National Science Foundation ranks Academy's research program No. 1

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  • By U.S. Air Force Academy Public Affairs
The U.S. Air Force Academy was named the No. 1 funded undergraduate research program of U.S. colleges and universities, according to a recent survey by the National Science Foundation.

This is the eighth consecutive year the foundation has recognized the Academy.

The Academy moved up in the overall list of university expenditure rankings. The latest figures show the institution ranks 188th out of 645 schools -- undergraduate and graduate programs -- and above the U.S. Military and U.S. Naval academies, which ranked 313th and 316th, respectively.

The Academy ranked just below the Naval Post Graduate School, and higher than the Air Force Institute of Technology, the graduate studies program for the Air Force.

The ranking is slightly higher than in 2012, when the Academy ranked 194th, indicating that in financially constrained times, research funding for the Academy remains steady.

"The research programs at the Academy are producing results for the warfighter and our Defense Department customers," said Dr. Jim Solti, the Academy's chief scientist. "While funding levels are lower than five years ago, funding has been steady for the past two years."