Grambling State University

Grambling State University, a state-controlled historically black college and university in Grambling, Louisiana, receives federal grant funding and conducts research and educational programs as a prime grant recipient, with a smaller footprint of federal contract work and grant sub-recipient participation. The university operates as a minority-serving institution and does not compete on contracts under set-aside vehicles; all work flows through traditional federal grant programs and direct agency partnerships.

The university's federal portfolio centers on education, STEM research, and institutional strengthening grants. Grambling acts as prime recipient on 64 of 71 tracked awards (90%), with the remainder as sub-recipient on grant programs. The Department of Education's Office of Postsecondary Education dominates by volume, funding 22 awards for institutional aid, cybersecurity education, student support services, and teaching and learning initiatives. A representative $1.22 million CFDA 84.031 (Higher Education Institutional Aid) Project Grant awarded October 1, 2025, supports institutional management, fiscal stability, and academic quality improvements under the Strengthening HBCUs program through September 2026. The university also holds a $2 million CFDA 84.116 (Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education) Project Grant for its Call Me Mister Program, running September 2022 through August 2025, and a $899,646 FIPSE award for the Enhancing Student Support Services for Underserved Students (E4S) Project through December 2027. The National Science Foundation funds five awards across research infrastructure and STEM education, including a $253,000 Major Research Instrumentation (CFDA 47.083) award for multi-scale imaging capability and a $100,000 Mathematical and Physical Sciences (CFDA 47.049) grant for a Department of Research Ethics and Integrity Program running through August 2029. NASA's Shared Services Center supported a $45,000 cooperative agreement (awarded February 1, 2023, completing January 31, 2025) for laser sintering of powder mixtures in confined spaces. The National Endowment for the Humanities funded four awards, including a virtual-reality initiative on Grambling's history completed June 30, 2024. The NSF's Division of Human Resource Development provided a Project Grant for the Leveraging Innovation and Discovery for STEM Success (LIDSS) program, targeting STEM recruitment and retention through June 2029. The Department of Transportation's Immediate Office of the Secretary funded a $105,000 purchase order for an Intergovernmental Personnel Mobility Act (IPA) assignment of personnel dated September 30, 2022, completing September 29, 2023.

Grambling participates as sub-recipient on research and education initiatives led by larger universities. As of recent activity, the university is a sub-recipient under a Louisiana State University project on student retention in STEM (awarded March 31, 2025) and under a University of Louisiana at Lafayette-led Building Training and Assessment Centers Program (BTAC) project (awarded January 1, 2025), where Grambling leads cybersecurity and Industry 4.0 training development. Earlier sub-awards include participation in Florida International University-led initiatives on big data and cloud forensics (February 2024 and November 2024) and a Louisiana State University health research sub-award on colorectal cancer screening in rural communities (July 2024). The university also received a sub-grant under the Rural Violent Crime Prevention Initiative through the National Policing Institute (January 23, 2023).

Eight awards reach ultimate completion within the next twenty-four months, representing recompete opportunity across education, research, and institutional programs. Activity has averaged roughly 5 awards per year over the past five years, with a peak of nine awards in 2023. The university's federal customer base spans 28 distinct agencies, with education and research funding dominating the portfolio and no concentration in defense or civilian contract work.