Virginia Tech has reported research expenditures of $321.7 million to the National Science Foundation for fiscal year 2006, an 11 percent increase over 2005. That’s up from $289.99 million the previous year, which garnered Virginia Tech a 56th ranking among the 630 universities that conduct R&D in the United States.
We should all cheer to see the headway at Virginia Tech, Virginia’s largest research university. Of course, these rankings are like running on a treadmill — every other university is bidding furiously to increase their R&D expenditures and improve their rankings, too. Despite gains in R&D expenditures, Virginia Tech had actually fallen in the national rankings in recent years. Hopefully, an 11 percent gain will prove sufficient to move it up a couple of notches in the prestige sweepstakes.