Fayetteville State University

Fayetteville State University, a Historically Black College and University (HBCU) and North Carolina constituent institution of the University of North Carolina system, operates as the prime recipient on 262 federal grants and educational contracts (97% of its recent award footprint) and as a sub-recipient on 7 awards. The university competes in full-and-open (non-set-aside) federal award processes and holds no special SBA designations; its minority-institution and HBCU status anchors its eligibility for targeted federal funding streams, particularly from the Department of Education and the National Science Foundation.

FSU's federal footprint centers on STEM education delivery, research infrastructure development, and workforce preparation. Concrete capability examples include a $1.34 million Department of Education Title III FUTURE Act institutional strengthening grant (awarded October 2025, through September 2026), a $1.91 million GEAR UP college-readiness grant serving 2,386 sixth and seventh-grade students in Cumberland County, North Carolina (awarded October 2025), a $2 million National Science Foundation STEM scholarships project providing support to 30 low-income scholars in biology, forensic science, mathematics, computer science, and cybersecurity with average annual scholarships of $10,123 for up to five years (awarded September 2025), a $1.34 million IMPACT (Institute for Multi-Agent Perception through Advanced Cyberphysical Technologies) NASA cooperative agreement supporting research in remote sensing, artificial intelligence, and cyberphysical systems (awarded March 2023, ultimate completion March 2027), and a $423,487 NASA MUREP Precollege Summer Institute cooperative agreement delivering two-week residential STEM camps to 20 high school students annually across five years with hands-on work in remote sensing, GIS, drone technology, and 3D printing applied to climate change (awarded March 2023, ultimate completion March 2028).

Customer concentration is spread across 56 distinct federal agencies, with the top five accounting for 49% of recent awards by count. The Department of Education Office of Postsecondary Education leads by award count (51 awards), followed by the National Science Foundation (24 awards), the Department of the Army (20 awards), NASA Shared Services Center (19 awards, $3.6 million combined potential value), and the Department of the Air Force Air Education and Training Command (18 awards, $404 thousand combined potential value). By potential dollar value, NASA Shared Services Center anchors the portfolio at $3.6 million across 19 awards, followed by the Army Training and Doctrine Command at $3.1 million across 12 awards. The concentration split reveals Department of Education's dominance in award frequency but limited dollar exposure; NASA and Army carry most of the value density.

FSU places work under several Army and Air Force IDICs. Indefinite Delivery Contract F0160079D0461 (Air Force Air Education and Training Command) carries 20 task orders valued at $404 thousand combined; IDC W81K0412D0011 (Army) supports 6 task orders at $499 thousand combined; and IDC W81K0408D0003 (Army) holds 5 task orders at $788 thousand combined. A Basic Ordering Agreement DAKF4076A0299 (Army) carries 7 task orders. These vehicles represent recurring opportunities to bid task orders in DoD STEM education and training spaces.

Activity has declined year over year from a 2022 peak of 18 awards to 10 awards in 2025 and 1 award so far in 2026. Awards are heavily front-loaded in time — 27 awards with combined potential value of $664 thousand reach ultimate completion in the next twenty-four months, creating recompete exposure. However, the source reveals a structural mismatch: the $10.3 million combined potential value across all 269 awards is dwarfed by the $397.3 million combined dollars obligated across them, indicating that many awards have run through multiple years of invoiced performance and obligated funding significantly exceeds the stated ceiling values — a signal of mature, multi-year grants with active execution rather than new pipeline.

FSU operates as a sub-recipient on collaborations with North Carolina A&T (on NASA Earth Science and Data Science partnerships), UNC Chapel Hill (on AI/ML data analysis for research), UNC Charlotte (on upward social mobility and clean energy research in rural areas), North Carolina State University (on nuclear engineering research and education), and North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services (on collegiate recovery program expansion). These partnerships are primarily research and educational support roles, not contracting relationships.

The university's federal grant work spans research, student services, and institutional capacity building. Representative grants include NSF-funded course-based undergraduate research experiences in genetic engineering and computational biology (CFDA 47.076, awarded August 2025, $393,641 through July 2028), Department of Defense-funded virtual reality and simulation-based learning research for disaster preparedness (CFDA 12.630, awarded May 2026, $259,156 through April 2027), NSF-funded data analytics curriculum development for non-computing majors emphasizing social justice (CFDA 47.076, awarded July 2023), HRSA-funded sexual assault nurse examiner training expansion (CFDA 93.806, awarded July 2024, $1.5 million through June 2027), and SBA Veterans Outreach Program entrepreneurship training (CFDA 59.044, multiple awards from 2022 through 2026, $305 thousand to $385 thousand per year). FSU also administers TRIO Student Support Services awards (CFDA 84.042, multiple cohorts serving 200 to 272 eligible disadvantaged students annually).

FSU's educational mission and HBCU designation position the institution as a direct grantor recipient on federal workforce-development and capacity-building funding tied to underrepresented-student pipelines and rural community engagement. The university does not operate as a defense contractor prime; military funding flows through Army and Air Force educational partnerships and cooperative agreements rather than traditional procurement contracts.