Clark Atlanta University, Inc.

Clark Atlanta University, Inc., a private historically Black university (HBCU) in Atlanta, Georgia, operates as a prime recipient of federal research grants and educational funding, with a secondary posture as a sub-recipient on collaborative research awards; the institution holds no federal contracts as a prime but executes delivery orders under Navy basic ordering agreements for NROTC midshipmen tuition and related educational services.

Clark Atlanta is a tax-exempt, non-profit educational institution and the largest United Negro College Fund institution. The university functions predominantly as a research and educational recipient rather than a vendor-type contractor—its federal footprint reflects its role as an academic institution conducting federally funded research and providing educational services. Recent activity spans 454 total awards (422 prime, 32 sub) across research grants, educational funding, and institutional support awards, though the overwhelming dollar volume reflects obligated funds from multi-year grants rather than new contract awards. Combined potential value stands at $16.5 million, while combined dollars obligated totals $529.9 million, indicating substantial multi-year grant commitments. Activity has accelerated in recent years, with 30 awards in 2024 compared to 16 in 2022, though 2025 and 2026 show reduced new award counts reflecting typical grant-year variability.

Customer concentration sits heavily with the Department of the Army (102 awards), the National Science Foundation (32 awards), the Department of Education Office of Postsecondary Education (37 awards, $250 thousand combined potential value), the Department of the Navy (27 awards combined across Naval Personnel and Naval Education and Training Command), and the Department of the Air Force (19 awards). The top five agencies account for 46% of recent awards; the dollar-value rankings diverge slightly, with the Navy Bureau of Naval Personnel anchoring $464 thousand in potential value across nine NROTC tuition delivery orders, and OPE contributing $250 thousand across 37 institutional aid and research infrastructure grants.

Clark Atlanta's federal grant portfolio centers on STEM research capacity building, workforce development, and institutional strengthening. Named representative grants include a $9.784 million DOD award (CFDA 12.630, Basic, Applied, and Advanced Research) for the Strengthening Participation and Academic and Research Capacity (SPARC) in STEM pilot program (2026–2031, performing in Atlanta); a $5 million Department of Education FIPSE grant for Research and Development Infrastructure to transition the university to R1 research status (2024–2028); a $3.6 million NSF Partnership for Research and Education in Chemistry–Sustainable Polymers (PREC-SP, October 2022–September 2025) to develop sustainable polymer synthesis, catalysis, and nanocomposites; an $1.989 million NSF HBCU CHIPS Network award (September 2024–August 2026, CFDA 47.076) to establish semiconductor research and microelectronics workforce development across a network of HBCUs; and a $1.049 million NSF Integrative Activities award (CFDA 47.083, August 2023–July 2027) investigating TEAD and androgen receptor transcription factor interactions. Additional active research centers include an NSF AI Hub at CAU in partnership with the AI Institute for Advances in Optimization (July 2024–June 2028) and a $1 million FIPSE cybersecurity training and research initiative (TRECCI, October 2022–September 2025). The university also serves as a sub-recipient on collaborative research awards, including work under Georgia Tech–led Department of Energy hydrogen infrastructure development, University of Illinois advanced reactor cybersecurity research, Ohio State University multimodal AI systems for aircraft identification, and the NSF-sponsored National Data Science Alliance (NDSA, a cooperative agreement with Clark Atlanta, Fisk, and Howard University to increase Black participation in data science careers).

The Navy basic ordering agreements constitute Clark Atlanta's contract footprint: Indefinite Delivery Contract N0014006G0007 carries 12 task orders valued at $415 thousand combined, and Basic Ordering Agreement N0018919GZ057 holds 8 task orders at $526 thousand. These awards consistently fund NROTC tuition and allowable fees for midshipmen enrolled at the university, with individual delivery order values ranging from $12,630 to $82,500. A single delivery order from the Department of Justice Civil Rights Division in April 2024 provided $12,400 for conference space rental in Washington, DC.

In its sub-recipient role, Clark Atlanta collaborates with research-intensive institutions on multi-institutional projects. Recent sub-awards include a Georgia Tech hydrogen fuel cell facility development project (May 2024), Florida A&M University geospatial-AI curriculum work (April 2024, with $250 thousand incremental funds in July 2025), Ohio State University postdisaster situational awareness and aircraft identification research (October 2024, with two student internship placements at Air Force Research Laboratory in Rome, New York), and the NSF Center for Sustainable Polymers (September 2023).

The university's research emphasis aligns with federally prioritized areas: materials science and advanced semiconductors, cybersecurity and critical infrastructure protection, STEM workforce diversity and capacity building at minority-serving institutions, biomedical research (particularly cancer biology and prostate disease mechanisms), and artificial intelligence and data science. The education and training PSC code dominates the contract portfolio, with 30 awards for tuition, registration, and membership fees, followed by research and development awards in defense and space contexts.

Nineteen awards totaling $40 thousand in combined potential value reach ultimate completion inside the next twenty-four months, creating limited near-term recompete exposure relative to the scale of the multi-year grants anchoring the portfolio.