Personal Assistance

Governmental Assistance

The Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA) is an electronic directory of all financial and non-financial federal assistance programs. "Assistance" is used in a generic sense; in addition to grant programs you will also find information on other forms of aid such as loans, surplus equipment and training.

For individuals, the majority of the assistance programs you will find take the form of guaranteed direct loans. A good place to start on this Web site is with the First Time User's Guide, which informs individuals that most grants from the federal government go to state and local governments and nonprofit organizations. From the User's Guide you can link to the list of Direct Loans, and to the Frequently Asked Questions.

The main search page, "Find Assistance Programs," is where you can search the Catalog. There are many options for searching and browsing the Catalog from this page. You can view lists of programs by agency and sub-agency (i.e. go directly to entries for the National Science Foundation), or by applicant eligibility. As stated above, many of the assistance programs listed may only be for state and local governments and nonprofit organizations, so it can be helpful to limit your searching to programs for which individuals would be eligible. There are several categories that may apply under the By applicant eligibility heading: Individual/family; Minority group; Specialized group or Anyone/general public.