National Endowment for the Humanities FY ‘08 Funding

Status:
On December 26, 2007, President Bush signed into law an omnibus funding package (H.R. 2764) that incorporates the eleven fiscal year 2008 appropriations bills for non-Defense Department agencies. The overall total for the bill is $555 billion. Congress passed the bill on December 19.

Here is a summary of FY ‘08 funding for the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH). NEH’s funding is under the jurisdiction of the Interior, Environment and Related Agencies appropriation. Please note that for comparison purposes, the FY ‘07 budget number will be included in parentheses after this year’s amount.

Total budget–$144.7 million ($141 million)

Grants and Administration–$130.3 million ($125.8 million) Programs under this budget line include:

  • Federal and State Partnerships–$31.7 million ($30 million)
  • Preservation and Access–$18.3 million ($18.3 million)
  • Public Programs–$12.7 million ($12.3 million)
  • Research Programs–$13 million ($12.6 million)
  • Education Programs–$12.6 million, ($12.2 million)
  • Program Development–$356K ($375K)
  • We the People Initiative Grants–$15 million
  • Digital Humanities Initiative–$1.9 million

Matching grants–$14.2 million ($15.2 million)

Background
The National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) is an independent federal agency created by Congress in 1965. NEH is the largest single source of funding for humanities programs in the United States.

NEH grants are awarded on a competitive, peer-review basis to organizations, institutions and individuals throughout the country. Many grants provide significant leveraging of non-federal giving through matching requirements. Awards are made to nonprofit cultural institutions, such as museums, archives, libraries, colleges, universities, public television, and radio stations; to state humanities councils; and to individual scholars. NEH extends its reach through annual operating grants to its partner institutions, the 56 state humanities councils, located in every state and U.S. territory.

NEH launched the “We the People” initiative in 2002 to promote the study and teaching of American history and culture; to preserve the nation’s historic documents; and to disseminate knowledge of American history and culture through exhibitions, public programs and partnerships with the state humanities councils.

This past year, NEH launched the “Digital Humanities Initiative.” This new program issues grants to projects that explore new ways to learn, share, preserve and interpret the humanities in a digital environment.