The University of Oklahoma is a public research university in Norman, with a health campus in Oklahoma City, whose commercialization path runs through patents, corporate partnerships, and a technology office that has returned licensing income to campus for seven years running.
The University of Kentucky is a public research university in Lexington whose commercialization path runs through UK Innovate, with a patent ranking in the global top 100 and a licensing office that set campus records in fiscal year 2025.
The University of Georgia is a public land-grant research university in Athens whose commercialization path runs through agriculture, life sciences, and a technology office that has led U.S. universities in products brought to market.
Research and development expenditures reached $654 million in fiscal year 2025. The university passed $600 million for the first time in fiscal year 2024. Expenditures are up 74.7% since fiscal year 2015.
North Carolina State University is a public research university in Raleigh whose commercialization path runs through agriculture, engineering, and semiconductors, with a licensing office that already launches a new cohort of startups each year.
Research and development expenditures were more than $633 million in the last reported fiscal year, sixth among U.S. public institutions without a medical school. Sponsored research awards reached $517 million. The university ranked 60th worldwide for U.S. utility patents issued to universities.
The University of Tennessee, Knoxville is the flagship campus of the University of Tennessee System, and a public research university whose commercialization path runs through the University of Tennessee Research Foundation and a joint research relationship with Oak Ridge National Laboratory.
Mississippi State University is a public land-grant research university in Starkville whose commercialization path runs through agriculture, forestry, veterinary medicine, and engineering, with a technology office that has been licensing inventions since the 1990s.
Research expenditures were $320 million in fiscal year 2024, more than half of the research spending reported by Mississippi higher-education institutions that year.
The University of South Carolina is a public research university in Columbia whose commercialization path runs through health, engineering, energy, and advanced materials, with a technology office that has been protecting faculty inventions since 1987.
Oak Ridge National Laboratory is a Department of Energy national laboratory in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, managed by UT-Battelle for the Office of Science. Its commercialization path runs through energy, manufacturing, computing, and national security, with a partnerships office that licenses lab inventions to industry.
At the University of Mississippi, we’re transforming lives every day — by championing discovery, cultivating opportunity, and engaging positively with the world around us.
The University of Arkansas is one of the nation’s top public research universities. Our ideas, solutions and collaborations make communities and economies stronger. The opportunities and skills we provide make lives better. We envision a better world and we’re determined to build it.
