PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- Even as the University of Rhode Island has tripled its spending on research over the last 25 years, its standing among New England state universities has slipped, coming in last among the six state region's flagship campuses in 2010, the latest year for which national data is available.
In 1985, URI spent $28.2 million on research, according to the National Science Foundation. By 2010, that had climbed to $90.0 million.
But that was significantly behind regional leaders University of Connecticut, at $237.9 million, and University of Massachusetts-Worcester, at $232.0 million. Third on the list was UMass-Amherst, at $169.1 million.
URI trailed sixth-place University of Maine, which spent $111.3 million.
More: Explore more of our continuing special report on the economic recovery in the Ocean State: Reinvent Rhode Island