Chapter 5: Science & Engineering Indicators 93
An Update on Congressional Earmarking to Universities and Colleges
Science & Engineering Indicators - 1991 (NSB 1991) discussed several aspects of academic earmarking-the congressional
practice of providing federal funds to educational institutions for research facilities or projects without merit-based peer review. The significant increases reported then in both the number of earmarked projects and the amount of money
directed toward them are still continuing. (See text table 5-2.)
In his introduction to the recent report "Academic Earmarks: An Interim Report by the Chairman of the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology" (Committee on Science, Space, and Technology 1993), Congressman George
E. Brown, Jr. (D-CA), states that
"I believe that the rational, fair, and equitable allocation and oversight of funds in support of the Nation's research and development enterprise is threatened by the continued increase in academic earmarks. To put it colloquially, a little may
be okay, but too much is too much."
As text table 5-2 shows, the number of academic earmarks has increased from a negligible level in the early 1980s to hundreds of earmarks in the past few years; the dollar amount of these earmarks has increased from the tens to the hundreds of
millions.
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