University profileKnoxville, TNFiscal year 2025
How much federal money does University of Tennessee (Knoxville) get?
University of Tennessee (Knoxville) received $179.7 million in federal awards in FY2025, 107th of 998 institutions (top 11%).In fiscal year 2025, federal agencies obligated $179.7 million to University of Tennessee (Knoxville) (Knoxville, TN), counting grants, contracts, loans and other awards.
Ranked 107th of 998 by federal awards
FY2025 federal awards, institutions ranked either side of University of Tennessee (Knoxville).
| California State University -Fullerton #104 · CA | $184M |
| University of South Carolina (Columbia) #105 · SC | $182M |
| Indiana University (Bloomington) #106 · IN | $181M |
| University of Tennessee (Knoxville) #107 · TN | $180M |
| Nevada System of Higher Education (Reno) #108 · NV | $179M |
| University of Nebraska (Lincoln) #109 · NE | $172M |
| Louisiana State University (Baton Rouge) #110 · LA | $171M |
What the money is
That is up 0.6% from FY2024 ($178.5 million). Compared with FY2019, the last year before pandemic relief, it is up 79.3%. The largest share came as grants ($133.7 million, 74.4%). The Department of Education was the biggest funder ($49.8 million). Its largest programs were Federal Pell Grant Program ($41.1 million); Office of Science Financial Assistance Program ($24.1 million); Basic Scientific Research ($14.7 million). It ranks 107th of the 998 institutions on this site by FY2025 total.
What is counted: awards made directly to this institution, under the registered names UNIVERSITY OF TENNESSEE (UEI FN2YCS2YAUW3, L54FLKJM2MN4, LXG4F9K8YZK5). 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
University of Tennessee (Knoxville): $180M in FY2025, up 79% 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 | $1.7M | $103.2M | $0 | $0 | $1.5M | $106.4M |
| FY2019 | $1.2M | $97.1M | $0 | $0 | $1.8M | $100.2M |
| FY2020 | $1.3M | $137.6M | $0 | $0 | $1.8M | $140.7M |
| FY2021 | $3.9M | $199.1M | $0 | $0 | $1.9M | $204.9M |
| FY2022 | $5.2M | $189.4M | $16.0M | $0 | $2.4M | $212.9M |
| FY2023 | $4.6M | $145.1M | $33.9M | $0 | $2.6M | $186.3M |
| FY2024 | $1.6M | $134.9M | $39.1M | $0 | $2.9M | $178.5M |
| FY2025 | $956,794 | $133.7M | $43.3M | $0 | $1.8M | $179.7M |
| FY2026* | $1.0M | $133.8M | $41.7M | $0 | $761,220 | $177.2M |
Source: USAspending.gov (U.S. Treasury).
Who pays and for what, FY2025
The agencies that obligated the most to University of Tennessee (Knoxville), 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 | $49.8 million | 27.7% |
| Department of Energy | $36.2 million | 20.1% |
| National Science Foundation | $27.7 million | 15.4% |
| Department of Defense | $24.2 million | 13.5% |
| Department of Agriculture | $18.4 million | 10.2% |
| Department of Health and Human Services | $13.1 million | 7.3% |
| Department of Transportation | $2.6 million | 1.5% |
| Department of the Interior | $2.2 million | 1.2% |
| Department of Commerce | $1.8 million | 1.0% |
| Appalachian Regional Commission | $1.6 million | 0.9% |
Top programs
| Program | FY2025 | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Federal Pell Grant Program Assistance Listing 84.063 | $41.1 million | 22.9% |
| Office of Science Financial Assistance Program Assistance Listing 81.049 | $24.1 million | 13.4% |
| Basic Scientific Research Assistance Listing 12.431 | $14.7 million | 8.2% |
| Defense Nuclear Nonproliferation Research Assistance Listing 81.113 | $9.8 million | 5.5% |
| Smith-Lever Extension Funding Assistance Listing 10.511 | $9.4 million | 5.2% |
| Mathematical and Physical Sciences Assistance Listing 47.049 | $9.2 million | 5.1% |
| Biomedical Research and Research Training Assistance Listing 93.859 | $6.9 million | 3.8% |
| Payments to Agricultural Experiment Stations Under the Hatch Act Assistance Listing 10.203 | $6.4 million | 3.6% |
| Basic and Applied Scientific Research Assistance Listing 12.300 | $6.2 million | 3.5% |
| Computer and Information Science and Engineering Assistance Listing 47.070 | $4.7 million | 2.6% |
Other institutions in Tennessee
- Vanderbilt University$218M
- Tennessee State University$74M
- 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 University of Tennessee receive?
- $179.7 million in fiscal year 2025, according to USAspending.gov award data for its registered UEI(s).
- Where does University of Tennessee's federal money come from?
- The largest funder in FY2025 was the Department of Education ($49.8 million, 27.7%). By type, grants were $133.7 million and contracts $956,794.
- Did University of Tennessee's federal funding go up or down?
- FY2025: $179.7 million; FY2024: $178.5 million (+0.6%).
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) 837e4ece-7fdf-a5c9-db11-1d4aaea94b68-C, 149f2192-6eec-f566-0562-c8d27bf4c486-C, 6b8bab16-0509-a83d-c16c-f4a854caea4d-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.