Tufts University’s research expenses have grown significantly over the last five years despite cuts in federal funding posing serious challenges to research across academia. According to Tufts’ 2025 Annual Financial Report, research expenses increased by $43.3 million, or 24.5%, over the past five years. This growth was accompanied by an $11.7 million, or 4.2%, increase in sponsorship revenue — including grants, contracts and gifts — from the prior fiscal year.
Administrators highlighted that rising research expenses are largely attributable to increased research productivity, as opposed to higher operating costs alone.
“Typically, when research expenditures increase, it reflects greater research activity and more faculty securing grants. It’s a sign that our faculty are bringing in more funding and doing more research, not that costs are simply rising while activity stays the same,” Thomas Malone, vice president for finance and treasurer, said.
Vice Provost for Research Bernard Arulanandam echoed that faculty members are primarily responsible for these upward trends.
“We have a very prolific group of faculty at Tufts,” he said. “The number of proposals has increased over time, which means our faculty are really paying attention to opportunities across all disciplines and schools. We are also recruiting new faculty, which further contributes to the increase in research expenditures.”
Researchers at Tufts also said a substantial portion of spending goes toward compensating graduate students for their support. Kristen Wendell, a professor of mechanical engineering and co-director of the Institute for Research on Learning and Instruction, emphasized that these personnel costs are the foundation of most research projects.
“Much of what it takes to run a research project is the cost of the personnel on the research project,” Wendell said.
She noted that stipends for graduate student researchers have seen significant growth following union negotiations.
“That required stipend increased substantially, probably on the order of about 20% to 25% within the past two years,” she said, adding that the increase reflects the cost of living in the Tufts area.
Despite overall growth, the research landscape at Tufts has faced disruptions as a result of government-issued budget cuts. Shifts in federal research priorities away from minority-focused research led to multiple grant terminations issued by the National Science Foundation in the spring of 2025.
Wendell described the effects of losing NSF funding, a key sponsor for IRLI-affiliated faculty members. She explained that when a researcher’s grant was dissolved, they were forced to seek alternative funding sources while maintaining support from research assistants.
“IRLI then had to devote efforts to figure out how to support [their] work as well,” she said.
Arulanandam confirmed that federal grant terminations have been widespread in the last fiscal year but added that researchers have received direct administrative support in response.
“We had 38 federal grant terminations across Tufts in 2025, and we’ve worked closely with those [principal investigators] to identify potential pathways for research continuity through alternate forms of funding, especially where students were involved,” he said. “That said, not all lost funding has been easily supplanted, and we continue to actively support our researchers as they navigate these challenges.”
While federally-issued grants and contracts make up a majority of Tufts’ research funding portfolio — approximately 69% — private grants also contribute to the university’s sponsorship channels. The $11.7 million increase in revenue from grants, contracts and gifts was partially offset by declines in private grant activity. Malone cautioned that even small decreases can have meaningful individual impacts.
“When you look at it holistically, it may not seem like a large number,” he said. “But for an individual faculty member, perhaps supported by a foundation grant, it can be significant to their career. Losing any amount of funding is a big deal for the individual faculty member and the school.”
In response to an unpredictable federal landscape and reduced private funding, administrators have emphasized the importance of diversifying fiscal resources for researchers, particularly by promoting engagement with industry sponsors. This strategy also extends to nonprofit and state sectors as the university expands efforts to connect faculty researchers with a broader range of funding sources, limiting reliance on any single channel.
Amid this uncertain period for research, university officials highlighted the critical role students play in advancing Tufts’ institutional mission.
“We are a student-centric, research-intensive institution, and that’s reflected in the caliber of our undergraduate, graduate and professional students, who truly help move the needle,” Arulunandam said. “The sky is the limit for our students to engage in research and scholarship, and we are here to connect them to those opportunities.”
In a joint statement to the Daily, Arulanandam and Malone acknowledged continued unpredictability in the coming fiscal year but emphasized that the administration is well-equipped to respond.
“2026 results are expected to reflect shifts driven by reduced federal funding opportunities, delays in federal award processing associated with government shutdown, and changes in federal research priorities. Tufts continues to closely monitor research funding performance as the higher education research environment evolves,” Arulanandam and Malone wrote.
