Recipients › District of Columbia › Howard University
Recipient organisation · UEI DYZNJGLTHMR9
Howard University
USAspending caveat. Figures are obligations reported by federal agencies to USAspending.gov, not payments. In USAspending's words: "An outlay occurs when federal money is actually paid out, not just promised to be paid ('obligated')." "Every agency has a Senior Accountable Official who must officially certify that the quarterly financial data submitted by their agency is accurate and complete." "If there are any discrepancies in procurement data, FPDS is the authoritative source." Contract data for the Department of Defense and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is published with a 90-day delay. Data loaded 30 Sep 2026. View the USAspending recipient profile.
Howard University, of Washington, DC, was obligated $407M in federal awards across the 4 fiscal years in which it reached the $1.0M listing floor (2023, 2024, 2025, 2026).
In FY2026, the most recent complete fiscal year, obligations were $176M, of which $2.5M (1%) came through contracts.
That is up 130% on FY2025 ($77M).
Howard University ranks 33 of 546 listed organisations located in DC by five-year obligations, and 1,765 of 30,989 nationally.
Its $1.0M-plus awards since FY2023 came from Department of State, Department of Defense and Department of Education and 4 other agencies: 27 awards worth $81M in total award value.
Its largest contract industry is NAICS 541715 (Research and Development in the Physical, Engineering, and Life Sciences (except Nanotechnology and Biotechnology)), where it ranks 503 of 1,484 organisations by the value of $1.0M-plus awards.
Obligations by fiscal year contracts vs assistance
| Fiscal year | All obligations | Contracts | Assistance | Change |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| FY2023 | $85,185,876 | $3,618,690 | $81,567,186 | — |
| FY2024 | $69,022,524 | $3,670,194 | $65,352,330 | -19% |
| FY2025 | $76,527,725 | $7,342,734 | $69,184,991 | +11% |
| FY2026 | $176,344,199 | $2,485,097 | $173,859,102 | +130% |
| FY2027 to date | under $1.0M | — | — | — |
A fiscal year runs 1 October to 30 September. "Contracts" are procurement award types A–D; "assistance" is everything else (grants, direct payments, loan subsidy cost, insurance, other). The contracts column is listed only where contract obligations alone reached $1.0M; the assistance figure is the remainder and may therefore include up to $1.0M of contracts.
Compared with its state and the largest recipients five listed years
| Measure | This organisation | Largest in DC | Largest nationally |
|---|---|---|---|
| Five-year obligations (listed years) | $407M | $36B | $416B |
| FY2026 obligations | $176M | $7.3B | $118B |
| Contracts, five years | $17M | under $1.0M | $94B |
| Assistance, five years | $390M | $36B | $416B |
| Rank by five-year obligations | 1,765 of 30,989 | 1 of 546 in DC | 1 |
Largest in state: National Railroad Passenger Corporation. Largest nationally: Health Care Services, California Department of. Rankings count organisations located in the state, by the sum of their listed fiscal years.
Awarding agencies $1.0M+ awards since FY2023
| # | Agency | Awards | Award value | Share |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Department of State | 4 | $25M | 30% |
| 2 | Department of Defense | 7 | $19M | 23% |
| 3 | Department of Education | 3 | $12M | 14% |
| 4 | National Science Foundation | 5 | $9.8M | 12% |
| 5 | Department of Health and Human Services | 6 | $9.4M | 12% |
| 6 | Department of Transportation | 1 | $5.9M | 7% |
| 7 | Department of Commerce | 1 | $1.4M | 2% |
Contract industries NAICS
Rank within NAICS 541715: 503 of 1,484 organisations by $1.0M+ award value; see Research and Development in the Physical, Engineering, and Life Sciences (except Nanotechnology and Biotechnology).
