The government offer federal benefit programs designed to help individuals and families in need become self-sufficient or lower their expenses.

What is a grant?

A grant is a way the government funds your ideas and projects to provide public services and stimulate the economy. Grants support critical recovery initiatives, innovative research, and many other programs listed in the Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA).

Government grants are transfers of resources to an entity by government in return for past or future compliance with certain conditions relating to the operating activities of the entity.

What are grants used for?

Grants are funding made available by an individual or organization for use by another party to finance a particular activity, venture, charity or facility. Most grants are created to aid or encourage a specific activity and many grants have limitations or requirements which determine who is eligible for the funding.

A grant is an award, usually financial, given by one entity (typically a company, foundation, or government) to an individual or a company to facilitate a goal or incentivize performance. Grants are essentially gifts that do not have to be paid back, under most conditions.

Is a grant a loan?

A loan requires you to repay the money you borrow, whereas a grant does not. Grants are, essentially, a gift. In other words, they're non-repayable. Grants may be awarded by government departments, trusts, or corporations and given to individuals, businesses, educational institutions, or non-profits.

Government Grants

Learn about federal government grants, who qualifies, and how to get them.

What is a grant from the government?

A grant is one of the ways the government funds ideas and projects to provide public services and stimulate the economy. Grants support critical recovery initiatives, innovative research, and many other programs. You can find a list of projects supported by grants in the Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA). You can also learn about the federal grant process and search for government grants at Grants.gov.

Who can get a grant?

The federal government awards grants to organizations including:

State and local governments

Universities

Research labs

Law enforcement

Non-profit organizations

Businesses

The intent of most grants is to fund projects that will benefit specific parts of the population or the community as a whole. What you might see about grants online or in the media may not be true. The federal government does not offer grants or “free money” to individuals.

The federal government offer grants or “free money” to individuals to start a business or cover personal expenses, contrary to what you might see online or in the media.

If you’ve been exploring your options for financial aid, you’ve probably run into the main types that students rely on: grants and loans. Of course, you want to make your education affordable, but you also want to make sure you know what each option means before you commit to it. Here’s what you need to know about the differences between grants and loans.

The main difference between grants and loans is whether or not you must repay them. A grant gives you money that you won’t have to pay back. (There are some exceptions regarding federal grant repayment.) Grants are basically a gift to help you pay for school. They are often issued because you have demonstrated financial need of some kind and can be issued either federally or privately. To apply for a federal grant, you will need to fill out a Free Application for Federal Student Aid, or FAFSA form.

ADVANTAGES OF GRANTS

No repayment. Usually, once you’ve been awarded grant money, it’s yours!
No risk. Since grants usually do not require repayment, you have no risk of not being able to pay them back.

If you take out a student loan, you are borrowing money that will have to be repaid. While you typically don’t have to begin repaying your federal student loans until after you leave school, your loan will also develop interest that must be paid. Many federal student loans will provide you with manageable repayment plans and interest rates so that you are able to repay them. If you qualify for subsidized student loans, the government will pay your interest while you’re in school.
Private student loans may require you to make payments while you’re still in school. The interest rates can often be higher than those of federal loans as well. These rates will depend on your credit.

In general, it’s best to see what kind of aid you can get from federal loans and other grants as well as scholarships before you turn to private loans. However, before you decide to take out a private or public student loan, make sure you understand the terms of the loan. Know when you need to begin making payments and what will be expected of you so it doesn’t surprise you later.

ADVANTAGES OF LOANS

Better opportunities. While there are a limited number of grants available, loans can be given by many different parties. You won’t be competing with anyone for a loan.
More financing options. Grants are usually for a specific amount of money and are limited by how much funding the department has to give that year. With a loan, you can get as much funding as your credit (and your ability to repay) will allow.

One option isn’t better than the other – do your research to see what kind of funding suits your needs the best.

We want you to receive the financial assistance you need for your education. Visit our Financial Aid page for more information if you have any questions.

Government Grants

Government Grants Definition:

An award of financial assistance in the form of money by the federal government to an eligible grantee with no expectation that the funds will be paid back. The term does not include technical assistance which provides services instead of money, or other assistance in the form of revenue sharing, loans, loan guarantees, interest subsidies, insurance, or direct appropriations

Even in the most economically challenged of times, the government is one of the best sources for grants. For instance, the National Institute of Standards and Technology's Advance Technology Program offers grants to co-fund "high-risk, high-payoff projects" that will benefit American industry. Whatever the project is, you can bet it will be scrutinized by a board of qualified experts and academia.

The Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) office is another government agency that gives grants. The SBIR specializes in small businesses looking for funding for high-risk technologies. The catch: Unlike the Advance Technology Program, the technology must meet the research and development needs of the federal government. Founded in 1982, the SBIR recently awarded $1.5 billion to startups, with grants going to software, biotechnology, health-care and defense companies. So if you're planning on opening a pizzeria, you might have trouble with this one.

But there are federal grants awarded to food and nutrition companies. For instance, a pizzeria that caters to children and specializes in serving nutritious, healthy pizzas may be able to win a grant. You can also check with your state or local government to see what's available--start with your local or state chamber of commerce.

A grant is a fund given by an end entity grant – often a public body, charitable foundation, or a specialised grant-making institution – to an individual or another entity (usually, a non-profit organisation, sometimes a business or a local government body) for a specific purpose linked to public benefit. Unlike loans, grants are not to be paid back.

European Union[edit]

European Union grants[edit]

The European Commission provides financing through numerous specific calls for project proposals. These may be within Framework Programmes. Although there are many 7-year programmes that are renewed that provide money for various purposes. These may be structural funds, Youth programmes and Education programmes. There are also occasional one-off grants to deal with unforeseen aspects or special projects and themes. Most of these are administered through what are called National Agencies, but some are administered directly through the Commission in Brussels. Due to the complexity of the funding mechanisms involved and especially the high competitiveness of the grant application processes (14%) professional Grant Consulting firms are gaining importance in the grant writing process.^[1] EU grants shall not be mixed with EU tenders, that can be sometimes similar.^[2]

Another funding body in Europe is the European Council. Similarly there are calls and various projects that are funded by this council.

Denmark[edit]

Denmark has an educational universal grant system, SU (Statens Uddannelsesstøtte, the State Education Fund). It is available to all students from 18 years of age, with no upper limit, who are currently taking courses. There are two systems of SU.^[3]

Youth Education (Ungdomsuddannelse), available to all students in pre-university education (upper secondary education).
Higher Education (Videregående Uddannelse), available to all students in post-secondary (higher education), is a coupon grant valid for 5 years and 10 months from beginning higher education.

In addition to the government grant scheme, more than 35,000 grants in Denmark exists, which is the second largest number of foundations in Europe by country. The foundations are estimated to possess 400 billion Danish kroner (US$60 billion) in accessible funds.

Ireland[edit]

Grant-giving organizations in Ireland include the Irish Research Council for Science, Engineering and Technology and Science Foundation Ireland for research grants.

Poland[edit]

Major grant organisations funded and operated by the government include:

United Kingdom[edit]

Grants are made available in the United Kingdom for a variety of business, charitable and research purposes. The biggest grant distributors are government departments and agencies which offer grants to third party organisations (often a charitable organisation) to carry out statutory work on their behalf.

Other major grant distributors in the United Kingdom are the National Lottery, charitable trusts and corporate foundations (through Corporate Social Responsibility policies). For example, Google contributes to the grants process through its Google Grants programme, where any charitable organization can benefit financially from free Google Ads advertising if they share Google's social responsibility outcomes.

Grants are time limited (usually between one and three years) and are offered to implement existing government policies, to pilot new ways of doing things or to secure agreed outcomes. A grant will usually only be given for a specific project or use and will not usually be given for projects that have already begun.^[4]

Over the years the discipline of writing grant bids has developed into a specialised activity. Many organisations employ fundraising professionals to carry out this work. In the United Kingdom the fundraising profession is governed by The Institute of Fundraising and is independently regulated by the Fundraising Regulator in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland and by the Scottish Fundraising Standards Panel in Scotland. The grant writing process generally includes search, proposal and accounting for competitive grant funds. Traditional search methods - for example referring to the Charities Aid Foundation Directory of Grant Making Trusts - are quickly becoming replaced by online fundraising tools.

