Penn received over $1 billion in federal funding during fiscal year 2024, according to an analysis by The Daily Pennsylvanian.
As nationwide anxiety surrounding higher education mounts — and sources of federal funding remain uncertain — the DP used United States Department of the Treasury data to measure funding distributed to Penn and the Trustees of the University of Pennsylvania. The analysis found that the University receives federal funding through a variety of agreements, agencies, and partners.
Penn’s research funding regularly ranks among the highest in the Ivy League and the nation. Federal funding, in particular, supports a wide range of research initiatives across the University. In fiscal year 2024, Penn received over $1 billion in federal funding, distributed through four channels: grants, contracts, sub-awards, and subcontracts.
Assistance awards provide government funds for projects without direct federal involvement, while cooperative agreements support projects with active federal participation. In fiscal year 2024, Penn received assistance funding through 2,143 grants, cooperative agreements, and other forms of non-contracted support, including $41 million in COVID-related funding.
Penn received assistance from 16 different departments and agencies — with the majority of funding being issued by the Department of Health and Human Services. Other significant sources of funding included the National Science Foundation, the Department of Defense, and the Department of Education.
The National Institutes of Health issued a directive last month capping funding for indirect costs — which cover overhead research expenses, including lab space and support staff — at 15% for all research institutions. Penn’s previously negotiated rate was 62.5%.
In a Feb. 11 email to the Penn community, Interim Penn President Larry Jameson said the cuts would “blunt this critical, life-saving work,” and estimated that the University would lose $240 million as a result of the federal action.
Freddy Purnell, a biology Ph.D. student in the School of Arts and Sciences, noted that labs receive funding from a variety of different NIH awarding offices — adding that his own grant receives funding from the National Institute on Aging.
Purnell described the situation as a source of “anxiety and frustration” among graduate students given how much Penn research relies on NIH funding.
Penn also received a significant portion of federal funding through sub-awards — assistance funded by the federal government but awarded by another entity. For example, Penn received $540,500 in federal funding originally distributed to Carnegie Mellon University to study highway infrastructure.
Penn also secured substantial federal funding through government contracts. Unlike grants and cooperative agreements, contracts are used by the government to procure goods and services for its own direct use. For example, the Department of the Navy provides funding to support Penn’s Naval Reserve Officers Training Corps program. In fiscal year 2024, Penn received over $24 million in contracted funds.
Penn Development Research Initiative Lab Executive Director Heather Huntington stated that her lab is primarily funded by subcontracts with the United States Agency for International Development, the Department of State, and the Department of Defense. In particular, Huntington noted that her lab is expected to lose around $2 million due to “termination of our contracts.”
“The implications are that we have collapsed the lab into a smaller number of people, which means we've essentially furloughed and will terminate many of our staff members,” Huntington said. “We've had to fire people. Our lab is firing people, has fired people, [and] will continue to fire people.”
Huntington also expressed concern about how the dismissals might impact student job opportunities.
"This is happening at scale amongst companies. You're going to flood the market with tens of thousands of people that are highly educated and experienced, and they're going to be looking for jobs,” Huntington said. “If I was a student, and I was looking for a job, right now, I would probably be a little worried.”
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