Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, Inc.

Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, Inc. operates as a private, tax-exempt educational institution that serves the federal government as a prime recipient of research grants, a prime contractor for educational services, and a subcontractor on federal research projects, with nearly 1,000 federal awards across 83 agencies over recent years. The university is headquartered in Daytona Beach, Florida and operates through its Office of Sponsored Research Administration Division, conducting research and delivering educational services in aerospace engineering, aviation, space science, cybersecurity, atmospheric dynamics, and advanced technology development without reliance on set-aside contracting vehicles.

The university's federal work centers on three distinct capability areas. In educational services to the Navy, Embry-Riddle delivers Naval Reserve Officers' Training Corps (NROTC) midshipmen tuition and allowable fees through multiple delivery orders under the United States Naval Community College Partnerships IDIQ (ceiling $147 million through 2025), with individual semester awards ranging from approximately $19,700 to $2.5 million. In aerospace and space research, the university conducts fundamental investigations funded primarily by NASA and the National Science Foundation—examples include a $6.7 million cooperative agreement with NASA's Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate for "Safety-Aware Learning and Assured Autonomy for Aviation Applications" (award 24-ULI STEP-B-0049, running through July 31, 2029), a $1.321 million NASA grant for development and testing of a multi-needle Langmuir probe for low-Earth-orbit spatial structure detection, and a $1.505 million NASA grant for high-resolution modeling of mesoscale auroral ionosphere-thermosphere coupling. In advanced engineering and emerging technologies, the university executes research grants from the National Science Foundation, the Office of Naval Research, and federal mission agencies on topics ranging from metal matrix composites for additive manufacturing to biologically inspired swarm resilience and thermal management for electrified aircraft.

Customer concentration is spread across multiple federal agencies. NASA's Shared Services Center leads by award count (143 awards, $29 million combined potential value), followed by the National Science Foundation (98 awards), the Department of the Army (79 awards, $29 million), the Department of the Air Force (71 awards, $2.1 million), and the Federal Aviation Administration (57 awards). By potential value, however, the Department of the Navy dominates: a single award for $161.5 million anchors the portfolio, complemented by the Naval Education and Training Command (54 awards, $37.3 million) and the Naval Air Warfare Center (22 awards, $21 million). The top five customer agencies by potential-value concentration account for 32% of the combined potential value across all awards.

Embry-Riddle places the majority of its active task orders under five parent vehicles, with an Indefinite Delivery Contract (N0014006G0011) supporting 52 task orders ($34.5 million combined potential value), a Basic Ordering Agreement (DAKF4076A0313) supporting 11 task orders, and an Air Force IDC (F0160079D0464) supporting 78 task orders ($9.2 million combined potential value). Activity has remained relatively stable in recent years—45 awards in 2022, escalating to 73 in 2023 and 2024, then moderating to 43 in 2025 and 18 through October 2026. Sixty-four awards with completion dates in the next twenty-four months carry combined potential value of $25.7 million and represent near-term recompete exposure.

The university serves as prime contractor on the vast majority of its awards (912 of 979, or 93%), with only 67 awards (7%) delivered as subcontractor work under other prime organizations. Named subcontractor roles include supporting Booz Allen Hamilton on aeronautics research for NASA (visual clearances for unmanned aircraft), and contributing research support to prime recipients including California Institute of Technology, the University of Florida, and the University of Arizona on NASA and NSF-funded initiatives. Named grant sub-recipients under Embry-Riddle's cooperative agreements include the University of Texas at Arlington, Georgia Tech Research Corp, the University of Southern California, and Collins Aerospace (on the NASA University Leadership Initiative award), as well as the University of South Florida, the Sanibel-Captiva Foundation, and Friends of Everglades (on EPA-funded harmful algal bloom monitoring work in the Lake Okeechobee watershed).

Service Contract Inventory reporting shows minimal SCI-reportable activity—only three records (one as prime, two as subcontractor) spanning FY2022–FY2024, with no invoiced revenue recorded in the prime SCI dataset and approximately 0.5 FTEs of subcontractor effort in FY2024. This reflects the reality that Embry-Riddle's federal portfolio consists predominantly of grant-funded research, educational service delivery, and contract research, which fall outside or below the SCI reporting threshold.

The university's federal awards are concentrated in education and training services (259 awards for tuition/registration/membership fees, 62 for general education/training), research and development in space science and engineering (35 awards for space R&D, 32 for general science and technology basic research), and specialized training delivery. No subsidiary operations carry separate federal contracting identities; all work flows through the main university structure and its Office of Sponsored Research Administration. Embry-Riddle competes full-and-open across federal agencies without reliance on small business set-asides, and maintains an established thirty-year track record as a federal contractor and grant recipient, dating from 2002 according to award summaries.