Government Funded Scientific Grant Cuts Are Affecting Education
Known for their cutthroat budget planning and aversion to scientific research, the Trump administration’s efforts towards cutting down biomedical research show no signs of slowing. Released back in May of this year, the administration’s 2026 budget plan revealed detrimental cuts to the National Institutes of Health funding.
From money going towards maintaining buildings and labs facilities and keeping up to date with the latest equipment and systems to buying essential supplies and paying researchers, staff, faculties, and administrators, NIH uses their grant funding to cover a variety of needs. The planning and execution of not just any research and studies, but of research and studies that utilize safe and ethical practices furthermore directly rely on this money.
What do NIH budget cuts mean for grad students?
The cut written in the new 2026 budget plan would bring NIH funding to $27.9 billion, $18 billion lower than what was enacted in 2025, and limit NIH indirect cost reimbursement to just 15% instead of the usual 50-70% NIH received in the past.
Our new administration is not just working on taking away future funding, but also funding that has already been awarded. During an interview, White House budget chief Russell Vought alluded to his office reviewing and making additional assessments towards previously peer-reviewed NIH grants. By doing so, his office actively slowed NIH spending right before the end of the fiscal year, September 30th, where Congress can then be requested to take back NIH’s unspent funds. NIH is reportedly already $6 billion behind in its spending because of this.
With far less funding, student access to university biomedical academic and training programs suffer.
Furthermore, a new policy introduced by the Trump administration requires NIH to fund multiyear grants. Multiyear grants have one large upfront sum rather than funding on a year by year need basis, making it nearly impossible for scientist’s proposals to succeed, and fund far fewer grants. Many NIH staff predict this policy will lead to the closure of several university labs.
NIH isn’t the only government funded scientific agency receiving funding cuts that affect university students. Starting as early as March of this year, 80% of programs for The US Agency for International Development were cancelled, eventually leading to a complete shut down of the agency after Trump accused them of alleged wasteful spending and cut their funds for good. Supporting scholarships, scientific research initiatives and programs, and collaborating with more than 830 higher education institutions, USAID made an incredible impact on educational access and stability across the world.
The National Science Foundation additionally experienced mass funding cuts that affect education. 1,000 grants were cut from NSF by the U.S. Department of Government Efficiency with around 40% of them being related to its education division. These education grants funded researchers at universities with the goal of improving STEM related education and increasing the amount of future scientists in the workforce.
All of these changes mean an uncomfortable adjustment period for universities. In order for university labs and programs to stay afloat, related and even unrelated academic programs are increasingly at risk of being cut along with staff and other resources. Moreover, several university education and research initiatives are predicted to be halted or cancelled altogether.
