While some lawmakers say the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act isn’t helping to boost the economy as fast as they hoped, University and Ann Arbor officials say the stimulus funds greatly benefited campus and the city during Michigan’s economic downturn.

According to ProPublica, the federal government awarded Washtenaw County approximately $533 million in federal stimulus funds. Of that amount, University schools and departments got $296 million to be used for research, equipment and construction.

According to an October 2010 document provided by the University’s Office of the Vice President for Research, LSA received approximately $22 million in federal stimulus funds since Congress and President Barack Obama’s administration enacted the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act in February 2009.

LSA Dean of Budget James Penner-Hahn wrote in an e-mail interview that the majority of federal stimulus funds LSA received came from the National Science Foundation and the National Institutes of Health.

The stimulus money allowed LSA to hire more undergraduate and graduate students to conduct research, according to Penner-Hahn.

“These funds also supported the purchase of equipment, which has improved our research capabilities and thus indirectly impacted our students,” he wrote.

He added that the process to get funding from LSA is very competitive and most funds were granted for new faculty projects based on applications submitted by faculty members.

However, some funds were given to projects that were already in place, Penner-Hahn explained.

In 2009 and 2010, the College of Engineering was awarded six grants that totaled $50 million in federal stimulus funds, said Jon Kinsey, director of government and foundations relations for the College of Engineering.

The funds that the College of Engineering received came from the Department of Energy, the National Science Foundation and the National Institutes of Health.

Kinsey said the college used the stimulus funds to study alternative energy, climate change, education, health and nanotechnology projects.

In addition, the Energy Frontier Research Center received $19.5 million in April 2009. The center, which is housed in the College of Engineering, is devoted to researching new materials to more efficiently convert solar energy to electricity, Kinsey explained.

“Students benefit in many ways including the funding of graduate students, (the) use (of) new equipment purchased through the funds, new curriculum and participation in the research itself,” Kinsey said.

Martin Philbert, who will become dean of the School of Public Health on Jan. 1, said the stimulus funds allocated to the University have impacted students in his school in a variety of ways.

“Many of our students are engaged in research as part of their degree requirements or as part of a broader educational opportunity to gain relevant field experience,” he said. “Research programs funded by federal stimulus dollars have enabled the engagement and retention of a larger number of students that might not have been possible without the (stimulus funds).”

According the University’s Office of the Vice President for Research, the School of Public Health received approximately $40 million in federal stimulus funds, primarily through the NIH.

A Feb. 1, 2010 press release from the School of Public Health stated that the school received $17 million for diabetes research that focuses on people who are predisposed to the disease.

The Institute for Social Research was also awarded significant funding through the stimulus. According to ISR Director James Jackson, the ISR received $47.5 million in grants and contracts from the NSF. He added that $14.8 million of the total amount is being used to build a fourth wing on Division Street for the ISR.

The remainder of the money for ISF is going toward research.