Federal R&D Funding, by Budget Function 2024-2026 | NCSES | NSF

Federal R&D Funding, by Budget Function 2024-2026 | NCSES | NSF
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Explore data on the federal budget authority for research and development (R&D) and R&D plant by function.
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Methodology
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Summary
This collection presents data on the federal budget authority for research and development (R&D) and R&D plant by functional categories and agency. Federal budget functions represent major purposes or national needs, such as National defense; Health; General science, space, and technology; and Energy. Agency R&D data are classified into one or more budget function classifications.
Areas of Interest
Government Funding for Science and Engineering
Research and Development
Collection Details
Status
Active
Reference Period
FYs 2024–26
Next Release Date
TBD
Data Tables (PDF 657 KB)
Featured Data
Federal R&D Funding, by Budget Function: Fiscal Years 2024–26
March 10, 2026
Product ID: NSF 26-309
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Federal Budget Authority for R&D
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Methodology
Technical Notes
Overview
All activities covered by the federal budget, including research and development (R&D), are classified into 20 broad functional categories (see section “
Budget Functions and Classifying R&D
”). R&D activities currently are in 16 of the 20 categories.
The tables in this report provide R&D budget authority for FYs 2024–26 by agency and major programs for each of the categories in which R&D is present. Several concluding tables also show budget authority data for R&D in FY 2023 and earlier years.
Budget authority
is the primary source of legal authorization to enter into obligations that result in outlays. The data for FY 2024 are the
actual
budget authorities received by federal agencies for R&D activities that year. These numbers update the preliminary data for FY 2024 published in the previous edition (FYs 2023–25) of this report series.
The data for FY 2025 are
preliminary
. The preliminary data available from the agencies for FY 2025 at the time of this report reflect the annualized continuing resolution funding levels.
These preliminary numbers are normally agency estimates based on final congressional appropriations for the fiscal year. However, FY 2025 operated under a full-year continuing resolution. Supplemental detailed data were collected from agencies primarily through May 2025, and thus data may not include the anomalies to the Full-Year Continuing Appropriations and Extensions Act, 2025 (H.R. 1968, Public Law 119-4) that removed some Congressionally Directed Spending and Community Project Funding from certain agencies.
The data for FY 2026 are the funding levels
proposed
by the president’s
Budget of the United States Government, Fiscal Year 20
(released 2 May 2025). At the time of this compilation, the funding levels for FY 2026 were the subject of ongoing legislation by Congress.
The data throughout this report reflect agency documents and other Office of Management and Budget (OMB) data available through November 2025. Data reported here as
preliminary
or
proposed
will be revised in subsequent editions of this report series to reflect the eventual congressional appropriation actions and agency program funding decisions.
In general, the agencies’ estimates of funding for R&D in FYs 2024 and 2025 that stem from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) (P.L.117-58), CHIPS and Science Act (P.L. 117-167), and the Inflation Reduction Act (P.L. 117-169) are not independently documented and cannot be separated from the appropriations totals—with the exception of one account documented by the U.S. Geological Survey for IIJA funds. Additionally, Congressionally Funded Projects (known in the Senate as Congressionally Directed Spending and in the House as Community Project Funding) were reintroduced in FY 2022 and may have contributed to increases in R&D for some agencies. Additionally, the data were collected prior to the final passage of One Big Beautiful Bill Act (P.L. 119-21) and the Rescissions Act of 2025 (P.L. 119-28) and do not include the additions or subtractions to accounts from these laws.
Table 26
of this report reclassifies the budget function data in this report’s earlier tables according to the 14 socioeconomic objective categories identified by the European Union’s NABS classification (Nomenclature for the Analysis and Comparison of Scientific Programmes and Budgets, 2007 edition). NABS is used by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) in reporting government budget allocations for R&D (GBARD) indicators. The GBARD indicators are widely recognized around the world as a basis for comparing countries’ priorities for government R&D funding.
The National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics has reviewed this product for unauthorized disclosure of confidential information and approved its release (NCSES-DRN25-068).
Definitions
Research, Development, and R&D Plant
In this report, R&D refers to basic research, applied research, and experimental development activities in science and engineering.
Research and experimental development
is creative and systematic work undertaken in order to increase the stock of knowledge—including knowledge of people, culture, and society—and to devise new applications using available knowledge.
R&D
includes administrative expenses, such as the operating costs of research facilities and equipment and other overhead costs. It also includes funds for the purchase of minor equipment—such as personal computers, standard microscopes, and simple spectrometers.
