National Endowment for the Humanities

The National Endowment for the Humanities, an independent civilian agency, funds humanities scholarship, education, and public engagement through project grants supporting museums, universities, libraries, nonprofits, and government agencies across all fifty states and territories.

The NEH operates primarily as a grant-making institution. Since 1990, the agency has awarded 18,498 grants obligating $3.27 billion in federal dollars. Grant activity has moderated significantly in recent years: 827 awards in 2024, 475 in 2025, 374 so far in 2026, with 9 awards in 2027 and 1 award recorded in 2028. All 18,498 grants are structured as Project Grants. The recipient base is highly fragmented, with 2,909 distinct recipients over the portfolio history. Over the last five years, the top five recipients by federal dollars obligated account for only 1 percent of combined federal dollars, led by the Rector & Visitors of The University of Virginia ($12.9 million across 16 awards), University of Texas at Austin ($10.5 million across 9 awards), and The Center for Independent Documentary, Inc. ($6 million across 17 awards). Cornell University, University of North Carolina Press, Indiana University, and University of Southern California round out the active recipient base.

The NEH also maintains a small contract portfolio of 988 awards since 1982, totaling $64.5 million in combined potential value with $61 million obligated. Recent contract activity is low and volatile: 15 awards in 2022, 7 in 2023, 45 in 2024, 36 in 2025, and 16 so far in 2026, with the most recently recorded award dated September 29, 2026. The contract base is highly fragmented across 280 distinct primes; 96 percent of awards carry no set-aside designation. Over the last five years, Carahsoft Technology Corp leads by award count with 8 awards ($197 thousand combined potential value), followed by Bahfed Corp (6 awards, $625 thousand) and Cellco Partnership (5 awards, $303 thousand). By potential value, Minburn Technology Group, LLC dominates with $3.2 million across 2 awards. Top five primes by award count hold 22 percent of recent awards; top five by potential value hold 8 percent of combined potential value. Most contract activity appears to flow through Schedule task orders, BPA calls, or below-threshold purchase orders with limited reported dollar values.

Current grant opportunities include Public Humanities Projects (due December 16, 2026), supporting exhibitions, historic site interpretations, and public lectures focused on Western civilization, American history, literature, philosophy, and civic education; the National Digital Newspaper Program (due January 13, 2027), a Cooperative Agreement with the Library of Congress to digitize historically significant newspapers; and Landmarks of American History and Culture and Summer Institutes (due December 9, 2026), supporting teacher professional development. All three are open to higher education institutions, nonprofits, state and tribal governments, and special districts.

The National Endowment for the Humanities funds humanities programs in the United States such as museums, archives, libraries, colleges, universities, public television, and radio stations, and individual scholars.