The suit was also filed alongside the Association of American Universities, the American Council on Education, and the Association of Public and Land-Grant Universities.
In their filing, the plaintiffs said the cuts were unlawful and, if they were to occur, would “badly undermine scientific research at America’s universities and erode our nation’s enviable status as a global leader in scientific research and innovation.”
Mike England, a spokesman for the NSF, declined to comment for this story
On Friday, the NSF announced it would cap reimbursement for indirect research costs at 15 percent for all new grants awarded to colleges — a move that mirrors new policies at the National Institutes of Health and the US Department of Energy, both of which have been since blocked by federal courts.
NSF provides funding to higher education institutions, and allocated $7.2 billion in 2024 for research and other related activities. During that fiscal year, the agency funded projects at 1,850 colleges and universities.
Since the Trump administration announced it would make a third attempt to cap the reimbursement rate at another major scientific agency, higher education groups have called the direction “misguided,” and said these cuts would harm the nation’s research enterprise.
“The third time is not a charm; rather, it is disaster in the making for American science [and] technology and our nation’s continuing competitiveness,” said Matt Owens, president of COGR, an organization for research universities and medical centers, in a statement.
Owens said NSF-sponsored research has “propelled” scientific discoveries that are “vital to American innovation [and] competitiveness,” including semiconductors, the internet, and 3-D printing.
Kara D. Freeman, the president and CEO of the National Association of College and University Business Officers, said the cuts were “short-sighted and ultimately against the nation’s interests.”
“This retrenchment is not a good deal for taxpayers,” Freeman said in a statement. “The truth is that without a federal partner to share some of the costs of innovation, ground-breaking research, and other life-changing advances, these costs will fall directly and indirectly on current students or bring this vital work to a halt.”
In Providence, Brown is already facing a $510 million federal funding freeze over what the Trump administration calls its effort to hold elite universities accountable for persistent antisemitism on campus. While a White House spokesman has confirmed those proposed cuts to a Globe reporter, Brown spokesman Brian Clark told the Globe Tuesday that the university has yet to receive any notification of the Trump administration’s efforts to cut widespread funding.
Brown has had about three dozen grants for scientific research cut by the Trump administration in the last couple of months, many of them related to gender, race, or diversity, equity and inclusion, said Clark.
“There are a significant number of uncertainties,” Clark told the Globe. He said the university is planning for all possible scenarios, and asking researchers to pause discretionary funding temporarily. Widespread cuts could mean layoffs and the end of high-impact research, Clark noted.
In a statement, Brown President Christina H. Paxson said the university will continue its efforts to protect the funding that “has long enabled the US to be a global leader in scientific progress and innovation.”
“Reducing this National Science Foundation funding will cause America to lose its global competitive edge in areas such as quantum computing, machine learning, advanced novel engineering materials and biomechanics, today and in the future,” Paxson said in a statement.
A spokesperson for MIT did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the impact of the NSF cuts.
Alexa Gagosz can be reached at alexa.gagosz@globe.com. Follow her @alexagagosz and on Instagram @AlexaGagosz. Steph Machado can be reached at steph.machado@globe.com. Follow her @StephMachado.