By Since January, five federal agencies have revoked 11 grants at Long Beach State, adding to over 60 terminations across the CSU system in a move university officials have called “an attack on higher education.”
These grant terminations come from five federal agencies:
- 3 revocations from the National Endowment for the Humanities
- 2 revocations from the National Institute of Health
- 1 revocation from the Department of Education
- 1 revocation from the Department of Transportation
- 1 revocation from the National Science Foundation
“It’s the most fluid situation I’ve ever seen,” Barbara Taylor, interim associate vice president for research and sponsored programs at CSULB, said. “It’s just such a kick in the gut. The faculty for whom this has happened to have had that knock the wind out of you sort of feeling.”
When a grant is won, it is awarded to the CSULB Research Foundation and funneled to grant recipients to promote research, scholarly or creative activity. A grant can come from various sources, including federal and state agencies, or private groups and individuals.
According to Taylor, grants are usually terminated under extreme circumstances, like fraud or mishandling of funds. However, the reasons provided by the federal agencies that have revoked grants at CSULB, remain vague.
“The most common reason is words to the effect of ‘the project no longer aligns with the agency’s priorities,’” Taylor said.
CSULB President Jane Close Conoley said the recent grant terminations have been disappointing but not surprising.
“These grants tend to look into the human condition,” Conoley said. “Higher education tends to ask questions. There seems to be a new narrative from the Republican regime that there’s only one way to think.”
Many university officials have pointed to recent federal government actions, such as international student visa cancellations and the freezing of federal funds and grants, as a concerted effort against higher education institutions.
“I think it’s a war on higher education,” Taylor said. “This is one front on which that battle is being fought. The visa cancellations are another. Some of these might not seem like a big war on education, but every bit counts.”
What do the numbers show?
Long Beach State has experienced eight terminations from five different federal agencies, as well as three pauses in grants. Graphic credit: Linsey Towles.
According to data provided by Taylor, there have been 62 grant terminations across 20 CSU campuses.
These terminations come from federal agencies, totaling a loss of $65 million across the CSU system.
The National Institute of Health has the highest number of grant cancellations, at 20. The National Endowment for the Humanities has the second-highest number, at 11, and the Department of Education has the third-highest number, at 7.
Three grants from the U.S. Department of Agriculture have also been paused. These terminations have cost a total of $2.1 million.
According to Taylor, these grants were cancelled at various stages of completion, with one project very close to its end. Taylor also described notification of these cancellations as “haphazard,” with instances of emails and letters being sent to the wrong people or from unofficial government emails.
Fighting back
Both Taylor and Conoley confirmed many of these grant terminations have been taken to court alongside other schools in the CSU system and across California.
According to Conoley, the university was able to provide funds to students who lost grant support in the College of Science and Mathematics but has been unable to fund other losses.
“We are cooperating with legal cases and partnering with the state attorney general,” Conoley said. “The only right thing from my perspective is that faculty members get their money back. They wrote their proposal and they should be allowed to finish their research.”
Taylor said university officials are bracing for more grant terminations, staying prepared on behalf of faculty and ready to bring cases to court.
Since grant terminations began in January 2025, CSULB has been awarded 13 grants, totaling $1.9 million. The university has 143 active federal grants totaling $86.5 million and 121 active non-federal grants totaling $56.5 million.
CSULB ranks ninth in the CSU system in terms of the number of grant terminations.
*Editor’s Note: This story was updated with the most recent number of grants terminated, increasing from 8 to 11. The total amount of losses has not yet been provided to The Current.
