Academic Research and Development Expenditures in Selected Fields, Fiscal Year 2012

Another area of significant concern for many in the field is the disparity in financial support for research in the humanities compared to that of other fields. Expenditures on humanities research and development by the nation’s colleges and universities (funded by a variety of sources; see page 18 for details) were dwarfed by those on research in the sciences and engineering. In 2012, spending for humanities research equaled 0.55% of the amount dedicated to science and engineering (when all scientific fields are considered).

While comparatively quite small, the amount of funding for academic humanities research has increased in recent years. After adjusting for inflation, expenditures in 2012 (approximately $340.6 million) were 54.6% higher than in 2005.