utah state university is classified by the carnegie foundation for the advancement of teaching as a research university with "high research activity." the national science foundation ranked usu 115 in the nation and 2 in utah for research and development expenditures having recorded $164.8 million in 2014. as of 2016, usu received more than $240 million is research support. in addition to its faculty and graduate work, the university strongly emphasizes the importance of undergraduate research. usu's undergraduate research program was founded in 1975 making it the second program of its kind in the nation with massachusetts institute of technology founding the first.