Since returning to office, President Donald Trump’s administration has frozen millions in federal funding for universities nationwide as part of its pressure campaign on higher education.
Northwestern, joining a slate of other elite universities, quickly found itself caught in the administration’s crosshairs last month.
The Trump administration has already frozen $790 million in federal funding for NU because of ongoing federal antisemitism investigations.
While the ramifications of the move continue to develop, concerns have escalated on the future of essential research and development programs at NU.
In recent weeks, the University has received 98 stop-work orders — primarily from the Department of Defense — and 51 grant terminations, many of which have targeted LGBTQ-related projects.
NU administrators also stated that University researchers have not received payments for National Institutes of Health grants since March and that those funds may be frozen.
The Daily analyzed NU’s latest research and development spending financed from federal sources. The data is from the 2023 Higher Education Research and Development Survey by the National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics. That year, NU received around $678 million in federal funding.
In 2023, NU’s funding from federal sources formed 60% of its R&D expenditures, or spending on research and development. A considerable share of the University’s research funding — around $330 million — also comes from its own pocketbook.
Since 2010, NU’s total R&D expenditures have nearly doubled. Compared to the University’s total expenditures at the end of the Trump administration’s first term, NU has increased that figure by more than $100 million.
Compared to the other universities which have seen federal funding cuts or freezes, NU lands in the middle of the pack with its total federal research funding. NU is one of the few universities outside of the Ivy League to see funding losses from the Trump administration.
The bulk of NU’s federal funding comes from the Department of Health and Human Services. That sector of the University’s funding has also endured the most funding cuts and freezes from the Trump administration.
At least 12 projects, many related to LGBTQ health research, funded by the NIH have been terminated by the Trump administration since February.
The majority of NU’s R&D expenditures have gone toward life sciences, supporting numerous research projects from the lab to practical applications.
In the next months, NU could continue to see more research projects and programs axed due to the federal funding freeze.
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