Communications of the ACM
.s. STEM Funding Still Reeling From Budget Cuts
The U.S. National Institutes of Health received a 6% budget hike in December, but other agencies and institutions that lost much-needed federal grants to sequestration may still be in need of similar support.
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Although the $1.5-trillion spending measure approved by the U.S. Congress in December will shore up the National Institutes of Health with a 6% budget hike, other agencies and higher education institutions that lost much-needed federal grants to sequestration may still be left wanting.
Some schools already have seen an erosion of opportunities for young researchers in the science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) fields as a result of earlier budget cuts. University officials are concerned these reductions could plunge the U.S. scientific community into an innovation deficit.
The Association of Public and Land-grant Universities' Jennifer Poulakidas warns other nations are outspending the U.S. in their research and development efforts. "We're behind, because we're not doing what we ought to be doing compared to our prior investments in science, research, and higher education," she says.
Ironically, the cuts in academic science funding are concurrent with the Obama administration's aggressive push for more STEM education investment, with the president urging universities to graduate 1 million more STEM majors than they do now.
Still, Poulakidas says the spending increase passed by Congress is a positive sign. "If we can continue along these lines, we'll be putting ourselves in a stronger position," she notes.
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