NSF Awards Plummet to Historic Lows, Reversing 50 Years of Science Funding Growth
By
Noam Ross
Summary
The National Science Foundation (NSF) is experiencing its most severe funding downturn in over 50 years. In 2025, the NSF made approximately 8,650 awards — the lowest since 1985 — and the trajectory is worsening, resembling the 1973 level of only about 1,700 awards. This represents a reversal of five decades of growth in American science investment, marking an unprecedented and radical throttling of science funding compared to historical norms.
Source
bskyNSF Awards Plummet to Historic Lows, Reversing 50 Years of Science Funding Growthgrant-witness.usKey quotes
· 4 pulledThe National Science Foundation is on track for its worst year in over half a century.
What that history reveals is not just a departure from recent norms or a pre-COVID baseline, but a reversal of over five decades of growth in American science investment.
In 2025, the NSF made about 8,650 awards. The last time it made so few awards was in 1985.
This year's trajectory is far worse. It looks most similar to 1973, when the NSF made only about 1,700 awards in total.
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