Beyond NEH: Other Federal Support of Humanities Activities, Fiscal Years 2008–2015 (Adjusted for Inflation)

Many federal entities support the humanities as part of their general operations (such as the Smithsonian Institution and the Institute of Museum and Library Services). But among programs that focus specifically on humanities activities, we estimate that from 2008 to 2014 federal support fell from $855 million to $594 million (when adjusted for inflation).

Programs in the Department of Education experienced the largest reductions, including elimination of both the Teaching American History Program and the Javits Fellowship Program (the only federal program supporting graduate education in the humanities), as well as deep cuts in budget lines supporting foreign language, area, and other international studies. In the 2013 sequester, the State Department suspended Title VIII funds for Russian, Eurasian, and East European studies, and those funds have not been restored.