University profileBoston, MAFiscal year 2025
How much federal money does Northeastern University get?
Northeastern University received $149.0 million in federal awards in FY2025, 127th of 998 institutions (top 13%).In fiscal year 2025, federal agencies obligated $149.0 million to Northeastern University (Boston, MA), counting grants, contracts, loans and other awards.
Ranked 127th of 998 by federal awards
FY2025 federal awards, institutions ranked either side of Northeastern University.
| Strayer University, LLC #124 · VA | $150M |
| Temple University #125 · PA | $149M |
| Wayne State University #126 · MI | $149M |
| Northeastern University #127 · MA | $149M |
| University of Alabama #128 · AL | $149M |
| University of Texas at San Antonio #129 · TX | $147M |
| Texas State University #130 · TX | $144M |
What the money is
That is down 18.3% from FY2024 ($182.3 million). Compared with FY2019, the last year before pandemic relief, it is up 29.5%. The largest share came as grants ($112.0 million, 75.1%). The National Science Foundation was the biggest funder ($47.5 million). Its largest programs were Federal Pell Grant Program ($29.3 million); Computer and Information Science and Engineering ($21.4 million); Engineering ($7.5 million). It ranks 127th of the 998 institutions on this site by FY2025 total.
What is counted: awards made directly to this institution, under the registered names NORTHEASTERN UNIVERSITY (UEI HLTMVS2JZBS6). 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
Northeastern University: $149M in FY2025, up 30% 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 | $2.6M | $108.3M | $634,035 | $0 | $0 | $111.6M |
| FY2019 | $4.9M | $110.1M | $0 | $0 | $0 | $115.0M |
| FY2020 | $4.8M | $110.9M | $0 | $0 | $0 | $115.7M |
| FY2021 | $5.2M | $170.8M | $323,037 | $0 | $0 | $176.3M |
| FY2022 | $4.8M | $128.2M | $10.1M | $0 | $0 | $143.0M |
| FY2023 | $4.8M | $164.1M | $26.2M | $0 | $0 | $195.1M |
| FY2024 | $1.8M | $148.8M | $31.7M | $0 | $0 | $182.3M |
| FY2025 | $548,221 | $112.0M | $36.3M | $0 | $178,896 | $149.0M |
| FY2026* | $1.1M | $105.6M | $38.5M | $0 | $660,000 | $145.9M |
Source: USAspending.gov (U.S. Treasury).
Who pays and for what, FY2025
The agencies that obligated the most to Northeastern University, 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 Science Foundation | $47.5 million | 31.8% |
| Department of Health and Human Services | $46.4 million | 31.1% |
| Department of Education | $38.9 million | 26.1% |
| Department of Defense | $10.0 million | 6.7% |
| National Aeronautics and Space Administration | $2.3 million | 1.6% |
| Department of Energy | $1.4 million | 0.9% |
| National Endowment for the Humanities | $838,357 | 0.6% |
| Department of Commerce | $695,445 | 0.5% |
| Department of the Interior | $525,000 | 0.4% |
| Department of Justice | $375,297 | 0.3% |
Top programs
| Program | FY2025 | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Federal Pell Grant Program Assistance Listing 84.063 | $29.3 million | 19.6% |
| Computer and Information Science and Engineering Assistance Listing 47.070 | $21.4 million | 14.4% |
| Engineering Assistance Listing 47.041 | $7.5 million | 5.1% |
| Biomedical Research and Research Training Assistance Listing 93.859 | $7.3 million | 4.9% |
| Aging Research Assistance Listing 93.866 | $6.2 million | 4.1% |
| Basic and Applied Scientific Research Assistance Listing 12.300 | $4.4 million | 2.9% |
| Mathematical and Physical Sciences Assistance Listing 47.049 | $4.3 million | 2.9% |
| Trans-NIH Research Support Assistance Listing 93.310 | $4.0 million | 2.7% |
| STEM Education (formerly Education and Human Resources) Assistance Listing 47.076 | $4.0 million | 2.7% |
| Federal Work-Study Program Assistance Listing 84.033 | $4.0 million | 2.7% |
Other institutions in Massachusetts
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology (Lexington)$1.4B
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology (Cambridge)$443M
- Boston University$420M
- University of Massachusetts Medical School$276M
- Harvard University (Cambridge)$254M
- University of Massachusetts (Amherst)$165M
- Harvard University (Boston)$156M
- Tufts College (Boston)$117M
Questions and answers
- How much federal funding does Northeastern University receive?
- $149.0 million in fiscal year 2025, according to USAspending.gov award data for its registered UEI(s).
- Where does Northeastern University's federal money come from?
- The largest funder in FY2025 was the National Science Foundation ($47.5 million, 31.8%). By type, grants were $112.0 million and contracts $548,221.
- Did Northeastern University's federal funding go up or down?
- FY2025: $149.0 million; FY2024: $182.3 million (-18.3%).
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) 4787a47d-4e7a-9c8a-99e6-91ba7f4c9b8b-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.