Who funds higher education research?

We count 93 funded higher education projects, active between 2023 and 2031, from 9 funders. The most came from Gates Foundation (18 projects), EU · MSCA (14 projects) and EU · Widening participation and spreading excellence (11 projects). The median award is $753K, across the 91 of 93 projects that list an amount.

Funded projects

93

Funders

9

Median award

$753K

Open calls now

15

Top funders of higher education research

Projects whose title or summary mentions higher education. Median award: of the projects that list an amount, in US dollars; “—” when fewer than 3 do.

Open higher education funding calls

15 open calls mention higher education today; the 12 most on-topic are listed.

• The Dutch Education Award for vocational education and higher education 2027
  Dutch Research Council (NWO)Not specifiedDeadline: October 29, 2026 ·
• Erasmus Charter for Higher Education
  European Commission · Erasmus+Not specifiedDeadline: January 26, 2027 ·
• RESTORE Act Centers of Excellence Research Grants Program
  U.S. Dept. of Treasury RESTORE Act Program$5,710,210 – $14,518,510Deadline: October 31, 2026 ·
• U.S. National Science Foundation State and Regional Artificial Intelligence Infrastructure Hubs:
  U.S. National Science FoundationNot specifiedDeadline: November 4, 2026 ·
• Fiscal Year 2027 Defense University Research Instrumentation Program (DURIP)
  Air Force Office of Scientific Research$50,000 – $7,000,000Deadline: November 6, 2026 ·
• Fiscal Year (FY) 2027 Department of War (DoW) Defense University Research Instrumentation Program (DURIP)
  Dept of the Army -- Materiel Command$50,000 – $3,000,000Deadline: November 6, 2026 ·
• IUSE: Innovation in Two-Year College STEM Education (ITYC)
  U.S. National Science FoundationUp to $600,000Deadline: December 9, 2026 ·
  Real odds: About 1 in 4 funded (28% · NSF Division of Undergraduate Education (DUE), all proposals, FY2024)
• Landmarks of History and Culture and Summer Institutes
  National Endowment for the Humanities$1 – $460,000Deadline: December 9, 2026 ·
• Southeast New England Program (SNEP) Innovative Restoration Grants
  Environmental Protection AgencyUp to $1,000,000Deadline: December 11, 2026 ·
• Genesis Mission Graduate Fellowship Pilot
  Office of ScienceUp to $20,000,000Deadline: January 12, 2027 ·
• EPSCoR Research Infrastructure Improvement Program: Focused EPSCoR Collaborations (FEC)
  U.S. National Science Foundation$1,000,000 – $1,500,000Deadline: January 26, 2027 ·
• Advanced Technological Education (ATE)
  U.S. National Science Foundation$475,000 – $7,500,000Deadline: October 7, 2027 ·
  Real odds: About 1 in 4 funded (28% · NSF Division of Undergraduate Education (DUE), all proposals, FY2024)

Real odds

• About 1 in 4 funded · 28% · NSF Division of Undergraduate Education (DUE), all proposals, FY2024 · NSF funding rates (directorate page)

Published success rates for the programs behind the open calls above: the share of applications the funder funded, program-wide, not for this topic.

Forecast: announced, not open yet

1 forecast call on higher education. Funders publish forecasts before a call opens; you can't apply to these yet, and dates can change.

• ForecastLimited Competition: John Lewis NIMHD Research Endowment Program (S21 Clinical Trial Not Allowed)
  National Institutes of HealthUp to $2,000,000Expected to open March 25, 2027

Funded higher education projects

A sample, latest start first, at most three per program.

• Collaborative Research: Translating Research on How People Learn and Organizations Change to Accelerate Adoption of High Impact Practices Throughout a State University System
  NSF · EDU · $848,380 · ends 2031
• ART Track 5: CART: Coordinating ART Tracks and Learning to Yield Sustained Transformation (CATALYST)
  NSF · TIP · $2,000,000 · ends 2031
• ND INBRE: Health and the Environment
  NIH · NIGMS · $3,633,158 · ends 2031
• Nebraska Research Network in Functional Genomics
  NIH · NIGMS · $3,726,530 · ends 2031
• Execute a balanced science program based on discipline-specific guidance from the national academies of sciences engineering and medicine…
  NASA · $356,193 · ends 2031
• TSIP: Enhancing Academic Experiences within Applied Research, AI Integration, and Workforce Readiness
  NSF · EDU · $700,000 · ends 2030
• The research and education in agricultural communications training (react) will increase the number of students actively involved in…
  USDA · $558,000 · ends 2030
• Conference: TCUP Annual Research Symposium
  NSF · EDU · $1,266,301 · ends 2030
• Establishing a Community of Practice for improved consideration of intersectionality in UK medical research
  Wellcome · £306,029 · ends 2030
• FemIDEAS: Transforming Theory, Policy, and Practice to Decolonise Sexual and Gender-Based Violence in Higher Education
  UKRI · UKRI FLF · £593,406 · ends 2029

How we count

Funded projects come from public award records (NIH RePORTER, NSF, EU CORDIS, UKRI Gateway to Research, Wellcome, the Gates Foundation, DOE, NASA and USDA NIFA) whose title or summary matches “higher education”. NIH lists each budget year separately; one project counts once. Amounts are as the funder lists them; medians use only projects that list one, in US dollars. Open calls and forecasts are from our listings of October 28, 2026. A project can mention a topic without being mainly about it, so treat the counts as a guide to who funds the area.