University profileStanford, CAFiscal year 2025
How much federal money does Stanford University get?
Stanford University received $1.6 billion in federal awards in FY2025, 2nd of 998 institutions (top 1%).In fiscal year 2025, federal agencies obligated $1.6 billion to Stanford University (Stanford, CA), counting grants, contracts, loans and other awards.
Ranked 2nd of 998 by federal awards
FY2025 federal awards, institutions ranked either side of Stanford University.
| 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 |
| Johns Hopkins University #5 · MD | $1.2B |
What the money is
That is up 5.1% from FY2024 ($1.5 billion). Compared with FY2019, the last year before pandemic relief, it is up 31.4%. The largest share came as grants ($813.5 million, 50.3%). The Department of Energy was the biggest funder ($725.1 million). Its largest programs were Cardiovascular Diseases Research ($71.3 million); Biomedical Research and Research Training ($57.9 million); ADVANCED RESEARCH PROJECTS AGENCY for HEALTH (ARPA-H) ($45.9 million). It ranks 2nd of the 998 institutions on this site by FY2025 total.
What is counted: awards made directly to this institution, under the registered names THE LELAND STANFORD JUNIOR UNIVERSITY (UEI HJD6G4D6TJY5). 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
Stanford University: $1.6B in FY2025, up 31% 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 | $586.5M | $647.5M | $1.5M | $0 | $0 | $1.2B |
| FY2019 | $537.1M | $692.8M | $0 | $0 | $0 | $1.2B |
| FY2020 | $477.0M | $726.0M | $0 | $0 | $0 | $1.2B |
| FY2021 | $548.5M | $758.4M | $3.2M | $0 | $244,871 | $1.3B |
| FY2022 | $678.0M | $814.4M | $10.5M | $0 | $0 | $1.5B |
| FY2023 | $658.7M | $816.3M | $58.5M | $0 | $30,000 | $1.5B |
| FY2024 | $731.8M | $778.1M | $27.8M | $0 | $53,904 | $1.5B |
| FY2025 | $741.4M | $813.5M | $60.9M | $0 | $227,643 | $1.6B |
| FY2026* | $760.0M | $812.7M | $102.4M | $0 | $2.8M | $1.7B |
Source: USAspending.gov (U.S. Treasury).
Who pays and for what, FY2025
The agencies that obligated the most to Stanford 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 Energy | $725.1 million | 44.9% |
| Department of Health and Human Services | $692.8 million | 42.9% |
| National Science Foundation | $79.3 million | 4.9% |
| Department of Defense | $64.7 million | 4.0% |
| National Aeronautics and Space Administration | $18.9 million | 1.2% |
| Department of Education | $15.9 million | 1.0% |
| Department of Veterans Affairs | $11.2 million | 0.7% |
| Department of the Interior | $7.6 million | 0.5% |
| Department of Transportation | $400,000 | 0.0% |
| Department of Commerce | $149,999 | 0.0% |
Top programs
| Program | FY2025 | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Cardiovascular Diseases Research Assistance Listing 93.837 | $71.3 million | 4.4% |
| Biomedical Research and Research Training Assistance Listing 93.859 | $57.9 million | 3.6% |
| ADVANCED RESEARCH PROJECTS AGENCY for HEALTH (ARPA-H) Assistance Listing 93.384 | $45.9 million | 2.8% |
| Allergy and Infectious Diseases Research Assistance Listing 93.855 | $45.0 million | 2.8% |
| Aging Research Assistance Listing 93.866 | $42.7 million | 2.6% |
| Extramural Research Programs in the Neurosciences and Neurological Disorders Assistance Listing 93.853 | $42.1 million | 2.6% |
| STEM Education (formerly Education and Human Resources) Assistance Listing 47.076 | $40.7 million | 2.5% |
| Mental Health Research Grants Assistance Listing 93.242 | $39.2 million | 2.4% |
| Trans-NIH Research Support Assistance Listing 93.310 | $39.2 million | 2.4% |
| Diabetes, Digestive, and Kidney Diseases Extramural Research Assistance Listing 93.847 | $36.2 million | 2.2% |
Other institutions in California
- California Institute of Technology$2.6B
- 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 Stanford University receive?
- $1.6 billion in fiscal year 2025, according to USAspending.gov award data for its registered UEI(s).
- Where does Stanford University's federal money come from?
- The largest funder in FY2025 was the Department of Energy ($725.1 million, 44.9%). By type, grants were $813.5 million and contracts $741.4 million.
- Did Stanford University's federal funding go up or down?
- FY2025: $1.6 billion; FY2024: $1.5 billion (+5.1%).
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) 0c13d643-4334-38ed-1952-0db7e2ac5e56-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.