Colorado State Earns Record $244 Million in Research Funding

Colorado State University annual research expenditures totaled a record $244.3 million in fiscal year 2005, approximately $20 million more than the previous year and a 38 percent ($67.1 million) increase in research expenditures over the last four years.

"In this challenging economic environment, at a time when research funding is on the decline for many universities nationwide, Colorado State University continues to earn record gains in external research awards," said Larry Edward Penley, president of Colorado State University. "This is both a clear indication of the confidence that government agencies and private sector sponsors have in Colorado State to conduct vital national research and a strong testament to the quality research being conducted by our outstanding faculty, staff and students."

Federal expenditures comprised the majority (65 percent) of the sponsored expenditures and totaled $159 million. State, foundation, commercial and other non-federal expenditures made up more than $54 million (23 percent) of the total, with institutional support funds adding another $30.4 million (12 percent of the total).  

"Colorado State is one of the nation’s premier public research universities in terms of the amount of sponsored research awards earned, but even more so in terms of the beneficial impact our research has on people throughout the world," said Hank Gardner, interim vice president for research. "Increasing sponsored research funds allow Colorado State unparalleled opportunities to integrate discovery and scholarship into the classroom and improve education while also addressing important regional and national issues."

For the fifth consecutive year, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services was the largest source of external expenditures at Colorado State – largely because of the university’s focus on infectious disease and biomedical research initiatives – at nearly $43 million. The Department of Agriculture research expenditures totaled nearly $36 million, and the National Science Foundation totaled more than $21 million. Expenditures supported by the Department of Defense were nearly $12 million, NASA was almost $9.5 million and the Department of Energy expenditures totaled more than $6 million.

For a complete breakdown of funding, see the attached chart.

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