Ferris State University

Ferris State University, operating as Timme Library, is a state-controlled, tax-exempt educational institution in Big Rapids, Michigan that receives federal funding as a grant recipient and, nominally, as a federal contractor, though its contract footprint is negligible. The university operates primarily as a prime grant recipient (77% of recent awards) and as a sub-recipient on state-administered federal programs (23%), competing in full-and-open categories with no set-aside designations. The institution serves twenty-eight distinct federal customer agencies, though its award activity is heavily concentrated in tuition and fee reimbursements, research grants, and workforce-development programs.

Ferris State's federal award profile splits distinctly between two unrelated customer bases. The Department of the Navy Bureau of Medicine and Surgery drives 31 awards and $357 thousand in combined potential value through an indefinite delivery contract (N0018907GZ047) carrying twenty-nine task orders—these awards consist entirely of tuition and fees for military medical personnel, representing over 60% of recent award count. The remainder of the portfolio reflects the university's core federal research and education mission: the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases awarded $132 thousand under CFDA 93.855 for a metabolic engineering platform for macrolide combinatorial biosynthesis running through August 2030; the National Science Foundation funded a $339,471 chemoenzymatic fluorination project (CFDA 47.049, Division of Chemistry) and a $369,651 anthracycline biosynthesis research project (CFDA 47.041, Division of Chemical, Bioengineering, Environmental, and Transport Systems); the Department of Education Office of Postsecondary Education funded a $371,358 transition program for students with intellectual disabilities (CFDA 84.407) and education-equity programming; and the National Science Foundation's Division of Undergraduate Education provided $350 thousand to establish an electric vehicle service technician certificate and associate degree program (CFDA 47.076). Additional recent prime grants include behavioral health workforce training through the Bureau of Health Professionals, rural substance-use-disorder network development through the Federal Office of Rural Health Policy (CFDA 93.912, running through June 2027), and a $2.46 million exhibit design and installation award from the Institute of Museum and Library Services for the Jim Crow Museum of Racist Imagery (CFDA 45.309).

The university also serves as sub-recipient on state-administered federal programs, receiving pass-through funding from the Michigan Department of Education for career and technical education (Perkins V), various postsecondary education programs, and coronavirus relief funds; from the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services for antimicrobial stewardship and substance-use-disorder network projects; and from the Michigan Department of Labor and Economic Opportunity for GEAR UP programming. Ferris State partnered as a sub-recipient under Central Oregon Community College on an NSF-funded electric vehicle technician workforce development project.

Activity has declined moderately from fourteen awards in 2023 to one in 2026 (most recent, September 2026), with only three awards completing in the next twenty-four months and therefore facing recompete exposure. The tuition-and-fee contract footprint with the Navy Bureau of Medicine and Surgery, which comprises the largest dollar share, operates under an indefinite delivery vehicle established in 2009; absent that stream, the university's federal footprint centers on NSF research grants, HHS workforce and health programs, and Department of Education postsecondary funding, with award magnitudes typically in the range of $130 thousand to $370 thousand per project.