University profileDekalb, ILFiscal year 2025
How much federal money does Northern Illinois University get?
Northern Illinois University received $53.2 million in federal awards in FY2025, 274th of 998 institutions (top 27%).In fiscal year 2025, federal agencies obligated $53.2 million to Northern Illinois University (Dekalb, IL), counting grants, contracts, loans and other awards.
Ranked 274th of 998 by federal awards
FY2025 federal awards, institutions ranked either side of Northern Illinois University.
| Delgado Community College #271 · LA | $55M |
| Sistema Universitario Ana G Mendez #272 · PR | $54M |
| Middle Tennessee State University #273 · TN | $54M |
| Northern Illinois University #274 · IL | $53M |
| Texas A & M University System Health Science Center (College Station) #275 · TX | $53M |
| Clark Atlanta University #276 · GA | $52M |
| Illinois State University #277 · IL | $52M |
What the money is
That is down 0.5% from FY2024 ($53.5 million). Compared with FY2019, the last year before pandemic relief, it is up 694.1%. The largest share came as direct payments ($39.8 million, 74.8%). The Department of Education was the biggest funder ($43.3 million). Its largest programs were Federal Pell Grant Program ($37.8 million); Office of Science Financial Assistance Program ($2.4 million); Geosciences ($1.7 million). It ranks 274th of the 998 institutions on this site by FY2025 total.
What is counted: awards made directly to this institution, under the registered names NORTHERN ILLINOIS UNIVERSITY (UEI M2EEE68GGCY9). 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
Northern Illinois University: $53M in FY2025, up 694% 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 | $0 | $8.6M | $0 | $0 | $35,000 | $8.6M |
| FY2019 | $0 | $6.7M | $0 | $0 | -$8,612 | $6.7M |
| FY2020 | -$5,013 | $26.0M | $0 | $0 | $0 | $26.0M |
| FY2021 | $24,000 | $75.1M | $0 | $0 | $0 | $75.1M |
| FY2022 | $24,000 | $13.1M | $14.3M | $0 | $0 | $27.4M |
| FY2023 | $24,000 | $15.5M | $30.3M | $0 | $0 | $45.8M |
| FY2024 | $24,000 | $18.7M | $34.8M | $0 | $27,500 | $53.5M |
| FY2025 | $0 | $13.4M | $39.8M | $0 | $33,000 | $53.2M |
| FY2026* | $24,500 | $3.9M | $39.3M | $0 | $0 | $43.2M |
Source: USAspending.gov (U.S. Treasury).
Who pays and for what, FY2025
The agencies that obligated the most to Northern Illinois 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Department of Education | $43.3 million | 81.4% |
| National Science Foundation | $3.8 million | 7.1% |
| Department of Energy | $2.4 million | 4.5% |
| Department of Health and Human Services | $1.9 million | 3.5% |
| Department of Labor | $950,000 | 1.8% |
| Department of Agriculture | $533,000 | 1.0% |
| Federal Communications Commission | $204,582 | 0.4% |
| Department of the Interior | $128,623 | 0.2% |
| Department of Defense | $30,000 | 0.1% |
| Department of Commerce | $0 | 0.0% |
Top programs
| Program | FY2025 | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Federal Pell Grant Program Assistance Listing 84.063 | $37.8 million | 71.0% |
| Office of Science Financial Assistance Program Assistance Listing 81.049 | $2.4 million | 4.5% |
| Geosciences Assistance Listing 47.050 | $1.7 million | 3.2% |
| School Safely National Activities Assistance Listing 84.184 | $1.2 million | 2.3% |
| Special Education - Personnel Development to Improve Services and Results for Children with Disabilities Assistance Listing 84.325 | $1.0 million | 1.9% |
| Occupational Safety and Health Susan Harwood Training Grants Assistance Listing 17.502 | $950,000 | 1.8% |
| Federal Work-Study Program Assistance Listing 84.033 | $927,142 | 1.7% |
| Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grants Assistance Listing 84.007 | $836,864 | 1.6% |
| Child Care Access Means Parents in School Assistance Listing 84.335 | $715,642 | 1.3% |
| Biomedical Research and Research Training Assistance Listing 93.859 | $631,823 | 1.2% |
Other institutions in Illinois
- Northwestern University$582M
- University of Illinois (Urbana)$429M
- University of Chicago$426M
- University of Illinois (Chicago)$338M
- Illinois State University$52M
- Southern Illinois University (Edwardsville)$43M
- Depaul University$38M
- Southern Illinois University (Carbondale)$35M
Questions and answers
- How much federal funding does Northern Illinois University receive?
- $53.2 million in fiscal year 2025, according to USAspending.gov award data for its registered UEI(s).
- Where does Northern Illinois University's federal money come from?
- The largest funder in FY2025 was the Department of Education ($43.3 million, 81.4%). By type, grants were $13.4 million and contracts $0.
- Did Northern Illinois University's federal funding go up or down?
- FY2025: $53.2 million; FY2024: $53.5 million (-0.5%).
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) c3c0a534-6ceb-2bca-e94d-83742848871a-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.