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The article presents charts and explanations on how members of the 99th United States House of Representatives voted on eight major higher education issues in 1986. The issues voted on were 1987 appropriations, research institutes, tax reform, deductions for charitable contributions, Higher Education Act, spending increases, 1986 appropriations and deficit reduction.

The article reports on findings by the United States General Accounting Office on foreign financing of research and development at American universities in the 1980s. Foreign sources include nonprofits and governments. Foreign financing account for one percent of the total research funds received by 107 universities in 1986. The top five recipients of foreign support were Texas A&M University, Harvard University, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Oregon State University and the University of Wisconsin.

The article discusses Johns Hopkins University's extension of its fund-raising campaign and the increase of its goal. The university hopes to raise $3.2 billion by 2008 although it surpassed its original goal of $2 billion in 2005 (two years before the campaign was originally supposed to end). Other large institutions like Columbia, Cornell and Stanford Universities, are also in the midst of large fund-raising campaigns but Johns Hopkins officials downplay allegations of an "arms race" style competition among them.

The article presents charts and explanations on how senators of the 99th United States Congress voted on eight major higher education issues in 1986. The issues voted on were 1987 appropriations, research institutes, tax reform, deductions for charitable contributions, Higher Education Act, spending increases, 1986 appropriations and deficit reduction.

The article reports that the U.S. Congress has approved a federal program that would address the funding for the repair of research buildings. The program is expected to receive $85 million in funding which is below the total amount needed by college officials to modernize campus facilities. Meanwhile, researchers are concerned that the U.S government will use the money allotted for their studies to fund the renovation of research facilities.

The article reports on the concern of some faculty members at Stanford University that completion of a $250 million science and engineering complex could dramatically raise the overhead cost of research and jeopardize researchers' chances of winning enough federal money to support their work. Fears that some researchers may decide to take jobs at institutions that charge lower rates were expressed. The situation at Stanford exemplifies the dilemma confronting many research institutions as they try to manage the costs of modernizing their research facilities.

The article reports that in September 2006, a U.S. House of Representatives committee approved a bill that would set budget ceilings for the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and authorize the reorganization of its structure, the first such legislation in more than a decade. There is no counterpart bill in the Senate. To help eliminate gaps in the agency's portfolio of research, the bill would set up a "common fund," eventually amounting to 5 percent of the agency's total budget, to finance projects involving more than one NIH institute. Advocacy organizations for universities and researchers decided that supporting the bill was preferable to continuing to live with a flat NIH budget.

The article reports on the plan of Hungary to spend more than $100 million in an effort to improve the quality of basic research in university departments and institutes of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences. The plan is in contrast with the previous policy of the country which focused its support on applied and industry-related research.

The article presents information on grants and gifts given by private foundations to various universities in the United States in 1986. The Amoco Foundation gave funds to the University of Missouri for geology field training. Honeywell Inc. gave funds to Howard University for engineering programs. AT&T Foundation gave funds to Lehigh University for engineering programs.

The article reports that Great Britain's secretary of Medical Research Council, James Gowan has informed university research centers that they will face reductions of as much as 25 percent in their 1985 budgets. Gowan told university vice chancellors that the number of students receiving council grants will be reduced by about 30 percent. He added that the total amount of all grants would decline by $2.5 million.

Reports on the efforts of the U.S. Congress to channel federal appropriations for university projects. Addition of fund to a fiscal 1984 education appropriations bill; Allocation of money for the National Institute of Handicapped Research; Inclusion of fund for the construction of an advanced technology center at the University of New Hampshire.

The article reports that biotechnology company Genentech established a foundation to support biotechnology research at universities and non-profit research institutions. Genentech plans to donate royalties from licenses under several patents issued to it. It is slated to give at least $1 million to the foundation spread over its first four years of existence.

The article reports that the California Institute of Technology has received $40 million from the Arnold and Mabel Beckman Foundation for the establishment of a center on interdisciplinary research in biology and chemistry. Arnold O. Beckman, president of the foundation, received his doctorate degree from the university in 1928 and taught there until 1940. He was also chairman of the board of trustees from 1964 to 1974.