Computing Research Association Inc.

Computing Research Association Inc., a tax-exempt nonprofit based in Washington, DC, serves as a federal grant recipient focused on computing research workforce development, educational pathways, and community convening, operating exclusively as a prime recipient (92% of recent awards) with no federal contracts. CRA's federal footprint centers on 15 NSF project and cooperative agreements totaling over $753 thousand in combined potential value, with supplementary awards from the Department of the Navy Naval Education and Training Command and the National Institutes of Health.

CRA's capability portfolio spans three interrelated service areas: undergraduate research acceleration, graduate student pipeline development, and institutional capacity building in computing education. Representative prime grants include a $5 million NSF CISE award (April 2026) funding the Expanding Undergraduate Research Experiences in Computing (EUREC) initiative, which centralizes recruitment, stipend distribution, and evidence-based mentoring for students placed in existing NSF-funded research projects; a $1.054 million NSF CISE grant (July 2025) for the CRA Summit on AI Undergraduate Education, designed to convene computing program leaders and establish curricular benchmarks in AI literacy; a $400,000 NSF CISE award (April 2026) establishing the Distributed Research Experiences for Undergraduates in Quantum Information Science (DREU-QIS), providing summer research placements in quantum computing across U.S. institutions; and a $926,006 NSF STEM Education grant (September 2025) for the Semiconductor and Microelectronics Pathways for Learning initiative, delivering Ideas Lab workshops through museums and informal learning venues. CRA also manages the CSGrad4US Fellowship program, a $1.351 million cooperative agreement with NSF (August 2022 through July 2024), providing mentoring infrastructure for workers re-entering graduate school in computing fields. The Computing Community Consortium, established through a cooperative agreement with NSF effective January 2024 through December 2027, catalyzes visioning and white papers across the computing research ecosystem.

Customer concentration is extreme and monolithic: NSF accounts for 41 awards (87% of the total) and $753 thousand of the $819 thousand in combined potential value. The Navy Naval Education and Training Command represents the second-tier customer with 15 awards, though at a magnitude more than ten times smaller in dollars. CRA operates under primary NAICS categories including All Other Miscellaneous Schools and Instruction (5 awards), Other Similar Organizations (3 awards), and Professional Organizations (2 awards), reflecting its role as a neutral convener and service organization rather than a contractor delivering labor or infrastructure. Recent sub-award activity shows CRA distributing grant funds to University of Hawaii, University of Wyoming, Grinnell College, Kentucky Community and Technical College System, Northeastern University, and George Washington University in support of NAIRR Pilot Expansion initiatives and Level Up AI regional workshops. Eight awards face ultimate completion inside the next twenty-four months, creating recompete opportunity in the NSF CISE, STEM Education, and NSF support-services portfolios during 2026–2027.