Kent State University

Kent State University Controller's Office Division, a public state-controlled institution of higher learning headquartered in Kent, Ohio, operates as a federal grant recipient across a diverse portfolio of research and educational programs spanning the National Science Foundation, the Department of Health and Human Services, the Department of Education, and over 110 other federal agencies. The university receives federal funding as a prime recipient on project grants, cooperative agreements, and formula grants; it does not pursue federal contracts as a vendor and holds no SBA set-aside designations. Over the past five years, Kent State has received 164 federal awards with a combined potential value of $152.3 million, though cumulative obligated dollars across all awards total $505.1 million, reflecting multi-year grant terms and prior-year funding obligations.

The university's federal footprint concentrates heavily in basic and applied research, workforce development, and student support services. The National Science Foundation leads the customer base, funding 201 awards across mathematical sciences, engineering, geosciences, biological sciences, and computer information systems. Representative work includes a $2.59 million Major Research Instrumentation grant (NSF Office of Integrative Activities, CFDA 47.083) to develop an integrated airspace sensing and analysis system at Kent State's airport and aeronautics facilities; a $1.023 million grant on structure-property relationships of polar liquid crystalline phases (NSF Division of Materials Research, CFDA 47.049); and a $649 thousand CAREER award on sedimentary iron cycling across Alaskan continental shelves with oceanographic field expeditions and graduate education components (NSF Division of Polar Programs, CFDA 47.078). The Department of Health and Human Services National Institutes of Health funds 35 awards in biomedical research, including a $2.481 million Cooperative Agreement on dendritic cell therapies for breast cancer leptomeningeal disease (Defense Health Agency, CFDA 12.420) and a $874 thousand CAREER grant on multiplexed mRNA imaging using DNA nanotechnology (NSF Division of Biological Infrastructure, CFDA 47.074). The Department of Education's Office of Postsecondary Education funds 32 awards in student support, teacher preparation, and workforce development, including two TRIO Student Support Services grants ($548.7 thousand and $272.3 thousand, CFDA 84.042), a Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education grant ($990 thousand, CFDA 84.116), and multiple Upward Bound programs ($334.8 thousand REU site in mathematics, CFDA 47.049).

Kent State's highest-value recent awards reflect the university's strength in applied research infrastructure. A $4.698 million Federal Aviation Administration Airport Improvement Program grant (CFDA 20.106, awarded August 2025) funds final-phase runway safety area improvements at Kent State's Stow, Ohio airport facilities. An $833 thousand NSF Earth Sciences grant (CFDA 47.050, September 2025) supports research on rare earth element mobility in acid mine drainage across the Appalachian region with integrated workforce development for high school educators and students. A $600 thousand Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration award (CFDA 93.492, September 2026) funds the Strategic Prevention Framework 2026 project to strengthen prevention capacity across twenty Eastern Ohio counties through a partnership with Prevention Action Alliance, focusing on substance abuse and mental health promotion in rural and Appalachian regions.

The university operates as a recipient across cooperative agreements, project grants, formula grants, and an active basic ordering agreement (BOA N0018925GZ005 with the Department of the Navy, Bureau of Medicine and Surgery, running through October 2034) supporting the Navy's community college partnership program. Thirty-seven awards carry ultimate completion dates within the next twenty-four months, including grants from NSF, NIH, the Departments of Education and Defense, SAMHSA, and the Federal Aviation Administration, representing recompete and renewal activity concentrated in STEM research, health professions education, and airport infrastructure. Sub-award activity shows Kent State as a collaborator under prime grants from Ohio State University, Yale University, Northwestern University, University of Massachusetts Boston, The MetroHealth System, and the National Chimpanzee Brain Resource, reflecting a secondary role in multi-institutional research teams. Kent State's federal award activity aligns with its institutional mission as a public research university serving workforce development, regional economic competitiveness, and fundamental scientific advancement across Appalachian and Northeast Ohio communities.