California State University San Marcos Corp

California State University San Marcos Corp, a tax-exempt non-profit and Hispanic Serving Institution based in San Marcos, California, operates as a federal grant recipient and sub-recipient, delivering STEM education, research training, aerospace outreach, and scientific research services across 49 federal agencies with a footprint of 258 awards spanning from 2000 to the present. The organization does not hold prime contracts or contract vehicles; its entire federal footprint is grant-based, with 67 percent of awards as prime recipient grants and 33 percent as sub-recipient grants.

The bulk of CSUSM Corp's federal activity concentrates with NASA's Shared Services Center (83 awards, $4.2 million combined potential value), the National Science Foundation (32 awards), the Department of Education's Office of Postsecondary Education (26 awards), and the National Institute of General Medical Sciences within HHS (23 awards). This concentration—covering 69 percent of all awards—reflects a singular strategic focus: federally funded research and educational development anchored to STEM workforce pipeline, diversity in STEM, and basic scientific inquiry. The gap between potential value ($4.3 million) and obligated dollars ($207.7 million) signals a multi-year grant portfolio where many awards carry long performance periods and have been substantially drawn down; this is characteristic of research and training grants rather than contract work.

CSUSM Corp's capability footprint centers on STEM education and research delivery. Representative work includes a $1.977 million NSF STEM Education program award (CFDA 47.076) for the S-STEM Vertical Mentoring Learning Community, providing scholarships averaging $15,000 annually to 21 low-income chemistry and biochemistry undergraduates through November 2031, with faculty mentoring, block-enrolled courses, and research engagement; a $1.18 million NASA research grant awarded October 2022 for "Big Science From Small Samples"—nanoscale analysis of asteroid Bennu samples—with ultimate completion September 2026; and a $480,000 NASA cooperative agreement (awarded October 2022) for the MUREP Aerospace Academy engaging underserved youth in STEM activities related to space. Recent 2025 and 2026 grants include a $379,020 Army Research Development and Engineering Command project grant in quantum information science education, an $885,180 National Institute on Aging research award studying low-volume sprint interval training and cardiorespiratory fitness, and multiple NSF STEM Education grants addressing cybersecurity education, mobile making programs for underserved youth, and collaborative calculus pedagogy testbeds. The institution also acts as a sub-recipient on multi-institution research consortia, most notably a recurring role in Washington University-led lunar volatile science projects (multiple sub-awards spanning 2021–2024 for laboratory experiments characterizing water and CO₂ on the lunar surface).

Federal grant funding concentrates in NSF's Division of Undergraduate Education (CFDA 47.076 STEM Education program), HHS biomedical research programs (NIH/NIGMS, NIA, NIDA, NIBIB), NASA research and education initiatives, and the Department of Education's student support and workforce development programs (CFDA 84.042 TRIO, 84.407 TPSID, 84.348 and related). The institution competes for and receives full-and-open educational and research grants; no set-aside designations recur across the portfolio. As a Hispanic Serving Institution with demonstrated capacity in serving first-generation and low-income students, CSUSM Corp's positioning in federal grants reflects mission alignment with NSF HSI program investments (CFDA 47.076 Hispanic-Serving Institutions track) and HHS diversity-pipeline programs. Seventeen awards carrying a combined potential value of $1.2 million reach ultimate completion within the next twenty-four months, representing modest recompete exposure relative to the organization's total portfolio. The institution's federal engagement is research and education delivery—not procurement—and operates as the auxiliary corporation of California State University San Marcos, housing the Office of Sponsored Programs and Advancement and serving as the fiscal agent for the university's research enterprise.