2/12/2026
In the latest rankings of the National Science Foundation’s Higher Education Research and Development (HERD) Survey, Pitt maintains a top 20 position among American institutions in overall research expenditures and in expenditures from federal funding. The HERD Survey is an annual census of U.S. colleges and universities that expended at least $150,000 in separately accounted-for research and development (R&D) in the fiscal year. The survey breaks down how universities spend their grant dollars to a very granular level, showing financial status year after year and comparison to peers. Understanding the landscape of R&D in higher education helps to inform policy and funding decisions.
Pitt’s total R&D expenditures in FY 2024 reached $1,504,665,000, a 7.6% increase in spending. Department of Defense spending increased 23 percent, pushing us into a top 20 position, and NASA expenditures increased 10 percent, reflecting institutional priorities in assistive technologies, military medicine and space research. Other notable rankings include
- #12 in expenditures from federal sources, with federal R&D expenditures funding totaling $967,978 million, a 5.6% increase from FY 2023
- #7 in spending from the Department of Health and Human Services funding, with total expenditures of $809 million
- #10 in biological and biomedical sciences and
- #8 in health sciences.