Grants / Department of Veterans Affairs / VA National Cemetery Administration

VA-NCA-VCGP-2026: Veterans Cemetery Grants

Closed Closed July 1, 2026 Opportunity VA-NCA-VCGP-2026 ☆ Save

This grant is closed. Who won this program's grants before is below, and similar open grants are at the end of the page. It is in our archive of VA National Cemetery Administration notices from 2026.

• Award ceiling$60.0 million
• Total funding$60.0 million
• Expected awards30
• Cost sharingRequired
• Funding typeGrant

Key dates

Who can apply

This opportunity was open to the applicants described in the notice.

• Others (see text field entitled "Additional Information on Eligibility" for clarification)

States, U.S. territories, federally recognized tribal governments on trust land owned by, or held in trust for, the tribal organization or counties that meet the eligibility of 38 USC 2408.

Is this a realistic fit?

• Past Veterans Cemetery Grants Program awards averaged $3.6 million; this notice allows up to $60.0 million per award.
• Most of the program's money (100% over five years) went to state and local governments.
• The notice requires cost sharing or matching funds, so you must contribute part of the project cost.

What the grant funds

Improving Oversight of Federal Grantmaking VA is required to ensure compliance with all applicable statutes, regulations, and Executive Orders when evaluating and awarding grants. In accordance with Executive Order 14332, Improving Oversight of Federal Grantmaking, aside from the evaluation criteria published in this announcement, VA has discretion to remove from consideration any applicant VA deems does not clearly advance the President's or VA's priorities. VA will not fund activities that use racial preference for eligibility criteria or promote gender ideology. VA will not fund activities that promote or facilitate violations of immigration laws or are sources of waste, fraud, or abuse. VA will not tolerate activity or conduct by grant recipients that constitute acts of moral turpitude, are scandalous, or bring the recipient, the project funded by this grant, or VA into public disrepute, contempt, or ridicule. These grants support the President's priority to increase the excellence of and options for care, benefits, and services for veterans, as demonstrated in Executive Order 14332. Since 1980, the Veterans' Cemetery Grants Program (VCGP) has awarded 525 grants totaling over $1.187 billion that states (47), tribes (14) and 3 territories (Guam, Saipan, and Puerto Rico) used to establish, expand, improve, operate, or maintain a total of 124 Veterans cemeteries. In 2025, VA grant funded cemeteries interred 43,705 Veterans and eligible family members, which was more than 25% of the total annual interments in all national, state, territory, and tribal cemeteries (174,398). In 2025, VCGP established two new state cemeteries, the New York State Veterans Cemetery - Finger Lakes in New York and the Nebraska Veterans Cemetery at Grand Island in Nebraska, bringing the total to 124 VCGP funded Veterans cemeteries. These two cemeteries will provide burial options to an additional 24,907 unserved Veterans and their eligible family members. Additionally, VCGP’s 125th grant-funded state Veterans’ cemetery in Lubbock, Texas is planned to open in March 2026. Once completed, this cemetery will provide access to 19,923 Veterans that were previously unserved. This listing solicits FY 2026 pre-applications for the development of grant funded projects included in VCGP’s FY 2027 priority list. Grants may be used only to establish, expand, or improve Veterans cemeteries that are owned and operated by states, U.S.

Category: Community Development.

Applying now

This notice no longer takes applications. Agencies often post the same opportunity again under a new number, so check the program's notices on Grants.gov and the similar open grants below.

The notice on Grants.gov keeps its full text and attachments, which is useful for planning a resubmission.