The Higher Education Research and Development Survey, successor to the Survey of Research and Development Expenditures at Universities and Colleges, is the primary source of information on R&D expenditures at U.S. colleges and universities. The survey collects information on R&D expenditures by field of research and source of funds and also gathers information on types of research and expenses and headcounts of R&D personnel. The survey is an annual census of institutions that expended at least $150,000 in separately budgeted R&D in the fiscal year.
The survey’s predecessor, the Survey of R&D Expenditures at Universities and Colleges, was conducted annually from FY 1972 through FY 2009 and collected information on R&D expenditures by academic field as well as by source of funds. The survey was revised in 2010 and renamed the Higher Education Research and Development Survey. Although the HERD Survey continues to capture core information on R&D expenditures by source of funding and field to retain the historical time series, it has been expanded to include more detail.
The survey was revised to include R&D within non-science and engineering (non-S&E) fields in the totals reported throughout the survey. Previously, non-S&E R&D was reported but not included in the overall totals. The scope of R&D was also broadened to include expenditures on clinical trials and research training grants.
