NIH Made 13,686 New Awards in FY2026, Up 21 Percent. Here Is Why Total Grants Still Fell.
November 3, 2026 · 5 min read
Granted Research Team · Editorial policy
A month after fiscal year 2026 closed, the clearest count of what NIH actually funded has arrived. It is better news for new applicants than most of this year's coverage suggested. An R&D World analysis of NIH RePORTER data, published October 30 and current through October 28, finds that NIH issued 13,686 new (Type 1) awards in FY2026. That is up 21 percent from 11,272 in FY2025 and within 2 percent of the 13,943 issued in FY2024.
Over the same period, the total number of NIH extramural grants kept falling. The Association of American Medical Colleges puts the figure at about 56,600 for FY2026, down from just under 58,500 in FY2025 and about 64,000 in FY2024.
Both counts are correct, and the gap between them matters for anyone planning a submission for the 2027 receipt dates. The new-award count is a better measure of how open NIH's front door is. The total count mostly reflects how NIH chooses to pay for grants it has already made.
The Numbers
| Measure | FY2024 | FY2025 | FY2026 |
|---|---|---|---|
| New (Type 1) awards, excl. subprojects | 13,943 | 11,272 | 13,686 |
| New R01s | 4,547 | 3,426 | 4,960 |
| Total extramural grants (AAMC) | ~64,000 | ~58,500 | ~56,600 |
| Multiyear-funded competitive RPG dollars | $964M | $2.1B | $1.9B |
| Multiyear share of competitive RPGs | ~10% | ~25% | ~22% |
| Dollars committed to new awards | n/a | $6.6B | $7.6B |
| Average new-award size | n/a | ~$587,000 | ~$556,000 |
Sources: R&D World analysis of NIH RePORTER (as of Oct. 28, 2026); AAMC (Oct. 15, 2026). RePORTER is still adding FY2026 records, so final counts may rise slightly.
Three other figures from the analysis help explain the table. Competing research project grants (RPGs) rose from 9,103 to 11,519. Competing renewals rose from 1,822 to 2,047. Noncompeting continuation payments, the annual installments on grants already underway, fell 10 percent, from 39,642 to 35,506.
Why Total Grants Fell
The drop in total grants is mostly arithmetic, not a policy choice.
When NIH funds a five-year grant up front, obligating several years of budget at award, that grant generates no continuation payments in later years. NIH's multiyear share of competitive RPGs rose from about 10 percent in FY2024 to 25 percent in FY2025. Every grant funded that way in FY2025 is one fewer continuation payment in FY2026. FY2025 was also a weak year for new awards (11,272), so fewer first-year grants were due a second-year payment in FY2026.
Fewer continuations brings down the total count even while the number of new awards recovers. Our October analysis of the record early-stage investigator cohort used a different award count, which includes subprojects and supplements. That count was down 11 percent from the five-year average at the end of September. It and the R&D World count are measuring different things. For an applicant, the useful question is how many new projects got funded, and the answer is: about as many as in FY2024.
The forward-funding trend has also leveled off. The Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2026, signed February 3, capped multiyear obligations at the FY2025 level. Multiyear dollars dipped to $1.9 billion. The shift we described in our analysis of NIH's multiyear acceleration is no longer accelerating. If the cap is extended in FY2027 appropriations, continuation counts should settle within a year or two.
Where the Growth Went
R01s led the recovery. New R01s rose from 3,426 to 4,960, a 45 percent jump and well above FY2024's 4,547. The flagship investigator-initiated mechanism, not small or exploratory grants, accounts for most of the gain. NIH separately reported 1,648 early-stage investigator R01-equivalent awards, a record and 25 percent above the ten-year average of 1,323.
Institutes moved in different directions. NIAID's new awards rose from 1,567 to 2,106. NIMH rose from 468 to 650, still well below its FY2024 count of 845. NHLBI went the other way, falling from 1,285 to 1,193. A rebound at the NIH level does not mean every institute's payline loosened. Before you assume your institute's FY2027 behavior, check its numbers in RePORTER.
Awards got smaller. The average new award fell from about $587,000 to about $556,000, even as total dollars committed to new awards rose by $1 billion to $7.6 billion. NIH funded more projects at somewhat lower cost each. That fits with the forward-funding cap and with program staff trimming budgets at award. Applicants should expect budget cuts at award more often and should know which aims they can protect.
The Year Ended in a Rush
The timing matters as much as the totals. The 43-day government shutdown from October 1 to November 12, 2025 meant no new NIH awards in October or November 2025. By March 3, competitive awards were running 74 percent below the 2021–2024 average, according to STAT and Johns Hopkins tracking. NIH then caught up in the last two months of the year: 6,018 new awards, 44 percent of the year's total, were made in August and September 2026.
This explains why so many applicants experienced FY2026 as a terrible year that later turned out to be roughly normal. Applications with fundable scores sat for months, then were funded in a burst. It also means many FY2026 projects started in September with compressed first budget periods.
What It Means for FY2027 Applicants
Plan for a normal year, not a crisis. New-award volume is back to the FY2024 level, and the forward-funding cap limits the mechanism that drained award counts in FY2025. If you held back a resubmission because "NIH isn't funding anything," the FY2026 data does not support that.
Expect a slow start again. FY2027 began under a continuing resolution, and NIH usually funds cautiously under a CR. A summer-council application can still be funded on schedule, but last year's pattern of a weak first half and a strong fourth quarter may repeat. Budget your lab's bridge funding for a late notice of award, not an early one.
Treat the R01 as the main route. With new R01s up 45 percent and a record ESI cohort, the data favors a well-prepared R01 over a defensive R21. Early-stage investigators in particular should use their ESI status while NIH is clearly prioritizing it.
Watch the policy changes still pending. Two pending NIH proposals could change these numbers in FY2027: the proposed cap on simultaneous RPGs per investigator (NOT-OD-26-086), and the government-wide grant rule rewrite, which has been delayed by Congress. A per-PI cap, in particular, would shift awards toward investigators with fewer active grants, which favors new applicants.
Check your institute. The NIH-wide rebound covers wide differences. NIMH applicants are still well below FY2024 levels, and NHLBI applicants saw fewer new awards. Pull the FY2026 RePORTER counts for your study section's institute and mechanism before choosing a funding announcement.
Bottom Line
FY2026 was the year NIH's front door reopened, even though its total grant count kept shrinking. The 13,686 new awards, 4,960 new R01s and a record early-stage cohort all point the same way: new projects were funded at a near-normal rate. The drop in total grants mostly reflects payment accounting that Congress has now capped. For the February, June and October 2027 receipt dates, plan on a functioning NIH that is slow to start each year.
If you are preparing an R01 or resubmission for the 2027 cycle, Granted can help you draft specific aims, check them against the funding announcement, and prepare for budget cuts at award.