The National Institutes of Health awarded 56,600 grants during fiscal year 2026, representing a decline from prior years, according to data released Thursday by the Association of American Medical Colleges. This figure marks a decrease of approximately 7,400 grants compared to fiscal year 2024, when NIH awarded 64,000 grants. The agency awarded slightly fewer grants in fiscal year 2026 compared to the previous year’s 58,500.
While NIH obligated all available funds for both fiscal years 2025 and 2026, the manner in which grants are being distributed has raised concerns among research institutions. The agency has shifted toward funding more grants on a multiyear basis upfront, a practice that allows NIH to distribute funds more quickly but supports a smaller overall number of projects. Multiyear funding totaled approximately $1.9 billion in fiscal year 2026, compared to $2.1 billion in the previous year.
The AAMC, which has monitored NIH funding patterns over the past two years, emphasized that simply obligating all funds by fiscal year deadlines does not fully reflect the health of the federal research system. According to the analysis, research institutions require consistent and predictable funding throughout the year to effectively plan programs, manage budgets for personnel, and make decisions about recruiting graduate students and postdoctoral scholars. The organization noted that significant variations in funding pace or grant volume year-to-year can be disruptive, whether caused by timing adjustments, changes in federal personnel, or modifications to funding mechanisms.
Additionally, hundreds of grants that were frozen or terminated earlier in the second Trump administration have not yet been reinstated, continuing to create uncertainty in the research environment.
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