People discussing data a numbers at a meeting.

By the Numbers

Current Research at WSU and Projected Impact of Funding Shifts

Federal Support for WSU Research

Washington State University partners with the federal government to conduct research that advances national priorities and benefits communities. In fiscal year 2025, federal funding made up over 78 percent of awards to WSU, a total of over $250 million.

WSU has been impacted by changes in the federal funding landscape as funding priorities and research policies shift, including termination of over thirty research grants.

Current State of Research at WSU

1,107 federal grants from 20 agencies
$205 million in current grants
654 principal investigators (PIs) across 10 colleges and 4 campuses

2,000+ WSU employees fully or partially supported by federal funds

Projected Impacts of Federal Funding Shifts

Projected $24 million loss if federal Indirect Cost Rate is capped at 15%

Chart showing percentages of federal funding by agency: USDA, 32%; HHS, 28%; DOE, 10%; NSF, 8%; ED, 8%; DoD, 5%; Other, 9%.

Share of Federal Funding by
Top 6 Agencies (FY2021 – FY2025)

A column chart showing the following data: HHS, -$8.7M; USDA, -$4.8M; NSF, -$3.4M; DOE, -$3.2M; DOD, -$2.1M; Other, -$1.7M.

Projected Annual F&A Loss by Agency
(FY25, in millions of dollars)

35 awards affected by Stop Work Orders + Terminations

Chart showing Stop Work Orders + Terminations by agency: NSF, 10; DOE, 7; USAID, 7; NIH: 3; USDA, 3; DoD, 1; State, 1; DOC, 1; DOI, 1; NEH, 1.
$9.8 million funding terminated

Terminated funding includes grants that have been wholly terminated or partially terminated (i.e., funding has been withdrawn from a portion of the grant).

Agency Acronyms (in alphabetical order)

  • DoD: Department of Defense
  • DOC: Department of Commerce
  • DOE: Department of Energy
  • DOI: Department of Interior
  • ED: Department of Education
  • IMLS: Institute of Museum and Library Services
  • NEH: National Endowment for the Humanities
  • NIH: National Institutes of Health
  • NSF: National Science Foundation
  • USAID: U.S. Agency for International Development
  • USDA: U.S. Department of Agriculture

Last updated: April 22, 2026