Biden-Harris Administration’s Fiscal Year 2024 Budget includes $211 million for NEH

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Biden-Harris Administration last week released a budget of $211 million for the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) for Fiscal Year (FY) 2024. The Budget includes funds to demonstrate and enhance the critical role the humanities play in our nation and to support projects and policies that increase engagement with underserved communities.

At NEH, the Budget will provide:

• $78.25 million for NEH’s grant programs in support of projects in the humanities, and $66 million for the state and jurisdictional humanities councils to support their operations, projects, and programs;
• $17.8 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 NEH’s American Tapestry: Weaving Together Past, Present, and Future, which emphasizes the role of the humanities in tackling the contemporary challenges of strengthening our democracy, advancing equity for all, and addressing our changing climate.
• $42 million for the development of NEH programs, including the expansion of NEH’s new Offices of Data and Evaluation; Outreach; and Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility (DEIA), and to continue the agency’s response to Executive Orders aimed at: removing barriers to full and equal participation in the agency’s programs and operations; advancing DEIA within the agency’s workforce; and prioritizing information technology, cybersecurity, and data.

NEH, 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 grateful to the Biden-Harris administration for its support of the National Endowment for the Humanities and the nation’s cultural infrastructure,” said NEH Chair Shelly C. Lowe (Navajo). “Strong cultural and educational institutions foster thriving and resilient communities and boost local economies. The Budget will allow NEH to continue its investments in the cultural sector and in humanities institutions, programs, and resources that enrich the lives of all Americans. We look forward to working with Congress throughout the appropriations process for the FY2024 budget.”

Read the details of the NEH request here.  

Building on the President’s strong record of fiscal responsibility, the Budget more than fully pays for all its investments by reducing deficits over the next decade. For more information on the President’s FY 2024 Budget, please visit: https://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/budget/

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.