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Federal Relations

Congress Passes Fiscal Year 2026 Appropriations

February 06, 2026

Below is a summary of federal appropriations for fiscal year (FY) 2026 (October 1, 2025 - September 30 2026). Many federal programs of priority to the campus were level funded or received small cuts and increases. Congress pushed back against many of the President's proposed cuts to these programs in his FY26 budget request. Congress also protected existing negotiated facilities and administrative (F&A) rates for universities across multiple science agencies and prohibited the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) from rulemaking to modify current F&A rates in FY 2026.  Asterisked bills below contain language on F&A rates. For more information on legislative language related to F&A in fiscal year 2026, please see the Association of Public and Land Grant Universities (APLU)’s tracker here: https://www.aplu.org/wp-content/uploads/120225-FAIR-language-in-bills.pdf

On November 12, 2025, President Trump signed into law H.R. 5371, which provided appropriations for Agriculture, the Legislative  Branch, and Military Construction and Veterans Affairs. The agriculture bill contained many programs of priority to the university, including those listed below.

Agriculture

  • National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) Hatch Act (State Agricultural Experiment Stations): $265 mil, level funding from FY25
  • NIFA Smith-Lever Smith-Lever Section 3(b) and (c) (Extension Capacity): $325 mil, level funding from FY25
  • Agricultural and Food Research Initiative (AFRI): The Cooperative Forestry (McIntire-Stennis): $38 mil, level funding from FY25

On January 23, 2026, President Trump signed into law H.R. 6938, which provided appropriations for the Commerce, Justice, Science, Energy & Water, and Interior bills. This consolidated bill contained many programs of priority to the university including those listed below.

Commerce-Justice-Science*

  • National Science Foundation (NSF): $8.750 bil, a 3.42% decrease from FY25
  • National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), Science Mission Directorate: $7.25 bil, a 1.15% decrease from FY25
  • NASA, Aeronautics Research Directorate: $935 mil, level funding from FY25
  • NASA, Space Technology: $920 mil, a 16.36% decrease from FY25
  • National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Oceanic and Atmospheric Research, Operations, Research and Facilities: $589 mil, a 10.21% decrease from FY25
  • National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST): $1.85 bil, a 2.3% increase from FY25

Energy and Water Development*

  • Department of Energy (DOE), Office of Science: $8.4 bil, a 1.94% increase from FY25
  • DOE, Advanced Research Projects Agency for Energy: $350 mil, a 23.91% decrease from FY25

Interior-Environment

  • United States Geological Survey (USGS), Water Resources Research Act (WRRA): $16 mil, a 3.23% increase from FY25
  • Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Office of Science and Technology: $744.2 mil, a 1.58% decrease from FY25
  • National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH): $207 mil, level funding from FY25

Within this consolidated bill’s Congressionally Directed Community Project Spending, the University of Maryland received the following funds:

  • $1,031,000 for the University of Maryland Smith School’s AI For Small Businesses project, supported by Representative Ivey
  • $975,000 for the University of Maryland PROGRESS Violence Reduction Research Initiative, supported by Representative Ivey
  • $989,000 for the University of Maryland National Center for Smart Growth’s Flood Resilient Development for Small Businesses project, supported by Representative Ivey
  • $700,000 for the University of Maryland Support, Advocacy, Freedom, and Empowerment (SAFE) Center for Human Trafficking Survivors, supported by Representative Hoyer, Senator Van Hollen, and Senator Alsobrooks

On February 3, 2026, President Trump signed into law H.R. 7148, which provided appropriations for the Defense, Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, Transportation, and Housing and Urban Development bills. This consolidated bill contained many programs of priority to the university including those listed below.

Defense*

  • Department of Defense, Science & Technology (6.1-6.3): $21.675 bil, a 14.9% increase from FY25
  • Department of Defense, S&T, Basic Research (6.1): $2.374 bil, a 4.04% decrease from FY25
  • Department of Defense, DARPA: $4.378 bil, a 5.62% increase from FY25

Labor, Health and Human Services, Education*

  • Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), National Institutes of Health (NIH): $48.7 bil, a 0.2% increase from FY25
  • Department of Education (ED) Student Aid, Pell Grant –total maximum individual award, including mandatory portions]: $22.475 bil, level funding from the 2025-2026 school year. Maximum award remains $7,395 per student.
  • ED Student Aid, Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant (SEOG): $910 mil, level funding from FY25
  • ED Student Aid, Federal Work Study: $1.230 bil, level funding from FY25
  • ED Student Aid, TRIO Programs $1.191 bil, level funding from FY25

Within this consolidated bill’s Plus-up Spending, the University of Maryland received the following funds:

  • $18 mil for the Joint Research Laboratory in partnership with the Army Research Laboratory (ARL).