Drives Innovation and Discovery
Private, nonprofit colleges and universities have a long tradition of combining innovative research with education and service to prepare the next generation of scientists and global citizens that could not be easily replicated. Faculty at private, nonprofit colleges and universities are engaged in a wide array of research and scholarship on activities across academic disciplines, including environmental, biomedicine and healthcare, agriculture, engineering, artificial intelligence, technology transfer, race relations and information technology to name just a few. Private, nonprofit colleges and universities are a critically important part of the nation’s research and development ecosystem driving discovery and innovation.
External research awards received by private, nonprofit higher education in the U.S. from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the National Science Foundation (NSF) totaled over $10.7 billion in 2019. Research funding brings new dollars into college communities across America to create new jobs and spur entrepreneurial growth. Private, nonprofit college and university campuses that anchor college towns across the country are a great place to build a research enterprise and roll out start-up companies because they have the human capital, workforce and facilities nearby to realize the promise of commercialized research.
Private, nonprofit colleges and universities are identifying new technologies and discoveries to improve quality of life for the world. Each year, new patents are filed, start-up companies spun off and research disclosures are made. The research and related commercialization activities conducted at many private, nonprofit colleges and universities and their affiliated research parks and incubators help fuel the next wave of discovery and economic growth.