Earmarks are noncompetitive grants directed by Congress to specific constituents, including colleges and universities, usually in lawmakers' own districts or states. This practice -- also known as pork-barrel spending -- is controversial because it bypasses the normal competitions for federal grants.
Search by state, federal agency, and keyword. Search for an institution or a member of Congress by using the name as a keyword.
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Institution |
Earmarks |
Description |
Sponsors |
||
Winona State University |
Minnesota |
Transportation |
$87,521 |
to replace three at-grade highway railroad crossings adjacent to the campus |
n/a |
Winona State University |
Minnesota |
Transportation |
$554,400 |
to replace three at-grade highway railroad crossings adjacent to the campus |
n/a |
Wisconsin Association of Independent Colleges and Universities |
Wisconsin |
Education |
$330,130 |
for continued implementation of administrative support functions for independent colleges and universities |
Rep. Obey (D, Wis.) Sen. Kohl (D, Wis.) |
Wittenberg University |
Ohio |
Education |
$383,187 |
for a teacher-training initiative at the Wittenberg Center for Educational Collaboration |
Rep. Hobson (R, Ohio) |
Wittenberg University |
Ohio |
Justice |
$343,100 |
to support the Springfield At-Risk Youth Development program |
Rep. Hobson (R, Ohio) |
Wittenberg University |
Ohio |
Small Business Administration |
$600,000 |
to expand business education |
Rep. Hobson (R, Ohio) |
Wright State University |
Ohio |
Defense |
$4,000,000 shared |
to be shared with a nonprofit corporation and a federal agency, for education programs at the Advanced Technical Intelligence Center |
Rep. Hobson (R, Ohio) Sen. Voinovich (R, Ohio) |
Xavier University (Ohio) |
Ohio |
Energy |
$492,000 |
to purchase new science equipment |
Rep. Chabot (R, Ohio) |
Xavier University of Louisiana |
Louisiana |
Commerce |
$491,150 |
to support the Louisiana Fisheries Recovery Resource Center |
Sen. Landrieu (D, La.) |
Xavier University of Louisiana |
Louisiana |
Defense |
$2,000,000 shared |
to be shared with Tulane University, for research into biosensors for defense applications |
Rep. Melancon (D, La.) Sen. Landrieu (D, La.) Sen. Vitter (R, La.) |
Xavier University of Louisiana |
Louisiana |
Interior |
$492,200 shared |
to be shared with Tulane University, for research by the Long-Term Estuary Assessment Group on the Mississippi River estuary |
Rep. Jefferson (D, La.) Sen. Landrieu (D, La.) |
Xavier University of Louisiana |
Louisiana |
Transportation |
$591,360 |
to plan and build bike/pedestrian crossings of the Washington-Palmetto Canal near the university |
n/a |
Yale University |
Connecticut |
Agriculture |
$493,000 |
for research on Lyme disease |
Rep. DeLauro (D, Conn.) Sen. Cardin (D, Md.) Sen. Mikulski (D, Md.) |
Yale University |
Connecticut |
Defense |
$2,000,000 |
for the National Center for Integrated Civilian-Military Domestic Disaster Medical Response program at Yale-New Haven Hospital |
Rep. DeLauro (D, Conn.) Sen. Dodd (D, Conn.) Sen. Lieberman (I, Conn.) |
Yale University |
Connecticut |
Health and Human Services |
$286,899 shared |
to develop a comprehensive program for ovarian-cancer prevention and early detection at the Yale New Haven Hospital, in collaboration with the Yale School of Medicine |
Rep. DeLauro (D, Conn.) |
Yeshiva University |
New York |
Defense |
$1,000,000 |
for a project at the Montefiore Medical Center to develop the "Clinical Looking Glass," a software tool to track patients' medical data to improve the quality and efficacy of treatment |
Rep. Engel (D, N.Y.) Sen. Clinton (D, N.Y.) Sen. Schumer (D, N.Y.) |
Yeshiva University |
New York |
Defense |
$1,600,000 shared |
to be shared with eight universities and a government laboratory, to support chemical-biological research at the New York Structural Biology Center |
Rep. Rangel (D, N.Y.) Sen. Clinton (D, N.Y.) Sen. Schumer (D, N.Y.) |
York College |
Nebraska |
Education |
$95,305 |
to support curriculum development for the training of clinical social workers in central and western Nebraska |
Sen. Hagel (R, Neb.) Sen. Nelson (D, Neb.) |
York College of Pennsylvania |
Pennsylvania |
Education |
$85,480 |
for laboratory equipment and technology upgrades and acquisition |
Sen. Specter (R, Pa.) Sen. Casey (D, Pa.) |
York Technical College |
South Carolina |
Energy |
$196,800 |
for a National Energy Resource Center |
Rep. Spratt (D, S.C.) Sen. Graham (R, S.C.) |
Youngstown State University |
Ohio |
Defense |
$1,600,000 |
to support industrial metrology for robotics and 3-D imaging research |
Rep. Ryan (D, Ohio) |
Youngstown State University |
Ohio |
Education |
$95,305 |
for a study on attention and fitness skills of third-grade students in a local school district |
Rep. Ryan (D, Ohio) |
Youngstown State University |
Ohio |
Education |
$421,505 |
to support the Rich Center for the Study and Treatment of Autism |
Rep. Ryan (D, Ohio) |
Youngstown State University |
Ohio |
Transportation |
$388,080 |
for the design and building of roadway and pedestrian-safety improvements |
n/a |
Youngstown State University |
Ohio |
Transportation |
$462,000 |
to support a transportation-research center |
n/a |
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Article: Colleges' Earmarks Grow, Amid Criticism
Article: An Inside Look at 5 Earmarks
Table: Institutions Receiving Non-Shared Earmarks, Ranked by Total Dollar Amount
Table: More Colleges Win More Projects
Database: Congressional earmarks, 1990-2003
NOTES ON THESE DATA
This database and accompanying news articles are based on a Chronicle survey of earmarks at institutions of higher education for the 2008 fiscal year, which began on October 1, 2007.
