Hampton University

Hampton University, a private nonprofit historically Black college and university (HBCU) headquartered in Hampton, Virginia, operates as a prime recipient on federal grants and contracts across research, education, and STEM workforce development, with a smaller subcontractor footprint on defense and federal service work. The university competes full-and-open and does not hold SBA designations; it serves 89 distinct federal agencies across a portfolio of 725 awards spanning basic research, educational programming, infrastructure development, and specialized training.

The university's capability portfolio centers on atmospheric science, remote sensing, earth observation, and STEM education and workforce development. Representative work includes $5.1 million in Department of Education funding to establish an interdisciplinary climate science degree program (award date January 2024, completion December 2027); $1.004 million from NSF's Integrative Activities program for genomic research on Antarctic leopard seal adaptations (award date August 2024, completion July 2027); and sustained participation in NASA's Office of STEM Engagement cooperative agreements worth $1.176 million to attract students to STEM through authentic learning experiences aligned with NASA's mission (award date August 2025, completion August 2028). Hampton maintains operational atmospheric measurement networks (AERONET, PANDORA, TOLNET) and a 48-inch LIDAR facility on campus that serve validation and research activities for NOAA, NASA, and the National Science Foundation.

Customer concentration is moderate. The National Science Foundation leads by award count with 88 awards; NASA's Goddard Space Center dominates by potential value ($132.2 million across 9 awards), driven primarily by atmospheric composition and dynamics research grants. NASA Shared Services Center carries 69 awards valued at $18.1 million combined, and the Department of the Army holds 67 awards. The top five customers by potential value—NSF, NASA Goddard, NASA Shared Services, NASA Langley, and DHS Coast Guard—account for 77 percent of combined potential value. NSF's dominance by count signals a research-intensive portfolio; NASA's concentration by dollars reflects substantial earth science and planetary research investments.

Hampton holds task-order positions on several Navy vehicles: Basic Ordering Agreement DAKF4076A0047 (9 task orders), Indefinite Delivery Contract N0001480C0957 (7 task orders), Indefinite Delivery Contract N0014006G0016 (6 task orders, $511 thousand combined value), Basic Ordering Agreement N0018918GZ038 (5 task orders, $1.3 million combined value), and Basic Ordering Agreement N0061291G0014 (4 task orders). These represent educational services and NROTC tuition funding delivery orders, not research or development vehicles.

Activity has grown from 18 awards in 2022 to 35 in 2024, with 6 awards recorded so far in 2026 (as of July 13). The university faces 43 awards with completion dates within the next twenty-four months, carrying combined potential value of $3.1 million and representing moderate recompete exposure. Recent contract completions include NROTC tuition delivery orders to the Bureau of Naval Personnel (February and December 2025, March 2025, June 2025) and research grants expiring through mid-2026.

Hampton's prime-vs-sub posture is almost entirely prime-driven: 96 percent of awards are prime contracts or grants (696 of 725), with only 4 percent sub-awards (29 of 725). Service Contract Inventory data capture minimal activity—3 SCI records spanning FY2022–FY2024, all as named subcontractor roles, with negligible FTE scale (0.5 FTEs in FY2022, 0.6 FTEs in FY2024). This reflects SCI's limited scope (contracts above $150,000 threshold only) and the university's primary role as a grant recipient and prime contractor rather than a service contractor to other federal primes. When Hampton subcontracts, it engages as a partner on research initiatives with universities such as Old Dominion University, the Research Foundation of the City University of New York (NOAA CESSRST II partnership), University of Virginia (planetary exploration collaboration), Morgan State University (aerosol extinction profile validation), and others, typically in supporting roles on multi-institutional research consortia.

The university's award portfolio is concentrated in education and training (77 awards), basic research in space science and applications (49 awards), and defense-related basic research (16 awards). NAICS framing shows "Colleges, Universities, and Professional Schools" dominates (45 awards), reflecting its institutional identity as a higher-education research institution. Named subsidiaries include Hampton Harbor, Inc., a nonprofit auxiliary entity.

Hampton University's federal footprint is fundamentally that of a research and educational institution, not a service contractor or product vendor. The university generates revenue through federal research grants, student tuition reimbursement from military NROTC programs, and educational partnerships, with sustained engagement in atmospheric and planetary science research, HBCU capacity-building initiatives, and STEM workforce development aligned with national priorities in climate science, quantum materials, genomics, and aerospace.