The New Higher Education “Arms Race”

National Institutes of Health announced an IDC rate cap of 15 percent for new and existing federal research grants.

If this policy takes effect as announced, revenue flowing to research universities and research institutions could decline by as much as $4 billion annually .

Some in Congress complained that such a funding reduction would harm medical research, jeopardizing future cures and treatments.

Jane Johnson : Success in receiving federal research grants will earn institutions the vaunted research designation in the Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education .

Johnson : This status makes these institutions more competitive applicants for the largest available federal and private research grants, and enhances their ability to recruit and retain top students and faculty.

She says the higher ed establishment and the federal government are mutually dependent on one another.