Catholic University Of America (The)

Catholic University of America, a private non-profit research university based in Washington, D.C., serves as the prime recipient on an extensive portfolio of federal research grants spanning space science, physics, atmospheric research, and engineering disciplines, with no set-aside designations across its federal work. The university operates primarily as a grant recipient rather than a contract prime, competing on full-and-open procurements across civilian research agencies without pursuing set-aside categories.

The university's customer base centers on civilian space and research agencies. NASA's Shared Services Center anchors the portfolio with 382 awards valued at $166.3 million (40% of combined potential value), followed by the Department of the Navy with 122 awards worth $147.1 million combined potential value. NASA Goddard Space Flight Center contributes 117 awards worth $65.2 million, while the National Science Foundation and other civilian agencies round out the top five customer set. The top five agencies account for 57% of awards by count and 95% of combined potential value, demonstrating substantial concentration in civilian space science funding.

CUA's research footprint spans heliophysics, solar physics, space weather, atmospheric dynamics, planetary science, astrophysics, and nuclear physics. Representative recent grant work includes a $550.7 million cooperative agreement from NASA for executing a balanced science program aligned with National Academies guidance through November 2029; a $1.337 million NASA cooperative agreement for molecular chemistry research on comets and the interstellar medium through August 2027; a $784.6 thousand NASA cooperative agreement for exploration science research through March 2028; a $750 thousand NSF grant for pion and kaon structure research and AI integration through June 2029; and a $462.2 thousand NSF award for solar wind-magnetosphere coupling research through June 2028. The university also holds contract vehicles with the Navy: a $968 thousand single-award blanket purchase agreement with Naval Sea Systems Command (through July 2027) for ocean acoustics services and specialized graduate-level engineering coursework, and a $147 million indefinite-delivery contract under the U.S. Naval Community College Partnerships master vehicle for educational services supporting naval personnel development. CUA executes recurring BPA task orders under the NAVSEA vehicle for delivery of specialized coursework including advanced digital signal processing, Fourier acoustics, random signal theory, and Kalman filtering instruction, with individual calls ranging from $112.5 thousand to $124.7 thousand.

Activity has grown modestly over the past five years, moving from 47 awards in 2022 to 68 in 2024 before declining to 61 in 2025 and 28 through September 2026 (partial year). Seventy-eight awards with ultimate completion dates within the next twenty-four months carry combined potential value of $9.8 million, representing moderate recompete exposure. The university's award portfolio is dominated by research grants rather than service contracts—SCI-reported service contract activity appears minimal, with only one SCI record documented for FY2024, indicating that the vast majority of federal activity flows through research grant and cooperative agreement mechanisms rather than time-and-materials or labor-hour service delivery.

CUA operates as a prime recipient on 1,351 awards (96% of its portfolio) and as a sub-recipient on 61 federal grants (4%), positioning the university as an independent research performer rather than a feeder to larger primes. When subcontracting, CUA partners with institutions including George Washington University, Cornell University, University of Maryland systems, Auburn University, Colorado State University, and others on collaborative research efforts led by external primes. The university's federal grant sub-awards cluster around space science and physics research, including contributions to CMS detector upgrades at CERN under Cornell-led cooperative agreements, solar and planetary research under George Washington and Maryland-led efforts, and specialized physics investigations at multiple partner institutions. Recent contract sub-award activity is limited; one documented sub-award from Peraton Inc. on classified air systems work reflects occasional use of CUA as a specialized research or technical support subcontractor to defense primes.

CUA maintains active collaborations with Federal research agencies spanning NASA (Goddard, Goddard Shared Services, Headquarters), the Department of the Navy (including NAVSEA and Office of Naval Research), NSF (Physics, Atmospheric and Geospace Sciences, Astronomical Sciences, STEM Education), the National Institutes of Health (including NIH/NIGMS, NHLBI, NIAAA, NIAID, NIDCR, NICHD), the Department of Energy, the Department of the Air Force, and Department of the Army. This breadth reflects CUA's positioning as a comprehensive research institution with faculty expertise spanning hard sciences, engineering, life sciences, and health-related research. The university's research footprint, concentrated in space and Earth sciences at the federal level, aligns with its historical strengths and NASA's substantial investment in university-based space science research through competitive merit-review mechanisms.