Biden-Harris Administration requests $200.68 million for NEH in 2023

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Biden-Harris Administration this week released a budget request of $200.68 million for the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) for Fiscal Year (FY) 2023.

The request, which represents a 11.5 percent increase over NEH’s FY2022 appropriation, includes funds to demonstrate and enhance the critical role the humanities play in our nation and support projects and policies that increase engagement with underserved communities.

The request includes:

• $77.75 million for NEH’s grant programs in support of projects in the humanities, and $63 million for the state and jurisdictional humanities councils to support their operations, projects, and programs;
• $17.3 million in federal matching funds, including funding for the NEH Infrastructure and Capacity Building Challenge Grants program to help stimulate and match nonfederal donations in support of humanities institutions and organizations as well as new incentives to encourage applications from underserved communities;
• $6.95 million for “A More Perfect Union,” which builds on NEH’s 57-year investment in projects that catalog, preserve, explore, and promote American history and uses the lessons of history to address today’s challenges; and
• $2.4 million to create an Office of Research and Analysis to analyze the effectiveness of NEH programs and policies; an Office of Outreach that will increase the agency’s engagement with underserved communities and institutions; a Chief Diversity Officer to advise the agency on matters of diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility (DEIA) across its programs, operations, and policies; and to implement President Biden’s May 12, 2021, Executive Order on Improving the Nation’s Cybersecurity (14028).

The National Endowment for the Humanities, the only federal agency dedicated to funding the humanities, awards competitive grants through a rigorous peer review process to support projects that expand knowledge in fields such as history, philosophy, literature, language, ethics, archaeology, political theory, jurisprudence, comparative religion, and the humanistic social sciences. The agency serves the American public by promoting advanced research, deeply informed teaching in schools and colleges, lifelong learning, and the preservation of cultural collections.

NEH supports the fundamental building blocks of American civil society, helping us to examine the human condition, understand our cultural heritage, foster mutual respect for diverse beliefs and cultures, develop media and information literacy, and promote civics education. Since its founding in 1965, NEH has awarded nearly $6 billion in grants to support museums, historic sites, colleges, universities, K–12 teaching, libraries, public television and radio stations, research institutions, and independent scholars nationwide—providing a critical lifeline to the nation’s cultural and educational sectors and sustaining the United States’ role as a global leader in the humanities.

“We are pleased that President Biden has proposed increased funding for the National Endowment for the Humanities,” said NEH Chair Shelly C. Lowe (Navajo). “Strong cultural institutions are vital to healthy communities and thriving regional economies. This budget will allow NEH to continue to invest in cultural and educational sectors still grappling with the financial impact of the pandemic and fulfill our mission of making humanities resources and knowledge available to all Americans. We look forward to working with Congress throughout the appropriations process for the FY2023 budget.”

Read the details of the budget request here.  

National Endowment for the Humanities: Created in 1965 as an independent federal agency, the National Endowment for the Humanities supports research and learning in history, literature, philosophy, and other areas of the humanities by funding selected, peer-reviewed proposals from around the nation. Additional information about the National Endowment for the Humanities and its grant programs is available at neh.gov.