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Established by the federal government in 1965, the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) provides support for humanities activities through grants for education, preservation, research, and public programs. While the federal government contributes to the humanities through many other agencies, the NEH is the largest source of federal funding for humanities activities—and the only agency whose explicit mission is to nurture and promote the field. The agency’s financial condition is thus an important indicator of federal support for the humanities.

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* This appropriation trend excludes supplemental COVID relief appropriations. The agency received $75 million in FY 2020 under the CARES Act. It received $135 for FY 2021 under the American Rescue Plan Act.
** Due to data limitations, 2022 is the most recent year for which an inflation adjustment is possible.

Source: Data acquired from NEH Appropriations History at https://www.neh.gov/neh-appropriations-history (accessed 1/26/2023). Funding amounts were adjusted for inflation using the Gross Domestic Purchases Price Index, a measure of inflation in the prices (including those for imported goods) paid by consumers, businesses, and governments in the United States. Quarterly estimates of the index, produced by the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Economic Analysis, were obtained from the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/B712RG3Q086SBEA (accessed 10/27/2022). Data presented by the American Academy of Arts and Sciences’ Humanities Indicators (www.humanitiesindicators.org).

 

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* Due to data limitations, 2022 is the most recent year for which an inflation adjustment is possible.

Source: Data for years 1966 through 2007 were compiled by the National Humanities Alliance, at the request of the Humanities Indicators, from documentation supplied by the National Endowment for the Humanities’ (NEH) Office of Strategic Planning. Data for 2008 to 2015 were provided directly to the Humanities Indicators by NEH’s Office of Planning and Budget. Data for subsequent years up through 2022, with the exception of the amount of the budget request for 2021, were obtained from the documentation available at https://www.neh.gov/about/budget-performance (accessed 9/23/2022). The amount of the 2021 budget request was obtained from the press release at https://www.neh.gov/news/neh-statement-proposed-fy-2021-budget (accessed 9/23/2022) and the 2023 request from https://www.neh.gov/sites/default/files/inline-files/NEH%20FY%202023%20CJ.pdf (accessed 1/4/2023). The 2023 appropriation amount was obtained from https://www.appropriations.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/Interior%20FY%2023.pdf (accessed 1/4/2023).

Funding amounts were adjusted for inflation using the Gross Domestic Purchases Price Index, a measure of inflation in the prices paid (including those for imported goods) by consumers, businesses, and governments in the United States. Quarterly estimates of the Index, produced by the U.S. Department of Commerce's Bureau of Economic Analysis, were obtained from the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/B712RG3Q086SBEA (accessed 10/27/2022).

Data presented by the American Academy of Arts and Sciences’ Humanities Indicators (www.humanitiesindicators.org).

IV-01c: National Endowment for the Humanities Funding* Distributed to States, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico, Total and Per Capita, Fiscal Year 2021 (Current Dollars)

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* Monies include those for new grants, supplemental grants, program contracts, and other program-related purposes. The amount for the District of Columbia includes, in addition to grants, funding for a $1.1 million contract with the National Museum of African American History and Culture.

Source: National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH), Office of Planning and Budget. The Humanities Indicators thanks NEH Budget Officer David Dohanic for his generous assistance. The population data used to calculate per capita amounts for states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico were obtained from U.S. Census Bureau, Population Division, “Annual Estimates of the Resident Population for the United States, Regions, States, District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico: April 1, 2020 to July 1, 2021 (NST-EST2021-POP),” https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/popest/tables/2020-2021/state/totals/NST-EST2021-POP.xlsx (accessed 10/27/2022). Data presented by the American Academy of Arts and Sciences’ Humanities Indicators (www.humanitiesindicators.org).

The National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) distributes grant dollars in two forms: 1) to state humanities councils according to a legislatively mandated formula (for a description of the formula by which monies are distributed among the councils and additional information on council funding, see “State Humanities Council Revenues”); and 2) as discretionary awards made to individuals and organizations, including state humanities councils, mainly through national grant competitions (information about funded projects is available via a searchable database on the agency’s website).

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