Skip to content
The Big Ten Conference Inc at a glanceAlso receives grants: funding profile →

· Public charity

The Big Ten Conference Inc

Shared practices and policies that enforce the priority of academics in student-athletes' lives.

$1.4B
Granted FY2025still arriving
18
Grants FY2025still arriving
14
States reached
$92M
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
01What it funds
01100% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2017 to 2025.

Recreation & Sports$4.1BEducation$2.7BYouth Development$343M
02FY2025 · 18 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

$78,490,746
Median grant
14
States reached
$281M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY$91,552,082
PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIVERSITY$88,921,162
INDIANA UNIVERSITY$81,009,897
UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA-LINCOLN$79,876,965
UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN$79,426,201
UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA$79,199,226
UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS$79,100,242
UNIVERSITY OF IOWA$79,071,495
RUTGERS THE STATE UNIV OF NEW JERSEY$78,490,746
UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA$78,057,558
MICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSITY$77,866,363
UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN$77,779,047
PURDUE UNIVERSITY$77,732,782
NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY$77,510,197
UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND-COLLEGE PARK$76,028,091
02The need
03

Does the money reach high-need areas?

Each grant placed by the hardship in its grantee’s ZIP, against the area’s typical level.

show:

Dollar for dollar, its grants (FY17–25) land where the poverty rate runs at 14%, against an area that typically sits at 10%. 87% of its dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 10%UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA-LINCOLN: $79.9M → 13%UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA: $79.2M → 11%PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIVERSITY: $88.9M → 16%UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA: $78.1M → 14%UNIVERSITY OF IOWA: $79.1M → 15%UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN: $79.4M → 14%MICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSITY: $77.9M → 16%UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN: $77.8M → 10%INDIANA UNIVERSITY: $81.0M → 18%PURDUE UNIVERSITY: $77.7M → 19%OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY: $91.6M → 15%NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY: $77.5M → 14%UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS: $79.1M → 19%RUTGERS THE STATE UNIV OF NEW JERSEY: $78.5M → 8%UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND-COLLEGE PARK: $76.0M → 11%UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA-LINCOLN: $63.3M → 13%UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA: $63.2M → 11%PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIVERSITY: $63.2M → 16%UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LOS ANGELES: $76.0M → 14%UNIVERSITY OF IOWA: $63.2M → 15%UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN: $63.2M → 14%MICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSITY: $63.3M → 16%UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN: $63.3M → 10%INDIANA UNIVERSITY: $63.2M → 18%PURDUE UNIVERSITY: $63.6M → 19%OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY: $63.2M → 15%NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY: $63.3M → 14%UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS: $63.4M → 19%RUTGERS THE STATE UNIV OF NEW JERSEY: $61.5M → 8%UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND-COLLEGE PARK: $61.5M → 11%University of Nebraska-Lincoln: $60.5M → 13%University of Minnesota: $60.5M → 11%Pennsylvania State University: $60.6M → 16%University of Iowa: $60.6M → 15%University of Michigan: $60.5M → 14%Michigan State University: $60.7M → 16%University of Wisconsin: $60.5M → 10%Indiana University: $60.6M → 18%Purdue University: $60.6M → 19%Ohio State University: $60.5M → 15%Northwestern University: $60.6M → 14%University of Illinois: $60.6M → 19%University of Iowa: $58.8M → 15%University of Michigan: $58.9M → 14%Michigan State University: $58.8M → 16%Indiana University: $58.8M → 18%Purdue University: $58.9M → 19%Ohio State University: $58.8M → 15%0%20%40%50%more need →
grant to an above-average-need area below average· circle size = grant amount
How this is measured
Matched: human-services grants are those whose grantee’s IRS cause code is Human Services. Placed by people below the poverty line in the grantee’s ZIP, averaged from the tracts in that ZIP.

Which US states its grants reach

WA
MN
IL
WI
MI
OR
IA
IN
OH
PA
NJ
CA
NE
MD
How this is measured
US grants placed by each grantee’s ZIP, which can differ from where services are delivered. Need from public data (U.S. Census/ACS, CDC PLACES, Eviction Lab, USDA), shown as context about the area, never attributed to the funder’s giving.
03Its grantees
repeat funding

Who it funds again

Organizations funded in more than one year, against those funded once.

98%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$6.9B · 14 repeat orgs$171M to everyone else

14 repeat relationships: 14 still active in FY2025, 0 since wound down; 3 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

14
3

Total granted

$6.9B
$171M

Still filing today

7%
0%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 87% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $171M went to new ones.

50%100%’17’18’19’20’21’22’23’24’25
RenewedFirst-time
How this is measured
First-time means a grantee’s first year in the filing window; renewed means funded in an earlier year too. The renewed share climbs naturally as a portfolio matures, so the signal is a year that bucks it (a wave of new grantees). The earliest year is left-censored: relationships that predate the data read as new. Theme is the grantee’s IRS cause.

