Texas A&M is ranked third among all non-medical schools in the nation for amount of money spent on research, behind the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and the University of California-Berkley, according to figures reported to the National Science Foundation.
Jason Sheehy, a sophomore visual studies major, considers such a ranking two things: an honor and an indicator.
“Firstly, I think it speaks well for our faculty that we can be included with big name schools like those,” Sheehy said. “Secondly, I think that it says that Texas A&M is headed upward in terms of academic quality, because better faculty equals better students.”
A&M’s research fund is near $582 million, the graduate program has over 8,500 students enrolled and features several degree programs that have also received national rankings.
Research at A&M and its affiliates is run by approximately 2,500 faculty members, many of which hold teaching responsibilities as well, and is spread out over about 2,500 sponsored projects. These projects include both fundamental projects and ones that have direct economic or societal benefits.
A&M has been sharply on the rise in terms of research expenditures with a jump of seven percent, or $38 million, from 2008.
Interim Vice President for Research Theresa A. Maldonado said these figures show that A&M is on a rise and is succeeding in areas where it is focusing resources.
“Our most recent research expenditures show Texas A&M University’s commitment to expanding knowledge and educating the next generation of research leaders,” Maldonado said.
“The Texas A&M research enterprise continues to grow as we expand our research expertise with the reinvestment hires, and also with an active group of outstanding researchers who have always been strong performers in terms of leveraging resources to increase funding at the federal level,” Maldonado said.
A&M was not founded as a research institution, sophomore political science major Bailey Rogers pointed out.
“I guess I am fairly surprised by this. A&M was originally founded as a land grant university, not a research university,” Rogers said. “This shows just how much progress the University has made in transitioning to a major research university.”
As more high rankings continue to stack up for A&M, the University is growing and expanding for the better in many areas and research is just one of them.
“It is an exciting time to be a part of Texas A&M research,” Maldonado said.