U.S. increases research funding, student aid

Recent legislative action in Washington, D.C., bodes well for researchers and students at UW–Madison.

Legislation passed last month by Congress and signed by President Clinton provides for sizeable increases in appropriations for the agencies that provide most of the university’s federal research funding.

The National Institutes of Health, part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, will receive a 14 percent increase in funding for fiscal year 2001. The National Science Foundation will get a 13.3 percent increase in funding for the next fiscal year, the largest increase ever for that agency. The departments of Defense and Energy will also get double-digit percentage increases in funding.

Combined, those four agencies provided 82 percent of the university’s $331.9 million in federal awards during the 1999-2000 academic year.

Because of the competitive peer review process required for federal grant applications, the total amount of federal research funding UW–Madison will receive this coming year won’t be known until the end of the year.

Nevertheless, “it’s predictable that we will do quite well, and we typically get a similar but increasing share of federal research funding each year,” says Rhonda Norsetter, special assistant to the chancellor for federal relations.

Student aid will also get a big boost in federal funding this year, especially the Pell Grant, the largest federal aid program.

Among various policy changes enacted by Congress at the end of last year, Norsetter singles out as positive the exemption for colleges and universities from the cap on certain types of visas for foreign workers. Institutions of higher education had difficulty obtaining the amount of H-1B visas needed for teachers and researchers because of the timing of the academic year. This action will allow colleges and universities to hire skilled workers more easily, Norsetter notes.

2000-2001 Operating Budget Source of Revenues

Source: UW–Madison Office of Budget, Planing and Analysis

2000-2001 REVENUE (by source)
	Source	Total support ($)
a) 24	Federal	$367 million
b) 18	Gifts	$271 million
c) 17	Auxiliaries	$267 million
d) 21	General program GPR	$311 million
e) 6	Specific Purpose GPR	$88 million
f) 14	Student fees	$207 million