UM administrators, faculty and staff members continually work harder to ensure that academic quality is not sacrificed. The University set records in Fiscal Years 2001 and 2002 for attracting external funds to support undergraduate and graduate education and research. About two-thirds of the grant proposals submitted by faculty members earned funding approval, a rate nearly three times the national average. These awards came to the University because of the quality of the proposals, the track records for success of the faculty members who submit them, and the institutional support for their efforts. Because of grant volume increases each year, President Dennison has set the target for research funding at $70 million annually by 2006.