Basic research
is experimental or theoretical work undertaken primarily to acquire new knowledge of the underlying foundations of phenomena and observable facts. Basic research may include activities with broad or general applications in mind, such as the study of how plant genomes change, but should exclude research directed toward a specific application or requirement, such as the optimization of the genome of a specific crop species.
Applied research
is original investigation undertaken in order to acquire new knowledge. Applied research is, however, directed primarily toward a specific, practical aim or objective.
Experimental development
is creative and systematic work, drawing on knowledge gained from research and practical experience, which is directed at producing new products or processes or improving existing products or processes. Like research, experimental development will result in gaining additional knowledge.
Experimental development activities include (1) the production of materials, devices, and systems or methods, including the design, construction, and testing of experimental prototypes and (2) technology demonstrations, where a system or component is being demonstrated at scale for the first time and it is realistic to expect additional refinements to the design (feedback R&D) following the demonstration.
Before the publication of OMB’s revised guidance in Circular A-11 of July 2016, a more expansive definition of “development” was the basis for agency R&D reporting. The present guidance now identifies several specific exclusions. Experimental development does not include (1)
user demonstrations
, where the cost and benefits of a system are being validated for a specific use case (e.g., low-rate initial production activities), or (2)
preproduction development
, which is defined as nonexperimental work on a product or system before it goes into full production, including activities such as tooling and development of production facilities. For example, activities and programs that are categorized as “Operational Systems Development” in the Department of Defense’s research, development, test, and evaluation (RDT&E) budget activity structure are no longer included as R&D. Activities and programs of that type generally are now reported as investments in other major non-R&D equipment.
R&D plant
includes facilities and major equipment necessary for the execution of an R&D program. It includes the purchase, construction, manufacture, rehabilitation, or major improvement of physical assets such as land, major fixed equipment, and supporting infrastructure like a sewer line or housing at a remote location. It also includes the acquisition, design, or production of major movable equipment, such as mass spectrometers, research vessels, DNA sequencers, and other movable major instruments for use in R&D activities.
The data in this report exclude (1) all non-R&D activities performed within budget functions that conduct R&D and (2) all functions in which no R&D is conducted.
Table 6
is an exception, however; it continues to report RDT&E totals that previously would have been classified as R&D. In part, this table provides a gauge of the impact of the narrowed definition of development (as detailed earlier) on defense R&D totals.
Budget Authority, Obligations, and Outlays
The federal R&D funding data presented here are provided in terms of
budget authority
. Budget authority should not be confused with congressional authorization. In congressional legislative parlance, authorized funding levels are not the same as enacted budget authority. Authorizations are policy bills that establish, continue, or modify federal programs and may set authorized spending levels, but they do not provide actual funding to an agency. Appropriations, on the other hand, provide new budget authority for federal programs and in doing so provide actual funding. Budget authority is used because it is the initial budget stage for congressional action on the president’s proposed budget. Budget authority imposes a ceiling on obligations and outlays; obligations and outlays flow from budget authority.
Budget authority
is the primary source of legal authorization to enter into obligations that will result in outlays. Budget authority is most commonly granted in the form of appropriations by the congressional committees assigned to determine the budget for each function.
Obligations
represent the amounts for orders placed, contracts awarded, services received, and similar transactions during a given period, regardless of when the funds were appropriated and when future payment of money is required.
Outlays
represent the amounts for checks issued and cash payments made during a given period, regardless of when the funds were appropriated or obligated.
Budget Functions and Classifying R&D
The federal budget total is the sum of funding across the 20 broad functional categories. These categories are National defense (function 050); International affairs (150); General science, space, and technology (250); Energy (270); Natural resources and environment (300); Agriculture (350); Commerce and housing credit (370); Transportation (400); Community and regional development (450); Education, training, employment, and social services (500); Health (550); Medicare (570); Income security (600); Social security (650); Veterans benefits and services (700); Administration of justice (750); General government (800); Net interest (900); Allowances (920); and Undistributed offsetting receipts (950).
R&D has never been reported in 4 of these 20 functions: Social security (650), Net interest (900), Allowances (920), and Undistributed offsetting receipts (950). As such, these categories are not present in this report’s data—except indirectly, where R&D is described as a proportion of total federal budget authority.
Small amounts of R&D had been reported in the General government (800) category up through FY 2002 but turned to zero thereafter. A small amount of R&D was again reported in FY 2012 but has been zero throughout the FY 2024–26 period covered in this report. Medicare (570) reported zero R&D starting in 2024, but the category has been kept in the data tables in case levels increase in the future.
