Taulbee Survey 2025: Annual Report

Computing Research Association

Research Expenditures

Summary

  • Median research expenditures surged in 2025. Across the 57†-unit US longitudinal cohort, the median rose from $6.6M† in 2020 to $10.0M† in 2025, a +50.6%† five-year increase. The 2024–25 jump (+16.1%†) was the single largest year-over-year increase in the window, following near-stagnation in 2024. (Figure R1.a).
  • R1 units had higher research expenditures than R2 units in 2025. Among all 2025 respondents, R1 CS units report a median of $11.6M vs $3.0M at R2 CS units, which is roughly a 4x gap (Table R1.h, Table R1.i).
  • Median expenditures rise as tenure-track faculty size increases. Median expenditures climb from $3.25M (1-25 TT) to $10.8M (26-50 TT) to $20.6M (51-75) to $25.3M (75+) (Table R1.j, Table R1.k, Table R1.l), Table R1.m).

How to interpret the data in this section. Charts that show a trend over time are based on a longitudinal cohort of 57 units that reported research expenditure data in every year from 2020 to 2025. Statistics drawn from these longitudinal cohorts are flagged with a dagger (†). This is a change from prior years, when trends were reported as the combined totals of all responding units. Most tables describe only the most recent year (2025) reflecting all responding units for that year. See the section titled Section Cohort at the bottom of this section for how the cohort compares to the full sample. Dollar amounts are not adjusted for inflation for the purposes of this report.

Across the 57†-unit US longitudinal cohort, the median jumped from $8.6M† in 2024 to $10.0M† in 2025, which is a +16.1%† increase from last year, greater than the +1.5%† change between 2023 and 2024. The 90th-percentile line in Figure R1.a is the clearest indicator that the 2025 jump is driven by the upper tail, as it rose from $28.5M† to $45.5M† in a single year while the 10th and 25th percentiles stayed almost flat at $2-5M†. Table R1.a (all 93 responding US units in 2025) shows a similar 2025 distribution: median $9.2M, 75th percentile $16.4M, 90th percentile $36.8M.

Table R1.a: Total Expenditures from External Sources for Computing Research (2025)
Unit Type Num. Units 10% 25% 50% 75% 90%
CS 83 1,839,319 3,293,018 9,560,000 16,161,820 31,783,709
CE 2 - - - - -
IN 8 - 4,646,717 6,618,286 15,526,425 -
Total 93 1,981,077 3,604,149 9,200,000 16,368,641 36,832,183
Table R1.b: Total Expenditures from External Sources for Computing Research at CS Units (2025)
Unit Type Num. Units 10% 25% 50% 75% 90%
CS 83 1,839,319 3,293,018 9,560,000 16,161,820 31,783,709
Total 83 1,839,319 3,293,018 9,560,000 16,161,820 31,783,709

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Table R1.d: Total Expenditures from External Sources for Computing Research at IN Units (2025)
Unit Type Num. Units 10% 25% 50% 75% 90%
IN 8 - 4,646,717 6,618,286 15,526,425 -
Total 8 - 4,646,717 6,618,286 15,526,425 -

Table R1.e reports a 2025 median of CA$5.3M across the five responding Canadian units; percentile statistics are masked because the sample is below the thresholds for the interquartile range and the 10th/90th percentiles, respectively. All values are in Canadian dollars.

Table R1.e: Total Expenditures from External Sources for Computing Research at Canadian Units (2025)
Unit Type Num. Units 10% 25% 50% 75% 90%
CA 5 - - 5,348,246 - -
Total 5 - - 5,348,246 - -
Table R1.f: Total Expenditures from External Sources for Computing Research at Public Units (2025)
Unit Type Num. Units 10% 25% 50% 75% 90%
CS 62 2,175,936 3,502,172 9,726,990 17,741,166 28,388,087
CE 1 - - - - -
IN 6 - - 7,715,623 - -
CA 5 - - 5,348,246 - -
Total 74 2,074,050 3,963,221 9,545,363 17,741,166 34,761,192
Table R1.g: Total Expenditures from External Sources for Computing Research at Private Units (2025)
Unit Type Num. Units 10% 25% 50% 75% 90%
CS 21 1,733,414 2,327,993 7,913,969 15,048,431 41,000,000
CE 1 - - - - -
IN 2 - - - - -
Total 24 1,748,073 3,078,078 7,244,238 14,406,108 36,266,077

R1 institutions accounted for the bulk of computing research spending in 2025. Among the 79 R1 respondents in 2025, the median is $11.4M and the 75th percentile is $20.8M (Table R1.h).

