academic research also approached steady-state. While enrollments continued to grow rapidly in comprehensive universities and 2-year colleges, enrollments stabilized in doctoral research universities by 1973. In the public doctoral universities, total enrollments reached 2.5 million; private doctoral universities enrollments slowly increased to 700,000 (Figure 1-17). With an approaching steady-state in faculty positions and uncertain federal financial support for research, the production of Ph.D. degrees in the sciences and engineering began to drop. Annual Ph.D. degrees granted in the sciences and engineering from public institutions peaked in 1973 at 12,500, then declined 10 percent to 11,100 by decade end. Production in the private institutions fared worse, declining 18 percent from a high of 6,500 in 1973 to 5,300 in 1978 (Figure 1-18). Together, the uncertainties of funding and university enrollments generated doubts about continued federal commitment to basic research and the ability of universities to remain its primary locus. 1978 TO 1988: DIVERSIFICATION The years from 1978 to 1988 saw a dramatic diversification in the academic research enterprise. The fears expressed in the previous decade that the enterprise would contract did not prove out. Rather, a new infusion of research dollars spurred a broader range of academic institutions to develop research capacity and participate in the enterprise. (See Figures 1-14 and 1-15.) Competition for faculty and research support increased; so did competition for students as the enrollment inertia of the previous decade continued. In inflation-adjusted dollars, support for academic research nearly doubled, rising to more than $13 billion in 1988 from less than $8 billion (1988 dollars) in 1978 (Figure 1-5), 

STATUS OF THE ENTERPRISE. 9 and reached an all-time high 0.27 percent of the gross national product, up from 0.21 percent in 1978 (Figure 1-4). Annual federal contributions increased from $5 billion to $8 billion (Figures 1-10 and 1-11). The number of research personnel— faculty and non-faculty—in public doctoral universities grew from 32,000 to 40,000; in private doctoral universities, personnel increased from below 20,000 to more than 22,000 (Figure 1-7). With increased funding, average expenditures per academic investigator rose from $160,000 to $220,000 per year (Figure 1-8). The sources of funding support also diversified, adding fuel to the questions and doubts about continued federal responsibility for academic research. While federal funding grew over the decade, non-federal funding grew even more dramatically. From 1978 to 1988, the federal share of academic research support declined from 66 percent to 60 percent (Figures 1-10 and 1-11). Among private doctoral universities, the federal share decreased from 75 percent to 73 percent, while among public doctoral universities, it dropped from 60 percent to 53 percent (Figures 1-12 and 1-13). In contrast to the decline in federal share, university-generated research funds grew from 12 percent to 18 percent.8 The most significant factor in this trend in university funding was the willingness of public universities—especially those aspiring institutions who were just beginning to develop a research base—to allocate their own resources to cover a significant share of the indirect costs associated with externally sponsored research.9 Industry also took a larger role, nearly doubling its slice of academic research funding from 3.7 percent to 6.5 percent. The industry support tends to be concentrated in certain research areas and certain institutions; in these instances, it is becoming an influential force. Although the over-all state government share of academic research funds held steady at 8 percent, several state governments dramatically increased their individual contributions to academic research.10 While much of this support focuses on applied research to meet the needs of local industries, it has the potential for developing future basic research capacity at scores of campuses where earlier it scarcely existed. The diversification in sources of research support reflected significant and fundamental changes that were occurring elsewhere in the research enterprise—the decentralization of scientific research from a small number of academic centers that dominated the enterprise before World War Two to a wider array of institutions, and, in the political arena, a sudden determination by civic leaders in many areas of the country to enhance the research capacity of local universities for economic development purposes. Premier research universities, of course, continued to dominate most fields of science, but infusions of state funds enabled aspiring public institutions to achieve real annual growth rates in research funds in excess of nearly 5.5 percent—higher than that of the top-20 research universities.11 While the academic research enterprise continued to expand, however, the number of students stabilized at about 2.7 million per year for public universities and 750,000 per year for private universities (Figure 1-17). The Ph.D. degrees granted in science and