Business, Higher Education R&D and Innovation Surveys
From the National Science Foundation Higher Education Research and Development Survey, FY 2011 Universities reported that 4.9%, or $3.2 billion, of their $65 billion total in research and development expenditures in FY 2011 was funded by businesses, according to the National Science Foundation’s (NSF’s) Higher Education Research and Development (HERD) Survey. This percentage has remained very stable since the late 1970s (between 5% and 7% of total R&D expenditures) Funds Spent for Business R&D Performed in the United States: 2011 Companies spent $294 billion on research and development performed in the United States during 2011, compared with $279 billion during 2010 (table 1). Funding from the companies’ own sources was $222 billion during 2010 and $239 billion during 2011; funding from other sources was $57 billion in 2010 and $55 billion in 2011.