Table R1.h: Total Expenditures from External Sources for Computing Research at R1 Units (2025)
Unit Type Num. Units 10% 25% 50% 75% 90%
CS 70 2,184,615 4,887,141 11,582,899 20,194,616 41,462,002
CE 2 - - - - -
IN 7 - 4,454,295 7,102,473 22,724,078 -
Total 79 2,437,140 4,719,570 11,398,652 20,763,596 41,889,366

R2 institutions operated at a markedly smaller scale. The 11 R2 respondents in 2025 reported a median of $3.4M, with a 90th percentile of $7.9M, which was below the R1 cohort’s median (Table R1.i). R1 CS unit medians were nearly 4x greater than R2 CS unit medians ($11.6M vs $3.0M), a separation larger than any other classification cut in this section.

Table R1.i: Total Expenditures from External Sources for Computing Research at R2 Units (2025)
Unit Type Num. Units 10% 25% 50% 75% 90%
CS 10 1,778,319 1,847,401 3,036,850 7,003,678 8,121,445
IN 1 - - - - -
Total 11 1,782,277 1,887,812 3,385,701 6,868,452 7,913,969

The smallest units report the smallest research budgets, as expected. Among 25 responding units with 1-25 tenure-track faculty, the 2025 median is $3.25M and the 90th percentile is $6.24M, meaning even the top 10% of small units stay below most R1 medians (Table R1.j).

Table R1.j: Total Expenditures from External Sources for Computing Research (TT Faculty Size 1-25) (2025)
Unit Type Num. Units 10% 25% 50% 75% 90%
CS 23 1,755,552 2,108,274 2,688,000 4,449,066 6,409,318
IN 2 - - - - -
Total 25 1,768,412 2,185,700 3,250,000 4,600,000 6,244,129

The 26-50 bucket is where research expenditures step up sharply. Across 43 responding US units, the 2025 median is $10.84M, roughly three times the 1-25 median. The 90th percentile reaches $27.0M (Table R1.k).

Table R1.k: Total Expenditures from External Sources for Computing Research (TT Faculty Size 26-50) (2025)
Unit Type Num. Units 10% 25% 50% 75% 90%
CS 38 2,799,515 6,967,992 11,119,013 14,273,000 20,647,205
IN 5 - - 7,102,473 - -
Total 43 3,130,923 6,860,169 10,839,375 14,497,542 26,995,670
Table R1.l: Total Expenditures from External Sources for Computing Research (TT Faculty Size 51-75) (2025)
Unit Type Num. Units 10% 25% 50% 75% 90%
CS 15 4,990,262 15,120,436 21,924,374 36,586,196 50,508,087
CE 2 - - - - -
IN 1 - - - - -
Total 18 5,833,797 13,105,139 20,642,492 33,650,634 49,389,152

The largest units (75+ TT faculty) are few but report by far the highest absolute expenditures. Among the seven 2025 US respondents, which are all CS units, the median is $25.4M and the 75th percentile reaches $86.6M (Table R1.m, TT 75+).

Table R1.m: Total Expenditures from External Sources for Computing Research (TT Faculty Size 75+) (2025)
Unit Type Num. Units 10% 25% 50% 75% 90%
CS 7 - 17,604,492 25,377,242 86,647,983 -
Total 7 - 17,604,492 25,377,242 86,647,983 -

Section Cohort

Trend analyses in this section use a longitudinal cohort of 57 units that reported research expenditures data in every survey year from 2020 to 2025. The table below compares the composition of this cohort to the full sample for the most recent year so readers can judge representativeness. Individual figures may have additional missingness for specific variables within this cohort; each figure’s footnote reports how many cohort units contributed.

Table R0: Units Included in the Research Expenditures Section Cohort (2025)
Section Cohort
Full Sample (2025)
N % N %
All Units 57 100.0% 141 100.0%
Control
Public 44 77.2% 104 73.8%
Private 13 22.8% 37 26.2%
Unit Type
CS 51 89.5% 120 85.1%
CE 0 0.0% 2 1.4%
IN 6 10.5% 11 7.8%
CA 0 0.0% 8 5.7%
Carnegie Classification
R1 51 91.1% 109 82.6%
R2 5 8.9% 21 15.9%
M1 0 0.0% 1 0.8%
D/PU 0 0.0% 1 0.8%
Unit Size
1-25 5 8.8% 23 16.3%
26-75 30 52.6% 75 53.2%
76-100 10 17.5% 22 15.6%
>100 12 21.1% 21 14.9%
Locale
City 42 73.7% 103 77.4%
Suburb 13 22.8% 24 18.0%
Town 2 3.5% 6 4.5%