Where My Taxes Go

University profileHouston, TXFiscal year 2025

How much federal money does William Marsh Rice University get?

William Marsh Rice University received $128.3 million in federal awards in FY2025, 152nd of 998 institutions (top 15%).In fiscal year 2025, federal agencies obligated $128.3 million to William Marsh Rice University (Houston, TX), counting grants, contracts, loans and other awards.

FY2025 total
$128M
$128.3 million
Grants
$112M
87% of total
Contracts
$681K
1% of total
Rank
152nd
of 998 institutions

Ranked 152nd of 998 by federal awards

FY2025 federal awards, institutions ranked either side of William Marsh Rice University.

University of Connecticut (Storrs) #149 · CT$129M
Kansas State University #150 · KS$129M
California State University Long Beach #151 · CA$129M
William Marsh Rice University #152 · TX$128M
University of Texas at El Paso #153 · TX$126M
University of Vermont & State Agricultural College #154 · VT$126M
University of North Texas #155 · TX$126M

What the money is

That is up 12.5% from FY2024 ($114.1 million). Compared with FY2019, the last year before pandemic relief, it is up 51.5%. The largest share came as grants ($111.8 million, 87.1%). The National Science Foundation was the biggest funder ($55.5 million). Its largest programs were ADVANCED RESEARCH PROJECTS AGENCY for HEALTH (ARPA-H) ($17.9 million); STEM Education (formerly Education and Human Resources) ($16.6 million); Biological Sciences ($11.1 million). It ranks 152nd of the 998 institutions on this site by FY2025 total.

What is counted: awards made directly to this institution, under the registered names WILLIAM MARSH RICE UNIVERSITY (UEI K51LECU1G8N3). 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

William Marsh Rice University: $128M in FY2025, up 52% 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
$0$50M$100M$150MFY18FY19FY20FY21FY22FY23FY24FY25FY26*$128M$0$50M$100M$150M'18'19'20'21'22'23'24'25'26*$128M
View every year as a table
Fiscal yearContractsGrantsDirect paymentsLoansInsurance and otherTotal
FY2018$687,089$77.9M$0$0$0$78.6M
FY2019$3.8M$80.9M$0$0$0$84.7M
FY2020$890,534$81.7M$0$0$0$82.6M
FY2021$6.5M$101.1M$0$0$0$107.6M
FY2022$3.5M$87.0M$2.0M$0$0$92.4M
FY2023$1.7M$121.5M$5.2M$0$362,221$128.7M
FY2024$458,244$106.8M$6.8M$0$0$114.1M
FY2025$681,191$111.8M$15.8M$0$0$128.3M
FY2026*$1.2M$118.2M$16.0M$0$1.0M$136.4M

B = billion, M = million. Loans are the subsidy cost the government records. * FY2026 (October 2025 to September 2026) is preliminary: agencies keep reporting after the year ends, and Department of Defense contract data is published with a 90-day delay. Negative amounts are net de-obligations (money taken back from earlier awards).

Source: USAspending.gov (U.S. Treasury).

Who pays and for what, FY2025

The agencies that obligated the most to William Marsh Rice 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

AgencyFY2025Share
National Science Foundation$55.5 million43.3%
Department of Health and Human Services$39.7 million30.9%
Department of Defense$15.2 million11.9%
Department of Energy$7.3 million5.7%
Department of Education$7.2 million5.6%
National Aeronautics and Space Administration$2.7 million2.1%
Department of Agriculture$649,7600.5%
Department of Transportation$10,0000.0%
National Endowment for the Humanities$00.0%
Department of State$00.0%

Top programs

ProgramFY2025Share
ADVANCED RESEARCH PROJECTS AGENCY for HEALTH (ARPA-H) Assistance Listing 93.384$17.9 million13.9%
STEM Education (formerly Education and Human Resources) Assistance Listing 47.076$16.6 million12.9%
Biological Sciences Assistance Listing 47.074$11.1 million8.6%
Mathematical and Physical Sciences Assistance Listing 47.049$10.9 million8.5%
Engineering Assistance Listing 47.041$8.8 million6.9%
Office of Science Financial Assistance Program Assistance Listing 81.049$7.3 million5.7%
Federal Pell Grant Program Assistance Listing 84.063$6.4 million5.0%
Biomedical Research and Research Training Assistance Listing 93.859$5.7 million4.4%
Basic and Applied Scientific Research Assistance Listing 12.300$5.5 million4.3%
Basic Scientific Research Assistance Listing 12.431$4.4 million3.4%

Other institutions in Texas

All institutions in Texas

Federal money to Texas

Questions and answers

How much federal funding does William Marsh Rice University receive?
$128.3 million in fiscal year 2025, according to USAspending.gov award data for its registered UEI(s).
Where does William Marsh Rice University's federal money come from?
The largest funder in FY2025 was the National Science Foundation ($55.5 million, 43.3%). By type, grants were $111.8 million and contracts $681,191.
Did William Marsh Rice University's federal funding go up or down?
FY2025: $128.3 million; FY2024: $114.1 million (+12.5%).

Sources and notes

  1. USAspending.gov (U.S. Department of the Treasury), API endpoints spending_over_time and spending_by_category, filtered by recipient ID(s) 7c6d4e6a-e5c4-b348-571b-42f4d585f5a8-C, fiscal years 2018–2026. Amounts are obligations in nominal dollars. Data retrieved 2026-10-04. Public domain.
  2. How the figures are built, and what they leave out: sources and methods.