University profileSaint Louis, MOFiscal year 2025
How much federal money does Washington University get?
Washington University received $820.8 million in federal awards in FY2025, 13th of 998 institutions (top 1%).In fiscal year 2025, federal agencies obligated $820.8 million to Washington University (Saint Louis, MO), counting grants, contracts, loans and other awards.
Ranked 13th of 998 by federal awards
FY2025 federal awards, institutions ranked either side of Washington University.
| University of California, San Francisco #10 · CA | $934M |
| University of Pennsylvania #11 · PA | $889M |
| University of California, Los Angeles #12 · CA | $832M |
| Washington University #13 · MO | $821M |
| University of Pittsburgh #14 · PA | $817M |
| University of Texas at Austin #15 · TX | $800M |
| Yale University #16 · CT | $796M |
What the money is
That is down 0.6% from FY2024 ($825.8 million). Compared with FY2019, the last year before pandemic relief, it is up 39.9%. The largest share came as grants ($790.6 million, 96.3%). The Department of Health and Human Services was the biggest funder ($732.7 million). Its largest programs were Aging Research ($141.2 million); Allergy and Infectious Diseases Research ($95.6 million); Diabetes, Digestive, and Kidney Diseases Extramural Research ($50.2 million). It ranks 13th of the 998 institutions on this site by FY2025 total.
What is counted: awards made directly to this institution, under the registered names WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY, THE (UEI L6NFUM28LQM5). 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
Washington University: $821M in FY2025, up 40% 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 | $4.4M | $536.6M | $0 | $0 | $0 | $541.1M |
| FY2019 | $8.6M | $578.0M | $0 | $0 | $0 | $586.6M |
| FY2020 | $6.6M | $600.3M | $0 | $0 | $26,310 | $606.9M |
| FY2021 | $9.9M | $579.3M | $0 | $0 | $70 | $589.2M |
| FY2022 | $8.9M | $699.3M | $5.6M | $0 | $0 | $713.8M |
| FY2023 | $2.6M | $716.6M | $11.4M | $0 | $0 | $730.7M |
| FY2024 | $8.1M | $793.1M | $24.6M | $0 | $0 | $825.8M |
| FY2025 | $3.4M | $790.6M | $26.4M | $0 | $401,445 | $820.8M |
| FY2026* | $6.4M | $766.0M | $18.3M | $0 | $181,014 | $791.0M |
Source: USAspending.gov (U.S. Treasury).
Who pays and for what, FY2025
The agencies that obligated the most to Washington 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 | $732.7 million | 89.3% |
| National Science Foundation | $33.6 million | 4.1% |
| Department of Defense | $16.0 million | 2.0% |
| Department of Education | $15.9 million | 1.9% |
| National Aeronautics and Space Administration | $10.3 million | 1.3% |
| Department of the Interior | $7.9 million | 1.0% |
| Department of Energy | $3.1 million | 0.4% |
| Department of Housing and Urban Development | $999,978 | 0.1% |
| Department of the Treasury | $194,519 | 0.0% |
| Department of Veterans Affairs | $54,800 | 0.0% |
Top programs
| Program | FY2025 | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Aging Research Assistance Listing 93.866 | $141.2 million | 17.2% |
| Allergy and Infectious Diseases Research Assistance Listing 93.855 | $95.6 million | 11.6% |
| Diabetes, Digestive, and Kidney Diseases Extramural Research Assistance Listing 93.847 | $50.2 million | 6.1% |
| Cardiovascular Diseases Research Assistance Listing 93.837 | $50.2 million | 6.1% |
| Extramural Research Programs in the Neurosciences and Neurological Disorders Assistance Listing 93.853 | $47.0 million | 5.7% |
| Mental Health Research Grants Assistance Listing 93.242 | $42.3 million | 5.1% |
| Biomedical Research and Research Training Assistance Listing 93.859 | $37.2 million | 4.5% |
| Trans-NIH Research Support Assistance Listing 93.310 | $35.5 million | 4.3% |
| Drug Use and Addiction Research Programs Assistance Listing 93.279 | $26.6 million | 3.2% |
| Child Health and Human Development Extramural Research Assistance Listing 93.865 | $21.7 million | 2.6% |
Other institutions in Missouri
- University of Missouri System (Columbia)$258M
- Saint Louis University$36M
- Missouri State University$36M
- Junior College District of St Louis$30M
- Lincoln University (MO)$28M
- University of Missouri System (Rolla)$26M
- University of Missouri System (Saint Louis)$24M
- Southeast Missouri State University$18M
Questions and answers
- How much federal funding does Washington University receive?
- $820.8 million in fiscal year 2025, according to USAspending.gov award data for its registered UEI(s).
- Where does Washington University's federal money come from?
- The largest funder in FY2025 was the Department of Health and Human Services ($732.7 million, 89.3%). By type, grants were $790.6 million and contracts $3.4 million.
- Did Washington University's federal funding go up or down?
- FY2025: $820.8 million; FY2024: $825.8 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) e0af38c9-92a8-f2cb-a5b8-4b4f14f99689-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.