To support CU Boulder’s advocacy in Washington, D.C., the university’s Federal Relations team is soliciting campus input to help identify the university’s priorities for congressionally directed and programmatic funding for federal Fiscal Year 2025.

Your participation in the process will aid in developing the annual fiscal and policy requests that Federal Relations delivers to the Colorado congressional delegation on behalf of the university. Please submit your ideas by Friday, Feb. 2 for consideration.

Input can be submitted for two types of federal funding: ​Programmatic Requests and Congressionally Directed Spending Requests. Please submit programmatic requests using this form and congressionally directed spending requests using this form by Friday, Feb. 2.

Programmatic Requests

Each year, Federal Relations collaborates with other universities and stakeholders to grow funding for existing federal programs and accounts relevant to university interests. Across CU's four campuses, the university submits approximately 20 programmatic requests per year for our top priorities, including topline funding levels for executive agencies and programs such as NSF, NIH and NASA, as well as for federal student aid programs such as Pell, TRIO, Federal Work Study and more. These programmatic requests may also include language directing federal agencies to implement programs in specific ways. Please submit programmatic requests using this form.

Congressionally Directed Spending Requests

Federal Relations also undertakes efforts to secure funding from Congress for compelling projects that fall outside peer-reviewed and other existing processes, including through congressionally directed spending or earmarks. Earmark funding supports small-to-medium sized projects, typically less than $1 million. Congressionally directed spending is one-time funding. While it cannot fund research, it can support training, equipment and program implementation activities. Members of Congress can only support a handful of projects in their district or state and the process is competitive and unpredictable. Please submit congressionally directed spending requests using this form.

Proposals relevant to the Chancellor's Strategic Imperatives (Shape Tomorrow's Leaders, Be the Top University for Innovation, Positively Impact Humanity) and the campus strategic priorities of innovation, diversity, equity and inclusion, student success, mental health and wellness, and campus resource resilience will be favorably considered. Proposals aligned with congressional and federal agency priorities are more likely to receive federal support. CU Boulder anticipates selecting only a handful of proposals for FY 2025 but may be able to support additional projects through other means or in future fiscal years.

The Federal Relations team will compile and coordinate all CU Boulder requests and submit a prioritized list for the Chancellor's review and approval. Federal Relations is available to provide direct guidance and clarification prior to the submission deadline. Please email Associate Vice President for Research and Federal Policy Heather Bené (heather.bene@cu.edu) to discuss your project in advance of the Feb. 2 submission deadline.

Federal Relations and Lewis Burke Associates—a Washington, D.C.-based advocacy firm that supports CU's engagement at the federal level—will offer a webinar "Federal Funding: What Makes Compelling Requests to Congress" on Jan. 18 at 10 a.m. MT. Register for the webinar here.