Two atoms walk into a bar. The one says, 'I think I lost an electron.' The other says, 'Are you sure?' The other replies, 'I'm positive!'" 🙃🤓
As the current administration works to cut down on government spending, research dollars are on the chopping block. ✂️ Just how big of a deal is that for the Keystone State? Keep reading to find out!
Here’s Five Fast Facts on research funding in PA:
- 🐠 Funding Nemo - PA receives quite a bit of funding from both the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the National Science Foundation (NSF). When it comes to winning NIH federal research grants, PA’s fourth in the country. One year of NIH funding churns out over $5B in statewide economic activity and supports over 21K jobs.
- 🪓 Chop Shop - Each of PA’s 67 counties gets both NIH and NSF research funding. Cutting the cord on these dollars could result in multi-million dollar losses. Philadelphia County would lose $397M and Pittsburgh’s home county Allegheny would lose $259M.
- 🩺 Doctor In the House? - Overall, the U.S. could lose up to 68,000 jobs due to just NIH cuts. Critics of the cuts say the loss in funding could also cause a loss in medical, scientific, and technological discoveries and breakthroughs. For example, if a university’s funds get cut, it could lead to fewer students in their doctoral programs, which means fewer doctors and researchers in hospitals.
- 🧑🏫 Bookish Business - Higher education is PA’s fifth largest industry. Roughly 200,000 jobs in the state rely on support from the independent non-profit sector. And they rely heavily on federal dollars to keep things running. Thousands of other jobs are supported by state-owned schools, community colleges, and trade schools.
- 💡 Baby Einstein - Pennsylvania’s colleges bring in the second largest amount of out-of-state students in the nation. Additionally, the number of college grads moving into PA is on the rise (a 51% bump in 2023). Fun fact: 16% of all American Nobel Prize winners are linked to one of PA’s independent nonprofit institutions.
🔥Bottom line: While it’s good to trim the fat and stop wasteful spending, it also pays to make sure you leave the important stuff. After all, we don’t want our doctors using ChatGPT in the OR! Got a case of consumer gloom? Head to this article to find out how Americans are feeling about the economy.
How do you think federal research cuts will impact PA?
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