According to NewsRadio 1110 KFAB, the University of Nebraska at Omaha pulled in $42,475,945 in grant awards for the 2025-26 fiscal year, a new single-year record for the Omaha campus and the fourth consecutive year its researchers have topped $40 million in outside funding. The figure includes support for projects ranging from drone cybersecurity to highway-safety research, and it edges past the university's previous high-water mark set just a few years ago.
According to a report from NewsRadio 1110 KFAB, the new total breaks UNO's previous record of $42,038,971, which was set in FY 2022-2023. The station's report also credits the university with drawing funding from 94 unique sponsors, including 14 federal agencies and eight state agencies, in the latest fiscal year.
UNO's funders included federal and state agencies, along with other sponsors.
A Steady Climb Toward the New Record
UNO's recent funding history shows a string of strong years leading up to this one. The university reported $40,621,405 in external funding for FY 2023-2024, a total it described as the second consecutive year above $40 million. The following year, FY 2024-2025, brought $40,783,060, the third straight year clearing that threshold, with the university noting, as reported by University of Nebraska at Omaha, that new submissions had grown by more than $18 million compared with the prior cycle.
UNO's latest FY 2025-2026 total now surpasses the totals reported for the two preceding fiscal years.
Student Awards and Proposal Numbers
As noted by NewsRadio 1110 KFAB, UNO's Office of Research and Creative Activity awarded 248 student awards totaling $746,192 for the year.
NewsRadio 1110 KFAB reported that 185 proposals were awarded in FY 2025-2026, with 101 unique principal investigators receiving external grants. Per a report from University of Nebraska at Omaha, that compares with the prior year's totals, when UNO reported 210 proposals awarded and 118 unique principal investigators receiving external grants for FY 2024-2025, which came from 92 sponsors including 21 federal agencies and 12 state agencies. The year before that, FY 2023-2024 funding drew from 89 sponsors, 25 federal agencies and 14 state agencies.
Across these recent fiscal years, sponsor, agency and award counts shifted from year to year even as the overall dollar totals climbed.
