University profileEvanston, ILFiscal year 2025
How much federal money does Northwestern University get?
Northwestern University received $581.6 million in federal awards in FY2025, 27th of 998 institutions (top 3%).In fiscal year 2025, federal agencies obligated $581.6 million to Northwestern University (Evanston, IL), counting grants, contracts, loans and other awards.
Ranked 27th of 998 by federal awards
FY2025 federal awards, institutions ranked either side of Northwestern University.
| University of Minnesota #24 · MN | $653M |
| Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai #25 · NY | $606M |
| Ohio State University #26 · OH | $586M |
| Northwestern University #27 · IL | $582M |
| University of Florida #28 · FL | $559M |
| University of Southern California #29 · CA | $549M |
| University of California, Davis #30 · CA | $532M |
What the money is
That is down 4.7% from FY2024 ($610.4 million). Compared with FY2019, the last year before pandemic relief, it is up 12.4%. The largest share came as grants ($551.1 million, 94.7%). The Department of Health and Human Services was the biggest funder ($444.2 million). Its largest programs were Cardiovascular Diseases Research ($62.1 million); Aging Research ($47.3 million); Allergy and Infectious Diseases Research ($42.9 million). It ranks 27th of the 998 institutions on this site by FY2025 total.
What is counted: awards made directly to this institution, under the registered names NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY (UEI EXZVPWZBLUE8, KG76WYENL5K1). 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
Northwestern University: $582M in FY2025, up 12% 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 | $9.7M | $464.2M | $12.0M | $0 | $0 | $485.9M |
| FY2019 | $11.1M | $506.2M | $38,430 | $0 | $0 | $517.3M |
| FY2020 | $14.2M | $541.0M | $0 | $0 | $0 | $555.3M |
| FY2021 | $13.0M | $567.8M | $10.7M | $0 | $0 | $591.5M |
| FY2022 | $13.4M | $561.6M | $15.9M | $0 | $0 | $591.0M |
| FY2023 | $11.5M | $606.6M | $17.0M | $0 | $0 | $635.2M |
| FY2024 | $8.9M | $582.9M | $18.6M | $0 | $0 | $610.4M |
| FY2025 | $7.7M | $551.1M | $22.4M | $0 | $443,847 | $581.6M |
| FY2026* | $9.0M | $526.6M | $14.9M | $0 | $550,000 | $551.2M |
Source: USAspending.gov (U.S. Treasury).
Who pays and for what, FY2025
The agencies that obligated the most to Northwestern 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 Health and Human Services | $444.2 million | 76.4% |
| National Science Foundation | $76.1 million | 13.1% |
| Department of Education | $20.4 million | 3.5% |
| Department of Defense | $19.4 million | 3.3% |
| Department of Energy | $18.0 million | 3.1% |
| National Aeronautics and Space Administration | $1.7 million | 0.3% |
| Department of Commerce | $730,261 | 0.1% |
| Department of the Interior | $514,055 | 0.1% |
| Department of Veterans Affairs | $295,224 | 0.1% |
| Department of Agriculture | $273,071 | 0.0% |
Top programs
| Program | FY2025 | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Cardiovascular Diseases Research Assistance Listing 93.837 | $62.1 million | 10.7% |
| Aging Research Assistance Listing 93.866 | $47.3 million | 8.1% |
| Allergy and Infectious Diseases Research Assistance Listing 93.855 | $42.9 million | 7.4% |
| Extramural Research Programs in the Neurosciences and Neurological Disorders Assistance Listing 93.853 | $36.1 million | 6.2% |
| Diabetes, Digestive, and Kidney Diseases Extramural Research Assistance Listing 93.847 | $27.9 million | 4.8% |
| Cancer Treatment Research Assistance Listing 93.395 | $24.4 million | 4.2% |
| Biomedical Research and Research Training Assistance Listing 93.859 | $23.4 million | 4.0% |
| Mental Health Research Grants Assistance Listing 93.242 | $21.8 million | 3.7% |
| Trans-NIH Research Support Assistance Listing 93.310 | $20.2 million | 3.5% |
| Office of Science Financial Assistance Program Assistance Listing 81.049 | $18.0 million | 3.1% |
Other institutions in Illinois
- University of Illinois (Urbana)$429M
- University of Chicago$426M
- University of Illinois (Chicago)$338M
- Northern Illinois University$53M
- 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 Northwestern University receive?
- $581.6 million in fiscal year 2025, according to USAspending.gov award data for its registered UEI(s).
- Where does Northwestern University's federal money come from?
- The largest funder in FY2025 was the Department of Health and Human Services ($444.2 million, 76.4%). By type, grants were $551.1 million and contracts $7.7 million.
- Did Northwestern University's federal funding go up or down?
- FY2025: $581.6 million; FY2024: $610.4 million (-4.7%).
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) 89c1b286-4842-cf79-9563-7ec2e987f771-C, b0be845a-babe-8a5d-2f4b-002e5eff7fcd-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.