University profilePasadena, CAFiscal year 2025
How much federal money does California Institute of Technology get?
California Institute of Technology received $2.6 billion in federal awards in FY2025, 1st of 998 institutions (top 1%).In fiscal year 2025, federal agencies obligated $2.6 billion to California Institute of Technology (Pasadena, CA), counting grants, contracts, loans and other awards.
Ranked 1st of 998 by federal awards
FY2025 federal awards, institutions ranked either side of California Institute of Technology.
| California Institute of Technology #1 · CA | $2.6B |
| Stanford University #2 · CA | $1.6B |
| Massachusetts Institute of Technology (Lexington) #3 · MA | $1.4B |
| University of California (Oakland) #4 · CA | $1.3B |
What the money is
That is up 6.2% from FY2024 ($2.4 billion). Compared with FY2019, the last year before pandemic relief, it is down 8.9%. The largest share came as contracts ($2.4 billion, 91.5%). The National Aeronautics and Space Administration was the biggest funder ($2.4 billion). Its largest programs were Mathematical and Physical Sciences ($66.1 million); Science ($30.8 million); Trans-NIH Research Support ($16.2 million). It ranks 1st of the 998 institutions on this site by FY2025 total.
91% of the FY2025 total is contracts rather than grants. Universities that run large research laboratories or centers for a federal agency usually show this pattern.
What is counted: awards made directly to this institution, under the registered names CALIFORNIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY (UEI U2JMKHNS5TG4, YC1YP79BFD19). Money that reaches it as a subaward through another organization is not included. Separately incorporated foundations, hospitals and laboratories have their own records and are not added in. Grouping rules are explained in the methodology.
Federal awards by year
California Institute of Technology: $2.6B in FY2025, down 9% on FY2019
Federal award obligations by fiscal year and type, FY2018–FY2026, nominal dollars. FY26* is preliminary and still filling in.
- Insurance and other
- Loans (subsidy cost)
- Direct payments
- Grants
- Contracts
View every year as a table
| Fiscal year | Contracts | Grants | Direct payments | Loans | Insurance and other | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FY2018 | $2.7B | $228.3M | $0 | $0 | $0 | $2.9B |
| FY2019 | $2.6B | $261.3M | $0 | $0 | $0 | $2.8B |
| FY2020 | $2.6B | $220.3M | $0 | $0 | $0 | $2.8B |
| FY2021 | $2.3B | $231.8M | $0 | $0 | $0 | $2.5B |
| FY2022 | $2.6B | $208.0M | $8,579 | $0 | $0 | $2.8B |
| FY2023 | $2.8B | $197.3M | $1.5M | $0 | $0 | $3.0B |
| FY2024 | $2.2B | $205.3M | $1.7M | $0 | $202,829 | $2.4B |
| FY2025 | $2.4B | $218.4M | $2.1M | $0 | $448,338 | $2.6B |
| FY2026* | $2.2B | $198.8M | $1.8M | $0 | $2.8M | $2.4B |
Source: USAspending.gov (U.S. Treasury).
Who pays and for what, FY2025
The agencies that obligated the most to California Institute of Technology, and the largest federal programs. Programs are federal Assistance Listings (formerly CFDA numbers); contracts have no listing number, so they do not appear there.
Top awarding agencies
| Agency | FY2025 | Share |
|---|---|---|
| National Aeronautics and Space Administration | $2.4 billion | 92.3% |
| National Science Foundation | $86.8 million | 3.4% |
| Department of Health and Human Services | $70.1 million | 2.7% |
| Department of Defense | $22.5 million | 0.9% |
| Department of Energy | $10.6 million | 0.4% |
| Department of the Interior | $6.2 million | 0.2% |
| Department of Education | $2.1 million | 0.1% |
| Department of Agriculture | $272,025 | 0.0% |
| Department of Commerce | $152,725 | 0.0% |
Top programs
| Program | FY2025 | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Mathematical and Physical Sciences Assistance Listing 47.049 | $66.1 million | 2.6% |
| Science Assistance Listing 43.001 | $30.8 million | 1.2% |
| Trans-NIH Research Support Assistance Listing 93.310 | $16.2 million | 0.6% |
| Office of Science Financial Assistance Program Assistance Listing 81.049 | $10.6 million | 0.4% |
| Biomedical Research and Research Training Assistance Listing 93.859 | $9.6 million | 0.4% |
| STEM Education (formerly Education and Human Resources) Assistance Listing 47.076 | $8.7 million | 0.3% |
| Mental Health Research Grants Assistance Listing 93.242 | $6.6 million | 0.3% |
| Allergy and Infectious Diseases Research Assistance Listing 93.855 | $6.5 million | 0.3% |
| Basic and Applied Scientific Research Assistance Listing 12.300 | $6.3 million | 0.2% |
| Human Genome Research Assistance Listing 93.172 | $6.0 million | 0.2% |
Other institutions in California
- Stanford University$1.6B
- University of California (Oakland)$1.3B
- University of California, San Diego$1.1B
- University of California, San Francisco$934M
- University of California, Los Angeles$832M
- University of Southern California$549M
- University of California, Davis$532M
- University of California (Berkeley)$510M
Questions and answers
- How much federal funding does California Institute of Technology receive?
- $2.6 billion in fiscal year 2025, according to USAspending.gov award data for its registered UEI(s).
- Where does California Institute of Technology's federal money come from?
- The largest funder in FY2025 was the National Aeronautics and Space Administration ($2.4 billion, 92.3%). By type, grants were $218.4 million and contracts $2.4 billion.
- Did California Institute of Technology's federal funding go up or down?
- FY2025: $2.6 billion; FY2024: $2.4 billion (+6.2%).
Sources and notes
- USAspending.gov (U.S. Department of the Treasury), API endpoints spending_over_time and spending_by_category, filtered by recipient ID(s) 6e76fa33-2d96-c636-941c-bca1997db076-C, 74bac010-0a24-8f82-8021-0fa16ab4bc6d-C, fiscal years 2018–2026. Amounts are obligations in nominal dollars. Data retrieved 2026-10-04. Public domain.
- How the figures are built, and what they leave out: sources and methods.