Assistance programs listings
Places of performance $1.0M+ awards
Counties: District of Columbia, DC $52M
Largest awards begun since FY2023
| Awarding agency | Type | Industry or program | Award value | Begun | Place | Record |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Department of DefenseDepartment of the Air Force | ContractDelivery Order | 541715 Research and Development in the Physical, Engineering, and Life Sciences (except Nanotechnology and Biotechnology) | $8.4M | 19 Jan 2023 | DC | USAspending |
| Department of State | GrantCooperative Agreement (B) | 19.020 Charles B. Rangel International Affairs Program | $6.3M | 28 Jun 2023 | — | USAspending |
| Department of State | GrantCooperative Agreement (B) | 19.020 Charles B. Rangel International Affairs Program | $6.3M | 27 Jun 2024 | — | USAspending |
| Department of State | GrantCooperative Agreement (B) | 19.013 Thomas R. Pickering Foreign Affairs Fellowship Program | $6.1M | 28 Jun 2023 | — | USAspending |
| Department of State | GrantCooperative Agreement (B) | 19.013 Thomas R. Pickering Foreign Affairs Fellowship Program | $6.1M | 27 Jun 2024 | — | USAspending |
| Department of TransportationImmediate Office of the Secretary of Transportation | GrantProject Grant (B) | 20.701 University Transportation Centers Program | $5.9M | 3 Apr 2023 | DC | USAspending |
| National Science Foundation | GrantProject Grant (B) | 47.049 Mathematical and Physical Sciences | $5.0M | 15 Aug 2023 | DC | USAspending |
| Department of Education | GrantProject Grant (B) | 84.116 Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education | $5.0M | 29 Oct 2024 | DC | USAspending |
| Department of Education | GrantProject Grant (B) | 84.116 Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education | $4.0M | 31 Dec 2025 | DC | USAspending |
| Department of DefenseDepartment of the Air Force | ContractDelivery Order | 541715 Research and Development in the Physical, Engineering, and Life Sciences (except Nanotechnology and Biotechnology) | $4.0M | 14 Nov 2023 | DC | USAspending |
| Department of Health and Human ServicesNational Institutes of Health | GrantCooperative Agreement (B) | 93.397 Cancer Centers Support Grants | $2.7M | 20 Sep 2024 | DC | USAspending |
| Department of Education | GrantProject Grant (B) | 84.184 School Safely National Activities | $2.6M | 23 Dec 2022 | DC | USAspending |
Award value is the amount obligated to the award to date as USAspending reports it. Descriptions below are USAspending's text, unedited and truncated; those that appear to name a person are withheld.
- $8.4M, Department of Defense, 19 Jan 2023: TACTICAL AUTONOMY UNIVERSITY AFFILIATED RESEARCH CENTER (UARC) MANAGEMENT
- $6.3M, Department of State, 28 Jun 2023: TO RECRUIT AND DEVELOP NEW TALENT FOR THE DEPARTMENT OF STATE FOREIGN SERVICE
- $6.3M, Department of State, 27 Jun 2024: TO RECRUIT DIVERSE TALENT FOR THE USG FOREIGN SERVICE.
- $6.1M, Department of State, 28 Jun 2023: TO RECRUIT DIVERSE TALENT FOR THE USG FOREIGN SERVICE. THIS IS THE FIRST INSTALLMENT.
- $6.1M, Department of State, 27 Jun 2024: TO RECRUIT DIVERSE TALENT FOR THE USG FOREIGN SERVICE.
- $5.9M, Department of Transportation, 3 Apr 2023: UNIVERSITY TRANSPORTATION CENTERS
- $5.0M, National Science Foundation, 15 Aug 2023: EXPANDQISE: TRACK 2: A QUANTUM SCIENCE EDUCATION AND RESEARCH PROGRAM FOR HBCUS: EXOTIC PHYSICS AND APPLICATIONS OF SOLID-STATE QUBITS -NON-TECHNICAL DESCRIPTIO
- $5.0M, Department of Education, 29 Oct 2024: RUN TO R1
Questions and answers
How much federal money does Howard University receive?
$407M in award obligations over the fiscal years it is listed for (FY2023: $85M; FY2024: $69M; FY2025: $77M; FY2026: $176M). Years not listed were under the $1.0M floor. Obligations are binding commitments, not payments made.
Which agencies award to Howard University?
By the value of $1.0M-plus awards begun since FY2023: Department of State ($25M), Department of Defense ($19M), Department of Education ($12M), National Science Foundation ($9.8M) and Department of Health and Human Services ($9.4M).
What is the money for?
Contracts are classified under NAICS 541715 Research and Development in the Physical, Engineering, and Life Sciences (except Nanotechnology and Biotechnology). Assistance falls under Charles B. Rangel International Affairs Program (19.020), Thomas R. Pickering Foreign Affairs Fellowship Program (19.013) and Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education (84.116).
Where is the work performed?
Primary places of performance for its larger awards: DC ($57M).
Is Howard University a large federal recipient?
It ranks 1,765 of 30,989 organisations on this site by five-year obligations and 33 of 546 located in DC. The site covers organisations with at least $1.0M in a fiscal year; individuals are excluded.
Where does this data come from?
USAspending.gov (U.S. Treasury), award transactions as loaded on 30 Sep 2026; fiscal-year totals via the spending-by-category endpoint and award lists via the award search endpoint. The USAspending recipient profile is the authoritative record.
Provenance
Source: USAspending.gov API v2 (U.S. Department of the Treasury, Bureau of the Fiscal Service), CC0. Fiscal-year obligations from the spending-by-category recipient ranking by recipient state (listing floor $1.0M per year); awards from the award search endpoint (new awards of $1.0M or more by base obligation date); parent and business categories from the recipient profile where fetched. Closed fiscal years are snapshots taken after year end; FY2027 is refreshed on each build. Data loaded by USAspending on 30 Sep 2026. Individuals and sole proprietors are excluded at ingest. Errors in processing are corrected at the next build; see corrections and the methodology.