The COVID-19 crisis has highlighted how important great research institutions are to America’s well-being and economic future.
The nation’s universities are at the forefront of the fight against the novel coronavirus, ramping up research at a pace unseen since World War II.
Universities conduct most of America’s basic scientific research — to the tune of about $75 billion a year — and private-sector R&D often relies on discoveries made at these schools. Countless products we take for granted today, from cancer and antiviral drugs to seatbelts, Global Positioning System technology and the Google search engine, originated at research universities.
America needs our great research universities to be as successful as possible in driving innovation, particularly during these challenging times. They will play a key role in combatting the pandemic and other pressing challenges as well as sustaining U.S. competitiveness.
That’s why the public sector should step up its funding for university research and the institutions themselves should focus on maximizing the impact of research dollars.
But how do we best measure success and hold our great institutions accountable for the billions of dollars in taxpayer money they receive?
The George W. Bush Institute and Opus Faveo Innovation Development just released first-of-their-kind rankings measuring the impact of university-led innovation.
We found that state systems like the Universities of California, Texas, Washington, Michigan and Minnesota — as well as a handful of powerhouse private universities like the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Stanford University, Columbia University and Johns Hopkins University — lead the pack when it comes to innovation. But there’s a disconnect when it comes to productivity.
Ranking the universities by productivity — those who best turn research investment into innovation — puts the University of Florida at the top of the list of large universities. Drexel University ranked highest in our midsize group, and Brigham Young University was the leader among smaller institutions.
Our study shows that larger universities, measured by research spending, are actually less productive than smaller ones in turning research dollars into innovation.
Universities in bigger metro areas tend to be more productive than those in smaller cities. And institutions in locations with a high immigrant population tend to have an outsized impact — consistent with evidence that immigrants are twice as likely as native-born U.S. citizens to file a patent application or start a successful technology company.
The potential payoff from successful research investment is huge.
Universities launch more than a thousand startups a year. Since 1980, patents issued to U.S. universities have risen more than fourfold, reinforcing American competitiveness in the world economy.
In addition to making specific discoveries, research institutions train our innovators. Major U.S. research universities produce more than 450,000 graduates in science-related fields each year, about 10 percent of the young people entering the workforce.
They include engineers, scientists, teachers and doctors working to make our lives safer, more prosperous and happier. Universities also have an irreplaceable role to play in creating more inclusive opportunities for upward mobility for young Americans, particularly Black and Hispanic students.
And cities with research-intensive universities experience greater business innovation, job creation and income growth than other cities.
But America’s research universities currently face large challenges.
The COVID-19 crisis will impose severe pressure on research budgets. Even before the pandemic, the United States trailed most of the industrialized world in research spending, ranking 28th among the 30 Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) nations in government funding of university research as a share of GDP in 2018.
Despite the many other claims on public-sector dollars, Washington should step up its commitment to university-led innovation, both to fuel economic recovery as the crisis recedes and to ensure America’s long-term competitiveness and growth. It would be a historic mistake for Congress to cut funding for basic research further.
At the same time, leading universities should renew their focus on turning this investment into innovation that addresses the pressing needs of our time.
Our study shows that the universities most successful in generating high-impact innovation tend to prioritize research, empower great researchers, engage with surrounding business communities, build outcomes-focused technology-transfer operations and sustain the culture of open inquiry that’s made U.S. universities the world’s best.
Most of America’s largest universities would benefit from more intentional strategies to instill cultures of innovation and entrepreneurship. Smaller institutions in most cases could significantly achieve more bang for the buck, even if they can’t double their research budgets.
And America can accelerate economic growth by boosting its investment in basic research, increasing access to higher education for more Americans, and re-engaging in the worldwide competition for human talent — including for high-skilled immigrants.
The COVID-19 crisis will change America’s economy in lasting ways. The path to a robust recovery and a more prosperous, inclusive future depends, as it has in the past, on higher education and innovation.
The impact of America’s great research universities is immense, and our research shows that it can be larger still.
We owe it to ourselves to make the most of them.
