WhereTaxMoneyGoesNational Endowment for the Humanities (NEH): federal spending, contracts and grants
In fiscal year 2026, National Endowment for the Humanities reported $194.6 million in obligations and $61.7 million in outlays, about 0.0% of all budgetary resources tracked on USAspending. Below: where its award money went, who received the most, and how its spending has changed since FY 2017.
FY 2026 figures are still being reported by agencies and will change as late submissions arrive.
Mission
The National Endowment for the Humanities serves and strengthens our nation by supporting high quality projects and programs in the humanities and by making the humanities available to all Americans.
How NEH awarded money in FY 2026
Award obligations are the part of an agency's spending that goes out as contracts, grants, loans, direct payments and other awards to outside recipients. The rest pays for salaries, internal operations and transfers that are not awards.
| Award type | Amount | Relative size |
|---|---|---|
| Grants | $172.1 million | |
| Contracts | $2.1 million |
Obligations by fiscal year
FY 2026 obligations of $194.6 million were up 77% from FY 2025 ($109.8 million) and compare with $150.6 million in FY 2017.
Show the numbers
| Fiscal year | Amount |
|---|---|
| FY 2026 | $194.6 million |
| FY 2025 | $109.8 million |
| FY 2024 | $210.6 million |
| FY 2023 | $217.4 million |
| FY 2022 | $233.1 million |
| FY 2021 | $251.3 million |
| FY 2020 | $230.4 million |
| FY 2019 | $156.0 million |
| FY 2018 | $143.9 million |
| FY 2017 | $150.6 million |
Top recipients, FY 2026
Ranked by award obligations from NEH. "Multiple recipients" groups aggregated or redacted records, such as payments to individuals.
| # | Recipient | Amount | Relative size |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tikvah Fund | $10.4 million | |
| 2 | Rector & Visitors of the University of Virginia | $10.3 million | |
| 3 | University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill | $10.1 million | |
| 4 | University of Texas at Austin | $10.0 million | |
| 5 | Trustees of Indiana University | $6.4 million | |
| 6 | Association of the Graduates of the United States Military Academy | $5.6 million | |
| 7 | Ohio State University, the | $5.0 million | |
| 8 | The Massachusetts Historical Society | $3.2 million | |
| 9 | University of Mary Washington | $3.0 million | |
| 10 | University of Tennessee | $3.0 million |
Top states, FY 2026
By place of performance — where the work is done or the money is used.
| # | State | Amount | Relative size |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | New York | $27.5 million | |
| 2 | Virginia | $16.3 million | |
| 3 | Texas | $13.9 million | |
| 4 | North Carolina | $13.3 million | |
| 5 | Indiana | $8.1 million | |
| 6 | Massachusetts | $7.8 million | |
| 7 | Ohio | $7.8 million | |
| 8 | Tennessee | $6.8 million | |
| 9 | California | $5.9 million | |
| 10 | Pennsylvania | $5.6 million |
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Source data last updated November 4, 2026 · Imported November 6, 2026 · Dollar figures are nominal and rounded. How these numbers are calculated · Report a problem