Backed again, and grew

  • TO
    THE OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY
    9× · 2017–2025 · $524M
  • PS
    PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIVERSITY
    9× · 2017–2025 · $521M
  • IU
    Indiana University School of Medicine
    9× · 2017–2025 · $513M

Funded once

  • RU
    REGENTS UNIV OF CALIFORNIA
    one grant, 2025 · $76M
  • UO
    UNIVERSITY OF OREGON
    one grant, 2025 · $48M
  • UO
    UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON
    one grant, 2025 · $47M
How this is measured

Repeat means funded in two or more distinct years. Growth and survival are read from each grantee’s own subsequent IRS filings.

04Its field
04the grantee network

2 grantees tracked through their own filings, 2017–2025.

Each grant beside the grantee’s revenue from every source, year by year.

How this is measured

Counted here: distinct organizations funded across 2017 to 2025, not grant rows in a single year, so this will not match the grant count on the cover. 2 of the 18 grantees resolved in that span have returns of their own we could reconcile.

Each grantee is resolved to its own IRS returns. Association, dated; never a causal claim.

0
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
0
Early backer (in before they grew)
2/2
Grantees still filing
1/2
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

THE OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY: $524,112,082 · OtherTHE OHIO STATE UNIVERSITYPENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIVERSITY: $521,236,162 · OtherPENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIVERSITYIndiana University School of Medicine: $513,372,896 · OtherIndiana University School of MedicineREGENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN: $512,735,200 · OtherREGENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGANTHE BOARD OF TRUSTEES OF THE UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS: $511,715,736 · OtherTHE BOARD OF TRUSTEES OF THE UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOISUNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA: $511,642,226 · OtherUNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTAState University of Iowa: $511,549,494 · OtherState University of IowaTRUSTEES OF PURDUE UNIVERSITY: $511,152,782 · OtherTRUSTEES OF PURDUE UNIVERSITYMICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSITY: $511,021,363 · OtherMICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSITYUNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN: $510,488,049 · OtherUNIVERSITY OF WISCONSINBOARD OF REGENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA: $492,942,542 · OtherBOARD OF REGENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKAUNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND COLLEGE PARK: $399,996,736 · OtherUNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND COLLEGE PARKRUTGERS THE STATE UNIVERSITY: $342,648,468 · Other+3 more: $171,135,951 · OtherNorthwestern University: $509,923,197 · Recreation & SportsUNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA: $78,057,558 · Education
Other$6,545,749,687Recreation & Sports$509,923,197Education$78,057,558

Each grantee by its size and the funder’s share of it; top left is load-bearing

25%50%75%100%grantee revenue →↑ funder's share of their budgetNorthwestern University: $509,923,197 over 9y, 1.8% of budgetUNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA: $78,057,558 over 1y, 1.3% of budget
Grantee by grantee: a decade per organization, before and after funding

A decade per grantee: revenue shaded, grants as bars, all rows on one timeline.

  • Who funds Northwestern University ↗
  • Who funds UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA ↗

How much its grantees rely on government

Each dot is one organization The Big Ten Conference Inc funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from The Big Ten Conference Inc. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 00%0%1%3%5%funder's share of their income ↑0%5%10%15%20%share of the org’s income from government →
    no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
    0get no government money at all
    0rely on government for over half their income
    ⤢ axis zoomed · 0–20%
    typical government reliance, FY20–25
    How this is measured
    Government income is each org’s traced federal awards (USASpending grants and contracts) plus state payments (open checkbooks) as a share of its total revenue (IRS Form 990); the self-reported government-grant line (990 line 1e) is carried for cross-check: a grantee that reports government grants we could not trace to a source is left off the chart rather than shown as receiving none. An association, not a claim that a grant caused the public funding. Coverage is precision-first, a floor rather than a census; state records exist for 9 states, so a grantee outside them shows no state figure (dimmed) rather than a false zero. Federal award amounts are obligations, which can span years, so a single-year share is indicative. 990 filings lag 12 to 24 months.

    On method. Every financial figure here is read from IRS e-file XML, the funder’s own 990/990-PF, and from the multi-year returns of the 18 grantees we resolved, each linked to its source. Grantee outcomes are each organization’s own program-service reporting (Form 990, Part III), read as association with funding, never as caused by it. Low-confidence name matches are suppressed rather than guessed. How we build these →

    How this is measured
    Each figure carries one of six labels. Filed is what the funder reported on its return. Official is another government record about an organization, such as a federal award or a charity register, joined by name where no shared identifier exists. Resolved is an identity we worked out where the filing named a recipient without an EIN, kept only above a measured confidence threshold. Computed is arithmetic over those, like themes, portfolio clusters and co-funder strength. Context is a statistic about a place rather than about an organization, which is what the need overlay is: it describes the area a grantee’s address sits in, not where its work lands. Inferred is drawn by a model from text, like the partnerships read out of public news and organization websites. Each is labeled where it appears.

    Generated from the IRS Form 990 e-file return for fiscal year 2025, released 2025. Filings run roughly 12 to 24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

    Source object · view filing

    Play a game based on Big Ten Conference’s filings →

    More from the funding graph

    The unnamed billions
    grants reported with no recipient in the public record
    The regranting layer
    51% of grant dollars land in the regranting layer
    The DAF merry-go-round
    $9.7B circulates between donor-advised funds
    The endowment market
    who holds foundation money, and what just moved
    The camps
    funders cluster by geography, not ideology
    By state
    where grant money is based, and what stays home