$1 billion goes unspent at NSF, DHS proposes new fees for international student work program, and more

NSF ends fiscal year with more than $1 billion unspent

The National Science Foundation closed fiscal year 2026 with more than $1 billion in funding still unobligated following a sharp slowdown in research grantmaking. The agency obligated $6.4 billion in research funds this year, down from $8.3 billion in fiscal year 2025, according to the latest available data shared by Grant Witness — a decrease of about 23%. This funding was distributed between 6,218 awards, down from 8,647 last year and 10,937 in fiscal year 2024.

The New York Times reported that NSF withheld $1.4 billion in research funds in 2026, but the final figure could be different — an OMB apportionment approved in August estimated that NSF would carry $1.7 billion in unobligated research funding into fiscal year 2027.

While NSF has two years to spend its research appropriations, it typically doesn’t carry over such large shares of its annual budget. NSF spokesperson Mike England told the New York Times that the agency had “carried over funds to invest in agency priorities that are aligned with broader administration initiatives.” Earlier this year, Nature reported that NSF was withholding about $1 billion of its budget to fund the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy’s Grand Research Challenges initiative.

In contrast, the National Institutes of Health managed to spend its entire extramural research budget of around $34 billion this year, STAT reported, despite a slow start to its grantmaking.

Noam Ross, co-founder of Grant Witness and executive director at rOpenSci, told FYI that the differences in spending between agencies show “how important congressional restraints and directions in appropriations bills are towards being able to rein in the changes the administration is making.”

DHS proposes new fees for international student work program

The Department of Homeland Security proposed new fees for the Optional Practical Training (OPT) program on Oct. 8. International students use the OPT program to gain work experience in their field after graduation. Under the proposed rule, an initial OPT recommendation would carry a $70,000 fee, which universities would be responsible for paying but could pass on to students or employers. STEM graduates looking to extend their OPT to a maximum of three years face an additional $30,000 fee. Comments on the proposed rule are due Nov. 9.

DHS argues the fees will deter fraud, protect American workers, and discourage employers from using OPT to circumvent H-1B visa requirements. The department warns it may have to eliminate OPT entirely without the fees. U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services Director Joseph Edlow has previously advocated eliminating the program.

NAFSA: Association of International Educators criticized the proposal, arguing it would undermine American innovation, economic growth, and workforce development. “The research is clear: international students don’t take opportunities from Americans, they create them,” said NAFSA CEO Fanta Aw.

White House announces $6 billion in science initiatives

On Oct. 8, the Trump administration announced science initiatives totaling $6 billion at its Science: A New Golden Age summit. They included support for AI-powered scientific research, advanced computing facilities, accelerated doctoral training programs, and experiments with alternative approaches to research funding and peer review.

“This is the golden age,” President Donald Trump said during the event. “It wasn’t two years ago, but it is now.”

Initiatives announced at the event included:

• Computing commitments: Eleven companies pledged $2.4 billion in computing credits and AI tools to support DOE’s Genesis Mission, including $1 billion from Nvidia, $500 million from AMD, and $200 million from OpenAI.
• Accelerated STEM PhDs: DOE announced a $100 million Genesis Mission Graduate Fellowship program for accelerated four-year PhDs in AI and science or engineering in collaboration with DOE labs and industry partners. DOE plans to pilot the program with $20 million in FY27, while later funding will be contingent on appropriations. NSF also announced a six-year integrated bachelor’s-to-PhD program called NextGen Workforce.
• New NSF projects: NSF launched two $33 million Grand Research Challenge competitions focused on quantum applications and synthetic multicellularity, announced plans to invest up to $75 million over five years in AI-enabled laboratory instrumentation, and launched an X-Labs Consortium backed by more than $300 million in industry, philanthropic and research-partner commitments.
• AI-powered biomedical research: NIH, DOE, and Biohub launched a $1.8 billion virtual biology initiative to develop AI models of cells and biological systems. NIH also launched Generation Discovery to recruit 100 early-career scientists.
• Space and quantum technology: NASA and DOE expanded cooperation on space nuclear systems, while DOE identified eight scientific problems for a previously announced $215 million quantum computing competition.

White House Office of Science and Technology Policy Director Michael Kratsios described the announcement as “the most transformative day for the American scientific enterprise since the reshaping of the federal research ecosystem following World War II.” The announcements came shortly after the end of fiscal year 2026. Science agencies such as NIH and NSF awarded far fewer research grants than in previous years during those 12 months, and NSF faced criticism for leaving more than $1 billion of its budget unspent.