Harvard’s Federal Research Revenue Fell 20 Percent in Fiscal Year 2026

Harvard reported sharp declines in federal sponsored research revenue and overall research activity, according to the University’s annual financial report released Thursday.

Harvard’s federal research revenue fell by nearly 20 percent to $506 million, while federally sponsored research activity fell by roughly one-third on a comparable basis, according to the report. Total sponsored research support dropped 14 percent, from just over $973 million in 2025 to about $839 million this year.

Overall research activity totaled $1.2 billion, down from the $1.4 billion last year. Total research activity is now roughly seven percent below levels in fiscal year 2024.

Federal sponsored research revenue reflects funding Harvard receives from federal agencies to support research projects, generally recorded as the University incurs expenses covered by those grants and contracts.

Non-federal support also dropped, to $333 million from $345 million in fiscal year 2025. University resources covered the remaining roughly $400 million in research spending, according to the report.

But the revenue decline understates the “contraction in activity,” Chief Financial Officer Ritu Kalra and Treasurer Timothy R. Barakett ’87 wrote in the report. Revenues from fiscal year 2025 were already deflated by the termination of grants in the spring, they wrote.

“We would like to tell you that the uncertainty of the past two years is behind us,” they wrote. “It is not.”

Spending on federal research awards fell 32.1 percent, reflecting fewer new awards, slower spending on existing ones and delays following the grant termination, according to the report. The fiscal year 2025 figure excluded $116 million tied to awards that had been terminated even as spending continued. After those awards were reinstated, Harvard recorded the money as non-operating revenue this year.

Harvard’s research funding was thrown into turmoil last year when the Trump administration froze $2.2 billion in multi-year grants and $60 million in multi-year contracts after Harvard rejected a list of demands from the White House to change University policies and practices.

Harvard sued the Trump administration in response, and a federal judge issued a sweeping ruling that September ordering the administration to restore the funding. The Trump administration urged the First Circuit to let it revoke the funding earlier this month.

Federal research revenue dropped from roughly $687 million in 2024 to $629 million in 2025, an 8 percent decrease, and total sponsored support declined b y $39.4 million.

The University ended fiscal year 2026 with a $100 million operating surplus, a modest 1.5 percent.

Harvard has moved to diversify its research funding sources amid federal uncertainty. The University is quietly weighing a $500 million fundraising push for scientific research, and Harvard President Alan M. Garber ’76 announced a $150 million investment in research and infrastructure, including $100 million for individual schools and $50 million for University-wide initiatives.

Kalra and Barakett wrote in the report that the abrupt termination of federal grants “unsettled a research enterprise built over decades.”

“As the year progressed, responding to immediate disruption gave way to the harder work of reshaping operations for a changed environment,” they wrote.

—Staff writer Megan L. Blonigen can be reached at [email protected] and on Signal at mblon.50. Follow her on X at @MeganBlonigen.