To better highlight R&D areas of high interest, the tables in this report split the General science, space, and technology (250) category into its two subfunctions: General science and basic research (251) and Space flight, research, and supporting activities (252).
Overall, this report’s tables separately cover 16 functional categories: 14 at the broad functional category level and 2 at the subcategory level–i.e., General science and basic research (251) and Space flight, research, and supporting activities (252).
Each R&D activity is assigned to only one functional category—which is consistent with the official codes used in budget documents, even though the R&D activity may address the objectives of several functions. For example, all R&D activities sponsored by the Department of Defense (except for those of the Army Corps of Engineers) are classified as National defense (050), even though some of these have secondary objectives, such as Space flight, research, and supporting activities (252) or Health (550). Nonetheless, an agency’s overall R&D effort can involve multiple activities spread across several functional categories, which means that a functional category can show the presence of several agencies.
Finally, not all federally sponsored basic research is categorized in the General science and basic research (251) subfunction. Some basic research is included in many of the other functional categories. Also, not all of the R&D included in the General science and basic research (251) subfunction is basic research—some is applied research.
Table A-1
maps the mix of agency funding of R&D activities in FYs 2024–26 across the budget function categories.
Data Sources
The federal budget does not include a separately identified R&D account. Furthermore, most appropriations for R&D are not directly labeled as such (except in certain program areas, such as defense, energy, health, and environment). Thus, most funds for R&D are not line items in agency budget submissions but are included instead as part of general program funding.
To provide information on federal R&D funding, OMB requires all agencies with R&D funding levels greater than $10 million annually to submit data on their R&D programs as part of their annual budget submissions. Such agencies are requested to provide data on their funding levels for basic research, applied research, experimental development, R&D facilities, and capital equipment for R&D, in accordance with OMB’s Circular A-11, Section 84, “Character Classification (Schedule C)” at
The data in this report were collected from May through November 2025 and represent the agencies’ official estimates of actual and proposed federal funding for R&D over FYs 2024–26. The data are based primarily on information provided to OMB by 25 agencies, which account for about 99% of all federally sponsored R&D activities. (OMB has routinely tracked the R&D budget authority for these 25 agencies; other agencies with negligible levels of R&D budget authority are excluded, and some agencies may not have responded to OMB’s data call within the data collection period.) The data reflect R&D funding information that became available from individual agencies after the administration’s FY 2026 budget proposal,
udget of the United States Government, Fiscal Year 20
, was prepared and transmitted to Congress on 2 May 2025. This information consists of budget justification documents that agencies submit to Congress and supplemental, program-specific information obtained from agency budget and program staff through November 2025. Accordingly, the budget numbers reported for individual activities, programs, or agencies may differ somewhat from those published in the president’s budget or in agency budget documents.
Technical Tables
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Agency and budget function crosswalk, federal R&D funding, by budget function: FYs 2024–26
Table A-1
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Data
Product ID
NSF 26-309
Published
March 2026
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Federal budget authority for General science and basic research (251) R&D and R&D plant: FYs 2024–26
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Federal budget authority for Space flight, research, and supporting activities (252) R&D and R&D plant: FYs 2024–26
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Federal budget authority for Agriculture (350) R&D and R&D plant: FYs 2024–26
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Federal budget authority for Commerce and housing credit (370) R&D and R&D plant: FYs 2024–26
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Federal budget authority for Transportation (400) R&D and R&D plant: FYs 2024–26
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Federal budget authority for Community and regional development (450) R&D and R&D plant: FYs 2024–26
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Federal budget authority for Education, training, employment, and social services (500) R&D and R&D plant: FYs 2024–26
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Federal budget authority for Health (550) R&D and R&D plant: FYs 2024–26
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General Notes
This report provides data on the budget authority conferred to U.S. federal agencies to fund the research and development (R&D) and R&D plant components of their programs in FYs 2024–26.
Budget authority
is the primary source of legal authorization to enter into obligations that result in outlays. Budget authority is most commonly granted in the form of appropriations by the congressional committees assigned to determine the budget for each function.
The National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics has reviewed this product for unauthorized disclosure of confidential information and approved its release (NCSES-DRN25-068).
Acknowledgments and Suggested Citation
Acknowledgments
Under contract to NCSES, the American Association for the Advancement of Science collected and compiled the data.
NCSES thanks the program and budget offices at the federal agencies that provided information for this report.
Suggested Citation
National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics (NCSES). 2026.
Federal R&D Funding, by Budget Function: Fiscal Years 20
–2
. NSF 26-309. Alexandria, VA: U.S. National Science Foundation. Available at
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