Promotion of the Humanities Fellowships and Stipends
Active
- Assistance listing
- 45.160
- Grant awards
- 4,168 $132,046,324 in federal obligations
Program facts
- Assistance type
-
- Project Grant
- Treasury account
-
- 59-0200-0-1-503
- More information
Program details come from SAM.gov Assistance Listings. Updated . Grant award figures come from USAspending.gov.
About this program
The National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) is funding individual scholars to produce humanities scholarship through fellowships and stipends under CFDA 45.160, with the most recent grant award on January 1, 2028.
The program supports individual scholars pursuing humanistic research across a broad range of topics and project stages. Funded work spans historical scholarship, literary criticism, philosophical analysis, translations with critical apparatus, critical editions, digital humanities projects, and archival research. Recent awards exemplify the scope: scholarship on Moby-Dick's literary legacy, ritual performance of Psalms in ancient religious contexts, Plato's philosophy of the soul, ancient Greek theories of human action, George Washington's global historical significance, and 20th-century Vietnamese drug addiction policy. The portfolio also includes work on early American education, environmental justice history, medieval Paris, German Idealism, Soviet espionage, Holocaust family narratives, and jazz in Israel.
Fellowships run six to twelve months with quarterly installments; Awards for Faculty at HBCUs, HSIs, and Tribal Colleges run two to twelve months with quarterly payments; Summer Stipends fund two consecutive months of full-time work with lump-sum disbursement. The program is entirely Project Grants (4,168 awards across the portfolio). NEH funds the vast majority of awards: 4,008 awards totaling $126.9 million in federal dollars obligated, with the National Endowment for the Arts funding the remainder (160 awards, $5.1 million). Combined federal dollars obligated reach $132 million. Typical recent fellowship awards range from $25,000 to $60,000; a subset of smaller awards ($27,000–$30,000) support targeted projects or researchers at specific institution types.
Award volume has declined sharply in recent years: 234 in 2024, 191 in 2025, 60 in 2026, and only 5 in 2027, with 1 award in 2028. The program's most recent activity dates to January 2028. Applicants must be U.S. citizens, native residents of U.S. jurisdictions, or foreign nationals with at least three years of legal U.S. residency immediately preceding the application deadline.
Recent opportunities posted March 2, 2026, with April 22, 2026 due dates cover Fellowships (general), Awards for Faculty at HBCUs, Public Scholars, and Fellowships for Advanced Social Science Research on Japan. The 2026 competitions restrict projects to American history and culture or Western civilization. Eligibility remains open to independent scholars, junior scholars, and faculty at eligible institutions.
Objective and description
- Objective
Fellowships and Other Awards to Individuals provide support for individual scholars to produce humanities scholarship, including books, articles, and digital projects. Fellowships are competitive awards granted to individual scholars pursuing project
- Description
Fellowships and Other Awards to Individuals is unique among federal grants in its support of individual researchers. NEH-funded work has been honored with Pulitzer Prizes, Bancroft Prizes, awards from national academic associations, and accolades from reviewers in major newspapers and literature journals.
Eligibility
- Applicant eligibility
Applicants must be U.S. citizens, native residents of U.S. jurisdictions, or foreign nationals who have been legal residents in the U.S. or its jurisdictions for at least the three years immediately preceding the application deadline. See eligibility information in the Notice of Funding Opportunity for additional program specific eligibility requirements.
- Beneficiary eligibility
Fellowships and Summer Stipends: college and university faculty and staff; individuals affiliated with institutions other than colleges and universities; and independent scholars and writers. Awards for Faculty: faculty members at Historically Black Colleges and Universities, Hispanic-Serving Institutions, and Tribal Colleges and Universities.
- Uses of assistance
Projects contribute to scholarly knowledge or to the general public's understanding of the humanities. The proposed study or research may be completed during the period of performance it may be part of a longer project. Awards typically result in publication.
