University profileNashville, TNFiscal year 2025
How much federal money does Tennessee State University get?
Tennessee State University received $74.1 million in federal awards in FY2025, 215th of 998 institutions (top 22%).In fiscal year 2025, federal agencies obligated $74.1 million to Tennessee State University (Nashville, TN), counting grants, contracts, loans and other awards.
Ranked 215th of 998 by federal awards
FY2025 federal awards, institutions ranked either side of Tennessee State University.
| New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology #212 · NM | $74M |
| San Diego State University Foundation #213 · CA | $74M |
| Texas A & M University at Galveston #214 · TX | $74M |
| Tennessee State University #215 · TN | $74M |
| Sam Houston State University #216 · TX | $74M |
| Portland State University #217 · OR | $74M |
| Syracuse University #218 · NY | $74M |
What the money is
That is down 15.2% from FY2024 ($87.4 million). Compared with FY2019, the last year before pandemic relief, it is up 91.8%. The largest share came as grants ($53.5 million, 72.2%). The Department of Education was the biggest funder ($42.2 million). Its largest programs were Higher Education Institutional Aid ($21.0 million); Federal Pell Grant Program ($18.8 million); Payments to 1890 Land-Grant Colleges and Tuskegee University ($5.4 million). It ranks 215th of the 998 institutions on this site by FY2025 total.
What is counted: awards made directly to this institution, under the registered names TENNESSEE STATE UNIVERSITY, UNIVERSITY OF TENNESSEE (UEI K9N2F8E39JH3, N63ZMY7UETA3). 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
Tennessee State University: $74M in FY2025, up 92% 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 | $35.0M | $0 | $0 | $268,791 | $35.3M |
| FY2019 | $0 | $38.4M | $0 | $0 | $205,041 | $38.7M |
| FY2020 | $0 | $74.7M | $0 | $0 | $174,496 | $74.9M |
| FY2021 | $0 | $138.2M | $0 | $0 | $75,648 | $138.2M |
| FY2022 | $128,506 | $51.3M | $6.2M | $0 | $165,286 | $57.8M |
| FY2023 | $123,820 | $72.2M | $23.7M | $0 | $557,927 | $96.6M |
| FY2024 | $123,820 | $65.0M | $21.5M | $0 | $711,675 | $87.4M |
| FY2025 | $123,819 | $53.5M | $20.4M | $0 | $73,277 | $74.1M |
| FY2026* | $0 | $42.4M | $18.3M | $0 | $38,591 | $60.7M |
Source: USAspending.gov (U.S. Treasury).
Who pays and for what, FY2025
The agencies that obligated the most to Tennessee State 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 | $42.2 million | 57.0% |
| Department of Agriculture | $14.4 million | 19.4% |
| Department of Health and Human Services | $7.2 million | 9.7% |
| National Science Foundation | $4.5 million | 6.1% |
| Department of Commerce | $2.4 million | 3.3% |
| Department of Defense | $1.8 million | 2.4% |
| Department of Energy | $1.1 million | 1.5% |
| Small Business Administration | $350,675 | 0.5% |
| Department of Transportation | $167,527 | 0.2% |
| National Aeronautics and Space Administration | $0 | 0.0% |
Top programs
| Program | FY2025 | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Higher Education Institutional Aid Assistance Listing 84.031 | $21.0 million | 28.3% |
| Federal Pell Grant Program Assistance Listing 84.063 | $18.8 million | 25.4% |
| Payments to 1890 Land-Grant Colleges and Tuskegee University Assistance Listing 10.205 | $5.4 million | 7.3% |
| Head Start Assistance Listing 93.600 | $4.9 million | 6.6% |
| Extension Services at 1890 Colleges and Tuskegee University, West Virginia State College, and Central State University Assistance Listing 10.512 | $4.5 million | 6.0% |
| Manufacturing Extension Partnership Assistance Listing 11.611 | $2.4 million | 3.3% |
| Integrative Activities Assistance Listing 47.083 | $2.1 million | 2.8% |
| STEM Education (formerly Education and Human Resources) Assistance Listing 47.076 | $2.0 million | 2.6% |
| Centers of Excellence at 1890 Institutions Assistance Listing 10.523 | $1.9 million | 2.6% |
| Cooperative Extension Service Assistance Listing 10.500 | $1.2 million | 1.6% |
Other institutions in Tennessee
- Vanderbilt University$218M
- University of Tennessee (Knoxville)$180M
- University of Memphis$69M
- University of Tennessee (Memphis)$58M
- Meharry Medical College$56M
- Middle Tennessee State University$54M
- East Tennessee State University$51M
- Tennessee Technological University$41M
Questions and answers
- How much federal funding does Tennessee State University receive?
- $74.1 million in fiscal year 2025, according to USAspending.gov award data for its registered UEI(s).
- Where does Tennessee State University's federal money come from?
- The largest funder in FY2025 was the Department of Education ($42.2 million, 57.0%). By type, grants were $53.5 million and contracts $123,819.
- Did Tennessee State University's federal funding go up or down?
- FY2025: $74.1 million; FY2024: $87.4 million (-15.2%).
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) bff0560d-a36f-af14-4e1b-7c8b5e67f162-C, d744d5ae-52c5-788a-85db-690602dfe96a-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.