To assemble this list, The Chronicle relied on Congress's own definition of earmarks, first written last year: appropriations for specific amounts, directed by lawmakers to specific recipients, outside of the competitive award processes normally used by federal agencies to distribute grants. Using that definition, Congress listed earmarks in its spending bills for 2008 for the first time.
Legislators expressly identified the intended recipients in reports accompanying the appropriations bills, in letters of disclosure filed by House of Representatives members, and in news releases issued by senators and representatives. (The Chronicle obtained descriptions of the projects from those same sources.)
For some earmarks, the intended recipient was not spelled out in any of those sources. Most of those projects were sponsored by members of the Senate, which unlike the House chose not to disclose the recipients. As a result, this database may be incomplete.
Federal agencies assert that they also have a say over who gets money from Congressional earmarks and how much. The agencies often require the intended recipients of earmarks to submit grant applications that are reviewed before the recipients receive financing.
However, experts familiar with earmarks say these reviews appear to be pro forma because agency officials almost always give earmarked funds to the recipients favored by Congress. The agencies may take until the end of the fiscal year to complete the reviews and release the money.
For some earmarks, Congress specified multiple recipients and did not say how much money each was to get. The Chronicle's database lists the full amount of each such earmark for each academic partner involved, noting the amount as "shared." The project description usually indicates how many partners were involved in the project. In some cases, universities shared the money with corporations, municipal governments, and other organizations outside of academe.
The Chronicle did not consider those shared amounts when it ranked academic institutions and states receiving the most earmarked money.
The full value of each of these shared earmarks was counted only once in determining the total dollar amount of all 2,306 earmarks involving academic recipients this year.
Some earmarks listed did not go directly to an institution but still directly benefited it. The Chronicle included some earmarks, for example, provided to teaching hospitals affiliated with academic medical schools for research carried out by faculty members.
Dollar amounts reported may not be precise. Some agencies may subtract small amounts from the earmarked awards for their administrative costs. Further, some universities may redistribute some of their earmarked money to other colleges or corporations. Our list may not reflect all of those redistributions or reductions.
Some Department of Transportation earmarks in this database show no entry (N/A) for the Congressional sponsor. These projects were financed through a transportation bill (the Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: a Legacy for Users) enacted in 2005, before Congress established that sponsors be publicly identified.
The Chronicle carried out annual surveys of academic earmarks between 1990 and 2003 using a somewhat different methodology. It relied on federal agencies' interpretations of Congress's intended recipients when they were not identified in spending bills. A database of those projects is available at http://chronicle.com/premium/stats/pork/legacyindex.php
TIPS ON SEARCHING
You may enter words or phrases that you want to find in the keyword search box. This query will look for the exact word(s) within the following categories in this database:
- Descriptions of academic projects financed through earmarks.
- Institutions receiving earmarks.
- Federal agencies financing earmarks.
- Congressional sponsors of earmarks (last names only).
Unlike some search engines, this one does not allow and, or, and not connectors to search for words in separate categories. For example, if you enter the search string Maine and blueberry in the keyword box, the search engine will not produce an earmark designated for the University of Maine for research on blueberries. But if you search on the University of Maine or blueberry, you will find such an earmark.
You can nevertheless search several of the categories at once. To perform such a search, type a search term in the keyword box and narrow the search by using the other boxes to pick specific states and agency names.