Illinois' universities net record levels of research funding

ASEE FirstBell (May 7) -- In February, the Chicago Tribune reported that “despite spending cuts and sequestration in recent years, Illinois’ universities are capturing record levels of funding for basic, applied, and development research in science and engineering.” Illinois remains the eighth-ranked state for $300 million spent on university research and the combined research expenditure of Argonne and Fermi national labs exceeded $1 billion in 2013. The combined research expenditures of Illinois’ three largest research universities—the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and Chicago, Northwestern University, and the University of Chicago—account for more than three-quarters of all academic R&D expenditures.