Langston University

Langston University, a historically Black 1890 land-grant institution based in Langston, Oklahoma, serves as a federal grant recipient primarily supporting agricultural research, extension education, special education personnel development, and workforce training programs for underserved and underrepresented populations in Oklahoma and the Southeast. The university operates as a prime grant recipient (95% of awards) with a subsidiary in Deibel, Jerry (minority-owned, veteran-owned business entity), and does not hold federal prime contracts; instead, Langston captures federal funding through research and education grants administered by the Departments of Agriculture, Education, Defense, Interior, and the National Science Foundation.

Langston's federal footprint centers on agricultural sciences, food security, rehabilitation services, and education. The Sherman Lewis School of Agriculture and Applied Sciences (SL/SAAS) anchors most of the university's research and extension work through Evans-Allen and cooperative extension programs funded under USDA NIFA formulas (CFDA 10.205, 10.512, 10.514) and project grants. Representative examples include a $7.96 million formula grant from NIFA under the Payments to 1890 Land-Grant Colleges program (CFDA 10.205, October 2025–September 2027) supporting sixteen Evans-Allen research projects in animal science, plant biotechnology, aquaculture, and agribusiness; a $6.53 million extension services formula grant (CFDA 10.512, October 2025–September 2030) supporting land-grant extension and research activities across Oklahoma in production agriculture, sustainability, nutrition, and youth development; and a $128,149 formula grant under the Expanded Food and Nutrition Education Program (EFNEP, CFDA 10.514, October 2025–September 2030) delivering hands-on nutrition education to limited-resource populations in rural and urban Oklahoma. Beyond agriculture, Langston received a $944,530 project grant from the Office of the Secretary of Defense (CFDA 12.630, May 2026–April 2027) for AI-powered genomics and biomarker discovery research, and a $866,310 HBCU institutional aid grant from the Department of Education (CFDA 84.031, October 2025–September 2026) for capacity building and academic program enhancement.

The university's special education and rehabilitation services portfolio includes a $222,200 project grant from the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services (OSERS) under the Rehabilitation Long-Term Training program (CFDA 84.129, October 2025–September 2026) to train personnel providing pre-employment transition services to youth with mental disabilities; a $250,000 grant under the Special Education Personnel Development program (CFDA 84.325, October 2025–September 2026) addressing workforce shortages in special education; and a $5.65 million five-year Rehabilitation Research and Training Center (RRTC) cooperative agreement from the National Institute on Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research (NIDILRR) focused on research capacity building for minority-serving institutions and employment outcomes for people with disabilities. Langston also participates in NASA Space Grant Consortium activities and collaborative research networks including the MICRA project (Microbial Innovations for Climate-Resilient Agriculture) with Kansas State University and the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, and conservation and climate-smart agriculture initiatives with the National Resources Conservation Service.

Customer concentration is driven by USDA grant programs. The Department of Agriculture National Institute of Food and Agriculture accounts for the majority of award volume (131 awards from the data slice provided), with the Office of Postsecondary Education (15 awards), NRCS Central Region (11 awards), and Defense and NASA programs rounding out the active set. Potential value concentration is atypical: NASA's Shared Services Center tops the potential-value ranking at $5.2 million across seven awards, despite lower award volume, reflecting the structure of larger research infrastructure or fellowship awards; USDA NIFA holds the bulk of dollars across the formula grant portfolio obligated to land-grant research and extension.

Activity has remained steady across the past five years, averaging 13–19 awards annually, with 2024 marking the peak at 19 awards and 2025–2026 activity declining to 13 and 3 respectively (the latter reflecting incomplete reporting for a year in progress). The combined potential value reported ($5.9 million) sits well below the combined obligated value ($398.9 million), indicating that the potential-value field captures only formula grant ceilings or specific project caps rather than the full awarded amount; actual federal investment in Langston's research and education mission is substantially larger. Within the next twenty-four months, 33 awards face ultimate completion and recompete renewal.

Langston holds seats on federal indefinite delivery vehicles including IDC contracts DCA10000D4006 (9 task orders, likely NASA-related given the agency concentration), F0160098D0012 (6 task orders), and HC104705D4013 (1 task order). In its subcontractor role, Langston participates as a sub-recipient on collaborative grants from Oklahoma State University (NASA Space Grant Consortium, SARE initiatives), the University of Georgia Research Foundation (sustainable agriculture projects), the University of Oklahoma (water resilience and stormwater management), and other land-grant and research universities, as well as subawards from the University of Maryland and University of Texas at Austin for specialized research and workforce development activities.

The university does not compete for or hold prime federal contracts; its role is exclusively that of federal grant recipient in research, education, and training delivery aligned with the land-grant mission to serve underserved populations in Oklahoma and rural America.