Research Universities Are Poised to Lose Billions Under Trump’s Sudden Cut

The Trump administration’s drastic change in grantmaking policy on Friday will result in billions of dollars of cuts to the U.S. research enterprise and has already triggered a widespread outcry across higher education. The National Institutes of Health will now cap indirect funding, which it provides to universities, hospitals, and medical centers to cover the costs of facilities, equipment, and staff, at 15 percent of the value of the grants it issues. The move is expected to wreak instant havoc on universities’ budgets: Currently, the average indirect-cost rate of the NIH’s institutional grants is 27 to 28 percent, and some universities receive allowances of more than 50 percent. The NIH, meanwhile, asserted in a post on X that the cap will save more than $4 billion annually when it goes into effect on Monday.