It seems to be a race to the top regarding research expenditures across the country, and Penn State is no exception. Penn State’s research spending in the 2017-2018 fiscal year reached $927 million from a culmination of funders including the federal government, alumni, the state, and sources within the university.

This number stands as a record high, an increase of $28 million from the previous year. Neil Sharkey, the Penn State’s vice president for research, said more than 20 percent of this total is used toward maintaining existing facilities and investing in new ones in order to further the university’s research innovations.

There’s a lot to be proud of here, but it’s also important to step back to look at our peer institutions’ spending on their research. For example, the University of Michigan reached $1.48 billion (yes, that’s with a “b”) in its previous fiscal year toward research expenditures alone.

Neighboring universities, like Rutgers and Penn, have hit funding numbers that Penn State can still aspire to reach. With more than $1.2 billion going toward research, Rutgers stands ahead of us on the funding side — but let’s not forget their inability to surpass us at Beaver Stadium…

Penn, which is currently ranked third place in the nation in research expenditures, reached $1.3 billion in its most recent data collection.

Before you begin to feel less-than in comparison to these fellow top-ranked research universities, the important matter at hand is that Penn State has surpassed Ohio State, which reached $864.3 million for research in the most recent fiscal year. No matter what happens Saturday, at least we have that victory under our belts already.

Along the same line, Pitt reported $764.5 million for their research funds. Weak.

While each university has its own means of allocating funds for specific research grounds, $927 million in research funding should continue to build Penn State’s reputation as a premier research university. And such a significant expenditure increase can only mean more fancy science buildings going up around campus.