- Length and time phasing of assistance
Fellowships are held from six to twelve months, with payment in quarterly installments. Awards for Faculty may support activities from two to twelve months, with payments in quarterly installments. Summer Stipends are held for two consecutive months, with stipends disbursed in a lump payment.
How to apply
- Criteria for selecting proposals
See review criteria in the Notice of Funding Opportunity for detailed criteria.
- Award procedure
NEH staff review all applications for eligibility, completeness, and responsiveness. The agency then conducts a peer review process for all applications that pass this initial screening. Peer reviewers are experts in their fields with knowledge and expertise relevant to the activities that the program supports. NEH instructs peer reviewers to evaluate applications according to established review criteria. Peer reviewers must comply with federal ethics rules governing conflicts of interest. NEH program officers supplement the peer reviewers' comments to address matters of fact or significant points that the peer reviewers have overlooked. They then make funding recommendations to the National Council on the Humanities. The National Council meets at least twice each year to review applications and advise the NEH Chair. By law, the Chair has the sole authority to make final funding decisions.
- Deadlines
See https://www.neh.gov/divisions/research.
- Appeals
None, but applicants may request written reasons for rejection and reapply with a revised proposal to a subsequent deadline.
Grant opportunities
Show 40 more
Latest 50 listed here. See the rest on GovTribe.
Grant awards
Latest 10 of 4,168 listed here. See the rest on GovTribe.
Top recipients by federal obligations
| Rank | Recipient | Federal obligations | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Firelight Media Inc. | $2,000,000 | 2% |
| 2 | Independent Television Service Inc. | $1,723,889 | 1% |
| 3 | Sundance Institute | $1,499,985 | 1% |
| 4 | Association For Asian Studies, Inc. | $946,506 | 1% |
| 5 | Oral History Association | $824,359 | 1% |
| 6 | Omohundro Institute Of Early American History & Culture | $304,405 | <1% |
| 7 | Tel Aviv University | $50,400 | <1% |
Federal obligations by fiscal year
| Fiscal year | Federal obligations |
|---|---|
| FY2026 | $2,349,532 |
| FY2025 | $6,652,849 |
| FY2024 | $8,433,859 |
| FY2023 | $7,601,750 |
| FY2022 | $102,000 |
| FY2021 | $7,415,162 |
| FY2020 | $5,961,622 |
| FY2019 | $6,679,907 |
| FY2018 | $5,784,400 |
| FY2017 | $5,870,850 |
| FY2016 | $5,866,770 |
| FY2015 | $4,808,400 |
| FY2014 | $4,131,600 |
| FY2013 | $4,240,100 |
| FY2012 | $4,091,400 |
| FY2011 | $5,098,800 |
| FY2010 | $5,764,200 |
| FY2006 | $6,598,000 |
| FY2005 | $7,914,000 |
| FY2004 | $7,374,000 |
| FY2003 | $6,211,717 |
| FY2002 | $6,919,000 |
| FY2001 | $6,176,407 |
Show all 23
Quick answers
What is Assistance Listing 45.160?
Assistance Listing 45.160 is Promotion of the Humanities Fellowships and Stipends, a federal grant program run by National Endowment for the Humanities.
What is the CFDA number for Promotion of the Humanities Fellowships and Stipends?
Its CFDA number is 45.160: Assistance Listing numbers were called CFDA numbers before 2018.
How much funding has Assistance Listing 45.160 awarded?
4,168 grant awards under 45.160 have obligated $132,046,324 in federal funds to 7 recipients.
Who receives the most funding from 45.160?
The recipients obligated the most under Promotion of the Humanities Fellowships and Stipends are Firelight Media Inc. ($2,000,000), Independent Television Service Inc. ($1,723,889) and Sundance Institute ($1,499,985).
How much did 45.160 obligate in fiscal year 2025?
Grants under 45.160 obligated $6,652,849 in federal funds in fiscal year 2025.
Are there open grant opportunities under 45.160?
None of the latest 50 opportunities under 45.160 is open now. The latest, Awards for Faculty at HBCUs, was posted on March 2, 2026.
On GovTribe
See this program's full record
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