| AAAS | American Association for the Advancement of Science |
| AACU | Association of American Colleges and Universities |
| AASCU | American Association of State Colleges and Universities |
| ACI | American Competitive Initiative |
| ACS | American Community Survey |
| ACT | American College Test |
| ADAMHA | Alcohol, Drug Abuse, and Mental Health Administration |
| ADP | American Diploma Project |
| AFT | American Federation of Teachers |
| AIA | Aerospace Industries Association |
| AID | Agency for International Development |
| AP | Advanced Placement |
| AP/IB | Advanced Placement/International Baccalaureate |
| APL | Applied Physics Laboratory |
| ATP | Advanced Technology Program |
| AUTM | Association of University Technology Managers |
| BEA | Bureau of Economic Analysis |
| BHEF | Business-Higher Education Forum |
| BLS | Bureau of Labor Statistics |
| CAMR | Coalition for the Advancement of Medical Research |
| CATI-MERIT | Cooperative Agreements and Technology Indicators database-Maastricht Economic Research Institute on Innovation and Technology |
| CENIC | Corporation for Education Network Initiatives in California |
| CGS | Council of Graduate Schools |
| CIA | Central Intelligence Agency |
| CPI | Consumer Price Index |
| CPS | Current Population Survey |
| CRADA | cooperative research and development agreement |
| CREATE | Cooperative Research and Technology Enhancement Act of 2004 |
| DARPA | Defense Advanced Research Project Agency |
| DHS | Department of Homeland Security |
| DNA | deoxyribonucleic acid |
| DOC | Department of Commerce |
| DOD | Department of Defense |
| DOE | Department of Energy |
| DOI | Department of the Interior |
| DOJ | Department of Justice |
| DOL | Department of Labor |
| DOT | Department of Transportation |
| EC | European Community |
| ECLS | Early Childhood Longitudinal Study |
| ED | Department of Education |
| EDP | electronic data processing |
| EICC | EPSCoR Interagency Coordinating Committee |
| ELS | Education Longitudinal Study |
| EPA | Environmental Protection Agency |
| EPO | European Patent Office |
| EPSCoR | Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research |
| Esnet | DOE’s Energy Sciences Network |
| ETS | Educational Testing Service |
| EU | European Union |
| FAA | Federal Aviation Administration |
| FASB | Financial Accounting Standards Board |
| FDA | Food and Drug Administraton |
| FDI | foreign direct investment |
| FDIUS | Survey of Foreign Direct Investment in the United States |
| FFRDC | federally funded research and development center |
| FY | fiscal year |
| G-7 | Group of Seven |
| G-8 | Group of Eight |
| GAO | Government Accountability Office |
| GDP | gross domestic product |
| GE | General Electric Company |
| GED | General Equivalency Diploma |
| GGDC | Groningen Growth and Development Centre |
| GM | genetically modified |
| GSS | General Social Survey |
| GUF | general university fund |
| HHS | Department of Health and Human Services |
| HSARPA | Homeland Security Advanced Research Project Agency |
| ICT | information and communications technologies |
| IIE | Institute of International Education |
| IMLS | Institute for Museum and Library Services |
| IOF | involuntarily out of the field |
| IP | intellectual property |
| IRI | Industrial Research Institute |
| IRS | Internal Revenue Service |
| ISCED | International Standard Classification of Education |
| ISIC | International Standard Industrial Classification |
| IT | information technology |
| JPO | Japan Patent Office |
| JV | joint ventures |
| MER | market exchange rate |
| MNC | multinational corporation |
| MOFA | majority-owned foreign affiliate |
| MOU | memorandum of understanding |
| MREN | Metropolitan Research and Education Network |
| NACE | National Association of Colleges and Employers |
| NAE | National Academy of Engineering |
| NAEP | National Assessment of Educational Progress |
| NAFTA | North American Free Trade Agreement |
| NAGB | National Assessment Governing Board |
| NAICS | North American Industry Classification System |
| NAPA | National Academy of Public Administration |
| NAS | National Academy of Sciences |
| NASA | National Aeronautics and Space Administration |
| NASF | net assignable square feet |
| NCES | National Center for Education Statistics |
| NCLB | The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 |
| NCTAF | National Commission on Teaching and America’s Future |
| NCTM | National Council of Teachers of Mathematics |
| NGA | National Governors Association |
| NIH | National Institutes of Health |
| NIOEM | National Industry-Occupation Employment Matrix |
| NIST | National Institute for Standards and Technology |
| NITRD | Networking and Information Technology Research and Development |
| NNI | National Nanotechnology Initiative |
| NORC | National Opinion Research Center |
| NRC | National Research Council |
| NREN | NASA’s Research and Engineering Network |
| NS&E | natural sciences and engineering |
| NSB | National Science Board |
| NSCG | National Survey of College Graduates |
| NSDL | National Science Digital Library |
| NSF | National Science Foundation |
| NSRCG | National Survey of Recent College Graduates |
| NYSERNet | New York State Education and Research Network |
| OECD | Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development |
| OES | Occupational Employment Statistics |
| OMB | Office of Management and Budget |
| OPEC | Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries |
| OSTP | Office of Science and Technology Policy |
| OWH | other Western Hemisphere |
| PC | productive capacity |
| PhRMA | Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America |
| PI | principal investigator |
| PISA | Program for International Student Assessment |
| PLTW | Project Lead The Way |
| PPP | purchasing power parity |
| PUMS | Public Use Microdata Sample |
| R&D | research and development |
| R&E | research and experimentation |
| RA | research assistantship |
| RDD | random direct dialing |
| RDT | research, development, and testing |
| S&E | science and engineering |
| S&T | science and technology |
| SA | single applicant |
| SAS | Service Annual Survey |
| SASS | Schools and Staffing Survey |
| SBIR | Small Business Innovation Research |
| SCANS | Secretary’s Commission on Achieving Necessary Skills |
| SCI | Science Citation Index |
| SciSIP | Science of Science and Innovation Policy |
| SDR | Survey of Doctorate Recipients |
| SE | socioeconomic infrastructure |
| SESTAT | Scientists and Engineers Statistical Data System |
| SIC | Standard Industrial Classification |
| SNA | System of National Accounts |
| SSCI | Social Sciences Citation Index |
| STEM | science, technology, engineering, and mathematics |
| STTR | Small Business Technology Transfer |
| TA | teaching assistant |
| TCB | The Conference Board |
| TI | technological infrastructure |
| TIMSS | Trends in International Mathematics and Sciences Study |
| U&C | universities and colleges |
| UK | United Kingdom |
| UNESCO | United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization |
| USCCB | United States Conference of Catholic Bishops |
| USDA | Department of Agriculture |
| USDIA | Survey of U.S. Direct Investment Abroad |
| USPTO | U.S. Patent and Trademark Office |
| USSR | Union of Soviet Socialist Republics |
| VA | Department of Veterans Affairs |
| VCU | Virginia Commonwealth University |
| WebCASPAR | Integrated Science and Engineering Resources Data System |
| WIPO | World Intellectual Property Organization |
