Federal funding of higher education research and development dropped for a third straight year, according to a survey from the National Science Foundation.
Funding from the federal government for fiscal year 2014 was $37.9 billion, down from $40.8 billion in fiscal year 2011. It is the longest multiyear decline in federal funding since the data has been collected in 1972.
Institutions have been making up for the drop in federal research investment from other funding sources including state and local governments, institutional funds, businesses and nonprofit organizations.