National Science Foundation federal obligations

$41.8 billion on 37,477 NSF awards

The precise obligation total is $41,750,201,192.18. Divided by 37,477 awards, the implied mean is about $1.11 million per award—closer to a typical research grant plus a thinner tail of facility and center vehicles than to a national-lab M&O contract. This packet does not split the 37,477 rows by directorate, so BIO, ENG, or MPS shares are not stated here.

Fiscal year 2026 is the latest year. Multi-year grants can remain open, so $41,750,201,192.18 is not a single proposal cycle’s cash. USAspending.gov is the source.

That mix is the research takeaway from the two packet facts together. 37,477 awards at a mean near $1.11 million fit research grants plus a thinner facility and center tail. A later extract can change both the dollar total and the award count as multi-year grants remain open inside FY 2026.

CGAC 049 on NSF records

SpendingVault keys NSF to /agencies/049/. CGAC 049 is the awarding-agency identifier. The $41,750,201,192.18 total and 37,477 award count roll up rows carrying that code. The award count is not a count of principal investigators, graduate students, or publications.

Award files versus NSF’s public award search

NSF publishes its own award search with abstracts and directorate tags. This hub cites only the USAspending obligation sum of $41,750,201,192.18 through FY 2026 on 37,477 awards. Abstract text, broader-impacts scores, and declined-proposal counts are not in the packet. Outlays are omitted.

Researchers sometimes treat an agency obligation total as cash already paid. For National Science Foundation, that reading is wrong. NSF’s own award-search directorate tags, publication counts, PI headcounts, or declined-proposal rates belong in other publications. The USAspending figure on this hub remains an obligation sum through FY 2026. Multi-year grants remain open inside FY 2026.

State geography for NSF awards

Place-of-performance for research grants often follows the performing institution. A major facility or Antarctic-support contract can still concentrate a slice of $41,750,201,192.18 in one jurisdiction. The state table is a coding view of the 37,477 awards through FY 2026, not a ranking of research quality.

Place-of-performance is a coding field, not a complete economic-impact model. On this agency, performing-institution coding spreads many cells; a major facility contract can still dominate one jurisdiction. Read the state table after the agency hub, not instead of it. Use CGAC 049 for the USAspending rollup; directorate shares are not in this packet.

NSF on the all-agencies list

Compare $41,750,201,192.18 and 37,477 awards only with other obligation totals from this extract. The hub does not advise applicants and does not predict funding rates.

The all-agencies list is useful only inside this extract’s obligation definition and FY 2026 cap. 37,477 awards at a mean near $1.11 million fit research grants plus a thinner facility and center tail. Ranking on dollars alone hides that mix. Use CGAC 049 for the USAspending rollup; directorate shares are not in this packet.

NSF’s USAspending file versus NSF’s public award search

NSF’s award search carries abstracts and directorate tags. This hub cites $41,750,201,192.18 on 37,477 awards tagged 049 through FY 2026. Abstract text and broader-impacts scores are not packet facts. A later USAspending extract can revise both the dollar total and the 37,477 count as new actions and modifications post against CGAC 049. Until that refresh, the documented book is 41750201192.18 in obligations. That figure is not a performance score, not an enacted one-year appropriation, and not a recommendation to apply for funds. It is the award-file rollup this packet carries through FY 2026.

The 37,477 figure can include grants, cooperative agreements, and contracts present in the file. Rank NSF only against other obligation totals from this extract. The hub does not predict funding rates. CGAC 049 is the awarding-agency identifier on every row in this rollup, and the overlay path stays /agencies/049/. The award population is 37,477 records. Those rows still sum to the same obligation total through fiscal year 2026. Readers who need place-of-performance should open the state table from that hub; readers who need peer context should open the all-agencies list. Neither view converts obligations into outlays. CGAC 049 is the awarding-agency identifier on every row in this rollup, and the overlay path stays /agencies/049/. The award population is 37,477 records. Those rows still sum to the same obligation total through fiscal year 2026. Readers who need place-of-performance should open the state table from that hub; readers who need peer context should open the all-agencies list. Neither view converts obligations into outlays.

Questions

How much has NSF obligated on USAspending through FY 2026?

NSF awarding-agency records (CGAC 049) sum to $41,750,201,192.18 across 37,477 awards in this extract. That figure is an obligation total from USAspending.gov through fiscal year 2026, not a count of funded proposals from NSF’s own search and not an outlay.

What is CGAC 049?

CGAC 049 is the USAspending awarding-agency code for the National Science Foundation. SpendingVault’s NSF hub uses that code. The $41,750,201,192.18 obligation total and 37,477 award count roll up rows carrying 049 through FY 2026.

Does the 37,477 count equal the number of research grants?

It is the number of USAspending award records tagged to CGAC 049, which can include grants, cooperative agreements, and contracts present in the file. Directorate splits are not in this packet. Dollar volume on those records is $41,750,201,192.18.

Where can I see NSF spending by state?

The state table from the CGAC 049 agency page uses place-of-performance fields on the same obligation extract. Geography rows still sit under $41,750,201,192.18 and 37,477 awards through FY 2026.