Trump's Attack On Research Funding Hurt Your State University, Too

Forbes

4 days ago

West Virginia University has lost $555,114 worth of federal grant funding since President Trump took office. getty
While President Donald Trump's crusade against American higher education has focused on the Ivy League and other elite private schools, colleges of all types and in all 50 states have been hamstrung by his sweeping cuts to research funding. During the first six months of the Trump administration, federal agencies—primarily the National Institutes of Health and the National Science Foundation—canceled more than 4,000 grant awards worth an estimated $7 billion at over 600 colleges and universities. As intended, it has left universities in blue states bleeding, but a new report from the left-leaning think tank Center for American Progress shows that red state schools have been hit nearly as hard. (The think tank used data from the U.S. Department of the Treasury, the Department of Health and Human Services and the Department of Government Efficiency's 'Wall of Receipts' to put together its numbers.)
Looking only at dollar totals, California, New York, Massachusetts, Texas and Maryland have lost the most research funding to date. Agencies yanked $2.47 billion worth of awards from the five states, and $1.3 billion of that total was still unspent at the time the grants were canceled, the report shows. California colleges, with a combined 3.5 million students, have lost $294 million in grant funding, or about $150 per student. The University of California system, which includes the University of California-Berkeley and the University of California-Los Angeles, lost more grant money than any other state university system, according to the report. Massachusetts—home to Harvard University, Boston College, Tufts University and the University of Massachusetts system, all of which lost grants—has lost $252 million in remaining grant funding, or about $597 per student.
The lone star state is also short billions in federal research funding. In total, federal agencies have canceled $524 million in grants to Texas universities, $315 million of which was still unspent. Of all state university systems in the United States, the Texas A&M University System has lost the third-most grant funding, $109 million, and the University of Texas System has lost the fifth-most, $92 million.
The ten states that have lost the most funding per student are split—four red and six blue. Among them are South Dakota ($1,752 per student), South Carolina ($411 per student), Idaho ($565 per student) and Montana ($420 per student)—all traditionally Republican states that voted for Trump in the last election. South Dakota's huge loss is primarily due to the Department of Agriculture canceling an $86 million grant for South Dakota State University that funded research into expanding markets for 'climate smart' beef and bison. The money also helped farmers and ranchers implement climate smart practices that reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The blue states that have lost the most research funding per-student are Hawaii ($1,660 per student), Massachusetts ($579 per student), Maryland ($451 per student), Delaware ($380 per student), and the District of Columbia ($374 per student). Five states had less than $30 per-student cut by the feds—West Virginia, New Hampshire, Wyoming, Maine and North Dakota. So far, West Virginia has only lost $555,114 worth of federal grant funding for the public land-grant West Virginia University, which amounts to about $2 per student. Public, land-grant universities have been hit especially hard by the grant cuts—nearly two-thirds have been targeted for grant terminations. Half of all historically Black colleges and universities have lost grants in the past seven months. Forbes These 26 Rich Private Colleges Just Got A Tax Cut From Republicans By Emma Whitford Forbes Here's What The Senate Budget And Tax Bill Means For Colleges By Emma Whitford Forbes Colleges Big And Small Issue Bonds Amid Political Chaos And Trump's Higher Ed Assault By Emma Whitford