Under Secretary for Benefits

The Department of Veterans Affairs Benefits Administration Under Secretary for Benefits, a sub-agency within the Veterans Affairs cabinet department, administers grant funding for research and development initiatives supporting veterans' benefits programs and related services. The Under Secretary for Benefits oversees the federal benefits delivery mission for the VA and directs grant-making alongside its operational responsibilities.

Grant activity at the Under Secretary for Benefits remains modest. The office has obligated $3.9 million across 22 total grant awards since 2017, with recent cadence showing 4 awards in 2020, 4 in 2021, 1 in 2022, 2 in 2023, and 2 in 2024. The most recent grant award closed on 2024-09-24. All awards are structured as Project Grants.

Grant recipient concentration is highly fragmented. Over the last five years, the top five recipients by award count account for 100 percent of recent awards but represent a dispersed base: Virtual Collaboration Research Inc. and Abilitare Inc. each hold one award with federal dollars not reported in source data; University of Utah holds one award for $321 thousand; University of Pittsburgh holds one award for $200 thousand; and Prehensile Holdings, LLC holds one award for $200 thousand. By federal dollars obligated, the top three recipients account for only 18 percent of recent funding, indicating a long tail of small, single-award recipients across the portfolio.

No recent federal grant opportunities are recorded against the Under Secretary for Benefits or its descendant offices.