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A Wisconsin Watch reader asks: How much funding do the University of Wisconsin-Madison and Madison College receive from the U.S. military?
The University of Wisconsin-Madison has 198 active Department of Defense awards, totaling $221.3 million in funding, according to UW-Madison’s declaration from the Association of American Universities lawsuit against the Department of Defense.
Defense-funded research aims to expand “warfighter capabilities” and the U.S. “strategic and tactical advantage.” President Donald Trump’s Department of Defense tried to cap indirect costs at 15%.
Defense awards support research in fields directly related to the military, such as “cybersecurity, maritime navigation, materials science, injury prevention and recovery and military flight technology,” said UW-Madison Vice Chancellor for Research Dorota A. Grejner-Brzezinska in the lawsuit challenging the Defense Department’s attempt to limit indirect costs.
The Department of Defense awarded $67.4 million in grants to UW-Madison in 2023-24, making up 8% of total agency funding, the fourth-highest source after the National Institutes of Health, the National Science Foundation and the Department of Energy. UW-Madison ranked sixth in national research expenditures with over $1.7 billion in the latest annual review.
UW-Madison also has 81 pending Defense grant proposals, as of June 13, 2025, with a requested total budget of $70.5 million, according to Grejner-Brzezinska’s declaration.
Indirect costs are costs that support research but are not directed to a specific award and include “costs for building maintenance, utilities, procurement of shared equipment, administrative services, information technology, libraries and compliance with federal regulations,” said Grejner-Brzezinska in the declaration.
On June 17, 2025, a federal judge in Boston temporarily granted universities a temporary restraining order, meaning they will temporarily operate with the previously negotiated indirect cost reimbursement rates of 55.5%. This follows an NIH cap of 15% on indirect costs, also blocked by a federal judge.
“The 15% rate cap will make most, if not all, of UW-Madison’s proposed and ongoing research projects infeasible,” Grejner-Brzezinska said.
Defense-funded studies at UW-Madison include a group of 30 scientists who study traumatic brain injuries, satellite data systems and artificial intelligence infrastructure and research.
Madison College currently has no active Defense awards or grants, according to a website detailing federal grants.
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by Noe Goldhaber / Wisconsin Watch, Wisconsin Watch
June 30, 2025
Noe Goldhaber joined Wisconsin Watch as a statehouse reporting intern in June 2025. She is attending UW-Madison, majoring in journalism and statistics with a minor in digital media analytics and history. Noe works as the editor-in-chief at UW-Madison’s student newspaper, The Daily Cardinal, where she previously served as college news editor, covering daily campus news, protests and free speech. She is interested in data, education, labor, health and environmental reporting.
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