Bureau of Indian Education

The Department of the Interior Bureau of Indian Affairs Bureau of Indian Education, a civilian sub-agency within Interior, procures goods, services, and construction to operate and maintain Bureau-operated schools and educational facilities serving Native American students across the United States. The Bureau of Indian Education (BIE) is the operating entity; it awards contracts for facilities maintenance, food service, instructional support, technology infrastructure, and professional development delivered at BIE schools and administrative sites nationwide.

The Bureau has awarded 7,054 federal contracts since 2011, with combined potential value of $1.4 billion and $1.08 billion obligated to date. Annual award volume declined over the last five years: 1,056 awards in 2022, 1,136 in 2023, 928 in 2024, 630 in 2025, and 546 year-to-date in 2026, reflecting a downward trend in recent activity. The most recent award closed on October 1, 2026. The contractor base is highly fragmented, with 1,336 distinct prime contractors awarded over the portfolio history. Among the top five by award count over the last five years—covering 18 percent of recent awards—Sysco Corp leads with 196 awards worth $40.6 million in combined potential value, followed by Regency Consulting Inc. (177 awards, $25 million) and J & N Marketing Inc. (167 awards, $10.5 million). By combined potential value over the same period, the top five contractors account for only 7 percent of portfolio value, with Sysco Corp again leading, followed by Regency Consulting Inc. and LSG Educational Services LLC ($11.2 million). This highly fragmented competitive structure reflects the Bureau's reliance on numerous small and specialized vendors.

Set-aside activity strongly favors Indian-owned and tribal enterprises. Indian Small Business Economic Enterprise designations account for 32 percent of awards (2,239), while total small-business set-asides add another 12 percent (853 awards). Fifty-five percent of awards carry no set-aside, leaving room for competition across all contractor sizes. Indian Economic Enterprise set-asides represent 1 percent of awards (52), with all other set-aside categories—8(a) sole source, woman-owned small business, HUBZone sole source, service-disabled veteran-owned small business, and Buy Indian—each representing less than 1 percent.

Recent contract opportunities span facilities work, services, and supplies. The Bureau is soliciting greenhouse construction at Wingate High School in Fort Wingate, New Mexico (set-aside: Indian Small Business Economic Enterprise, due November 19, 2026; estimated value $100,000 to $250,000), occupational therapy, speech language pathology, and psychology services for Isleta Elementary and T'siya Day Schools (due November 19, 2026), and various smaller professional services and facilities maintenance tasks. Multiple sole-source notices indicate active procurement of brand-specific educational consulting (WestEd, New Generation Educational Consulting, Empower Educational Consulting), crisis prevention training (Crisis Prevention Institute), and emergency HVAC diagnostics (Trane U.S. Inc.). The pipeline shows steady activity concentrated on Indian Small Business Economic Enterprise set-asides and total small-business designations, with due dates extending through November 2026.