NSF Freezes New Funding for 4 Institutions

The Trump administration’s use of funding freezes to take aim at higher education institutions continues as the National Science Foundation has placed limits on new grants for four highly selective universities, Nature reported.

As of April 9, the NSF has placed a “hold” on future awards to Duke, Harvard, Princeton and Yale Universities, according to internal agency documents obtained by Nature. Since then, minimal new funding has been allocated to those institutions, the documents show.

In 2024, the four received a combined total of 218 new NSF grants, for which researchers are still able to access funds, Nature reported. But this fiscal year they only received 13 new grants, with none awarded to scientists at Duke or Harvard since April 9.

The NSF’s Office of Award Management has paused 33 proposals from researchers from the four institutions. While the average research grant takes the OAM 10 days to finalize, proposals from researchers at Duke, Harvard, Princeton and Yale have sat for an average of 91 days.

It is unclear how long the limitations will last or why those four institutions were singled out. NSF declined Nature’s request for comment and declined a request for comment from Inside Higher Ed.