Iowa State University and the University of Iowa collectively topped $1 billion in external funding in the past fiscal year, according to data released today by the state schools. 

Iowa State attracted $469 million of total external funding for the fiscal year ending June 30. The figure, a 7.9% decrease from fiscal year 2018’s record total of $509.2 million, is the third-highest total external funding reported by Iowa State, following records in each of the past two fiscal years. 

ISU’s fiscal year 2019 total includes a record $260.9 million of external support for Iowa State research, a 6.2% jump over the previous fiscal year’s $245.8 million. The previous record for research funding was $252.5 million during fiscal year 2016. 

“These figures indicate that as a top land-grant university, Iowa State excels at leveraging state resources to attract external support for academic, research and creative activities,” ISU President Wendy Wintersteen said in a release. “Record research funding helps place our faculty at the forefront of innovative discoveries and economic opportunities that make our state more competitive and improve lives in Iowa and beyond.”

Grants and other funding that supports University of Iowa research and scholarships reached an all-time high in fiscal 2019, UI officials announced today. Total external funding to UI increased 6%, or $34.8 million, to an unprecedented $588.8 million.

Marty Scholtz, vice president for research at UI, credited the increases in U.S. Department of Defense and National Science Foundation support to ongoing efforts by the university to diversify its research portfolio beyond funding from the National Institutes of Health. Funding from the NIH totaled $171.6 million in fiscal 2019, representing the majority of overall research funding.

“Our faculty and staff are some of the hardest-working people in academic research and scholarship,” Scholtz said in a release. “Their success in spite of these challenging economic times is a testament to their dedication, vision, and hard work.”

The FY19 funding data does not include a $115 million award from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration to Iowa physicist Craig Kletzing, the single largest externally funded research project in UI history. The university anticipates it will receive some of that funding in FY20 and will include it in that year’s year-end report.