In 2016, the UK Government introduced proposals to include an "anti-lobbying clause" in grant-funding agreements, i.e. payments which "support lobbying or activity intended to influence or attempt to influence Parliament, Government or political parties, or attempting to influence the awarding or renewal of contracts and grants, or attempting to influence legislative or regulatory action" ^[5] would not be treated as eligible for grant funding and therefore funded organisations would need to fund these activities in some other way. The Scottish Government indicated it would not be introducing similar measures.^[6]

Top grant-making charities[edit]

As of 2021,^[7] 6 out of the top 10 charities in England and Wales (as measured by expenditure on charitable activities) make grants to individuals and/or organisations.

British Council makes grants to individuals and organisations.
Wellcome Trust makes grants to individuals and organisations.
Save the Children International makes grants to organisations.
Arts Council England makes grants to individuals and organisations.
Charities Aid Foundation makes grants to organisations.
Cancer Research UK makes grants to individuals and organisations.

United States[edit]

In the United States, grants most often come from a wide range of government departments or an even wider range of public and private trusts and foundations. According to the Foundation Center^[8] these trusts and foundations number in excess of 88,000 and disperse in excess of $40 billion every year. Trusts and Foundations are a little more complex to research and can be found through subscription-based directories.^{[citation needed]}

Most often, education grants are issued by the government to students attending post-secondary education institutions. In certain cases, a part of a government loan is issued as a grant, particularly pertaining to promising students seeking financial support for continuing their educations.^[9]

Grant compliance and reporting requirements vary depending upon the type of grant and funding agency. In the case of research grants involving human or animal subjects, additional involvement with the Institutional Review Boards (IRB) and/or Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC) is required.

National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) : NASA receives and evaluates both solicited and unsolicited grant proposals. The NASA Shared Services Center (NSSC) currently awards all new grants for NASA HQ, GSFC, NMO, Stennis and Dyrden. Awards are made in accordance with the NASA Grants and Cooperative Agreement Handbook^[10]
National Institutes of Health (NIH)
- The Center for Scientific Review (CSR) is the focal point at NIH for the conduct of initial peer review of grant and fellowship applications. It implements ways to conduct referral and review.
- The Office of Extramural Research (OER) provides guidance to institutes in research and training programs conducted through extramural (grant, contract, cooperative agreement) programs.
National Science Foundation (NSF)
- Most NSF grants go to individuals or small groups of investigators who carry out research at their home campuses. Other grants provide funding for mid-scale research centers, instruments and facilities that serve researchers from many institutions. Still others fund national-scale facilities that are shared by the research community as a whole.
- The NSF receives about 40,000 proposals each year, and funds about 10,000 of them. Those funded are typically the projects that are ranked highest in a merit review process. These reviews are carried out by panels of independent scientists, engineers and educators who are experts in the relevant fields of study, and who are selected by the NSF with particular attention to avoiding conflicts of interest. (For example, the reviewers cannot work at the NSF itself, nor for the institution that employs the proposing researchers.) All proposal evaluations are confidential (the proposing researchers may see them, but they do not see the names of the reviewers).

Grant effectiveness[edit]

Econometric evidence show public grants for firms can create additionality in jobs, sales, value added, innovation and capital. For example, this was shown to be the case for large public R&D grants,^[11] as well as for public grants for small and medium-sized firms^[12] or tourism firms.^[13]

Review Process

As part of the grant review process, USCIS reviewed more than 95 eligible applications using two-member teams to evaluate each proposal. The reviewers scored applications numerically using published evaluation criteria. USCIS ranked the applications under each funding opportunity based on their average scores. The USCIS internal review panel determined the final list of recipients based on the ranked order, as well as the published strategic program priorities found on page 18 of the notice of funding opportunity for DHS-21-CIS-010-002 (PDF, 642.51 KB) and on pages 21-22 of the notice of funding opportunity for DHS-21-CIS-010-003 (PDF, 645.89 KB).

Contact Information

For additional information on the Citizenship and Integration Grant Program, please contact the USCIS Office of Citizenship at citizenshipgrantprogram@uscis.dhs.gov or visit uscis.gov/grants.

To learn more about applying for federal funding opportunities, visit grants.gov or call 800-518-4726.

What is a grant?

ADVANTAGES OF GRANTS

ADVANTAGES OF LOANS

Government Grants

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