Should I drop my NSF fellowship at an R2 for a Master’s at an R1 institution?

I’ve been strongly considering dropping out of my PhD program. I’m incredibly fortunate to have an NSF fellowship and this affiliation is the primary reason why I’m still enrolled. I started my PhD program with multiple first-author papers as an undergrad and while I was working in a national lab after graduation. My primary desire for pursuing a PhD was to gain additional momentum in research, and to obtain the credentials to apply for federal research grants. However, I’m discovering that it’s been very difficult to spend time on research in my PhD program. My advisor only calls me to update the lab website and social media accounts, and attend outreach events to potential Master’s students. When I talk about publishing research, my lab mates and advisor think I’m joking, which has been shocking to me because I thought pursuing research was fundamentally the primary objective of entering a PhD program.

I’ve realized that at my R2 institution it’s quite rare for professors to have research grants, and my institution is deeply in debt — they are looking for someone to purchase the university.

I wouldn’t mind being “on call” for research projects and publication deadlines, but I only get called for social media requests. I am not pursuing a career in social media. I want to study automated vulnerability analysis, to be frank I do not have a passion for marketing. I kind of wish I didn’t leave my national lab job, because the PhD experience has been so demoralizing. Last fall I sent out a round of transfer applications, and I thought I would be competitive with a 4.0, multiple 1st-author pubs, national lab experience, and a NSF fellowship, but so far I’ve been accepted into a Master’s program at an R1 institution - that would have to be self funded, I cannot use my fellowship there.