Lincoln University

Lincoln University, a historically Black 1890 land-grant institution located in Jefferson City, Missouri, delivers specialized technical and academic training services to the U.S. Army and conducts agricultural research and extension programs funded by federal grants, operating as a prime recipient across both federal contracts and grant awards with no set-aside designations.

Lincoln's federal contracting footprint centers on a single dominant customer: the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which anchors the university's contract revenue through a series of indefinite delivery contracts for the U.S. Army Prime Power School at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri. The university holds multiple IDCs with USACE, most recently awarded on April 29, 2026, with a ceiling of $2,601,726 and completion targeted for April 28, 2031. Prior IDC cycles (April 2021–April 2026, ceiling $2,010,814.40) issued repeated delivery orders valued at approximately $133,926 per single-class training session spanning four to six months, with some multi-class sessions reaching $403,682. Lincoln University serves as the sole prime contractor delivering classroom instruction on power equipment installation, maintenance, and operation to Army personnel, with firm fixed-price delivery orders and no set-asides. Nine named delivery orders appear in the award record between 2022 and 2026, with the most recent task order (April 29, 2026, $490,046.99) targeting completion in May 2027. The Army contract business comprises the vast majority of Lincoln's federal contract potential value—$11.4 million across 32 USACE awards and another $1.9 million through the National Capitol Region Humphreys Engineer Center Support Activity.

Lincoln's federal grant portfolio is substantially larger and more diverse than its contract base. The university acts as prime recipient across 460 federal grants spanning research, education, extension, infrastructure, and scholarship programs. The Department of Agriculture National Institute of Food and Agriculture (USDA-NIFA) dominates the grant customer base, funding Lincoln's capacity-building and extension activities across animal science, soil health, crop production, food safety, natural resource management, and social economics. Recent major NIFA grants include a $12,043,746 Payments to 1890 Land-Grant Colleges formula grant (CFDA 10.205, October 1, 2025–September 30, 2027) supporting the Cooperative Research Program; a $10,268,408 Extension Services formula grant (CFDA 10.512, October 1, 2025–September 30, 2030) for extension and outreach in animal science, plant science, food safety, and natural resources; and project grants ranging from $151,466 to $739,233 for specialized research in soil enzyme activity, quinoa production, forest health monitoring via AI integration, and macronutrient management. Lincoln also receives substantial USDA formula funding under the Renewable Resources Extension Act and Expanded Food and Nutrition Education Program (CFDA 10.514, $137,510 for October 1, 2025–September 30, 2030), targeting nutrition education in limited-resource Missouri communities.

Beyond USDA, Lincoln is funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF Office of Integrative Activities, $725,669 project grant for rural resilience research, September 1, 2025–August 31, 2029), the Department of Defense (Research Development and Engineering Command, $300,000 cooperative agreement for cognitive workload assessment, July 15, 2024–July 14, 2027), the Department of Commerce National Telecommunications and Information Administration (Connecting Minority Communities Pilot Program, $5,960,141.68 for broadband access and laptop distribution, December 1, 2022–November 30, 2024), the Department of Education (Higher Education Institutional Aid Title III Part F, $1,652 million, October 1, 2025–September 30, 2027), and the National Institute of Food and Agriculture Scholarship Program (CFDA 10.524, $505,263.16 for undergraduate agricultural scholarships, September 1, 2025–August 31, 2029). The Department of Agriculture Farm Service Agency awarded a $5 million Partnerships for Climate-Smart Commodities grant supporting hemp market expansion in Missouri (April 18, 2023–April 30, 2026). Lincoln also receives cooperative agreements from the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service for the AG-DISCOVERY summer enrichment program and from unnamed Shared Services Centers for DDR-ARTEMIS (STEM summer camp, $424,403, June 1, 2023–May 31, 2028) and climate change research ($1,496,668, May 1, 2023–April 30, 2026).

Lincoln operates predominantly as a prime grantee (86% of awards) and subcontractor on research and education projects. Named subcontracting relationships include subawards to faculty and students through Washington University in St. Louis (biofuel and biomanufacturing research, AI applications), the University of Minnesota (small ruminant education, vegetable production systems, poultry training), the University of Missouri System (flying device development, PFAS detection), North Carolina A&T State University (workforce development and 4-H initiatives), and the Ohio State University (climate-smart agriculture implementation). Lincoln participates in multi-institution consortia addressing agricultural workforce development, soil health, water resource management, and climate change adaptation.

Lincoln's award activity shows 537 total awards (prime and sub combined) with a combined potential value of $17.8 million across all federal sources, though obligated dollars total $509.1 million, reflecting institutional receipt of substantial capacity-building and formula grant funding. The most recent five years track 2022: 25 awards, 2023: 69 awards, 2024: 25 awards, 2025: 23 awards, 2026: 13 awards (through early September). Thirty-three awards with ultimate completion dates within the next twenty-four months carry combined potential value of $914 thousand and represent recompete opportunity. Work is performed in Jefferson City, Missouri, with place of performance at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri, for Army training contracts and at subordinate campus facilities for research and extension programs.