Macalester College

Macalester College, a private nonprofit liberal arts university based in St. Paul, Minnesota, receives federal research grants as a prime recipient (96% of awards) from the National Science Foundation, the National Endowment for the Humanities, the Department of the Navy, and the Department of the Interior, with no federal contracts or contract vehicles. The college holds no federal contract vehicles and does not function as a contractor; its federal relationship is entirely grant-funded research and educational programming under CFDA codes in science, humanities, and military education.

The National Science Foundation dominates Macalester's federal footprint, accounting for 52 awards across its Geosciences, Chemistry, Computer and Information Science and Engineering, and Behavioral and Cognitive Sciences divisions. Recent NSF-funded research includes a $506,714 REU Site grant (CFDA 47.050, Geosciences, awarded November 2026) supporting undergraduate research in groundwater safety and environmental sustainability through 2030; a $414,830 project grant (CFDA 47.074, Biological Sciences, awarded July 2025) investigating lion sociality and territorial dynamics in Kenya's Tsavo ecosystem with embedded undergraduate mentorship; a $365,000 project grant (CFDA 47.049, Mathematical and Physical Sciences, awarded June 2025) developing pyrazoloindazole organic dye compounds for solar energy harvesting and biomedical imaging, with hands-on training of undergraduate researchers; a $199,999 project grant (CFDA 11.076, Computer and Information Science and Engineering, awarded September 2023) advancing 3D drawing and observational sketching in cross-reality environments with interdisciplinary computer science and art/design participation; and a $143,126 project grant (CFDA 47.075, Behavioral and Cognitive Sciences, awarded September 2023) applying topological data analysis to bibliometric and grant payment data to study how knowledge scale affects scientific discovery rates.

Beyond NSF, Macalester holds a $148,032 collaborative geoscience project grant (CFDA 47.050, awarded July 2025) from the Division of Ocean Sciences analyzing Antarctic ice-sheet dynamics using ice-rafted debris records at Ocean Drilling Program Site 745. The National Endowment for the Humanities awarded a $149,660 project grant (CFDA 45.169, awarded October 2024) to update the "Seventeen Moments in Soviet History" digital humanities archive for accessibility and expanded content covering non-European Soviet regions. The Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy provided a cooperative agreement (awarded August 2024) supporting battery sustainability and energy storage education and outreach through permanent and traveling exhibits, a Recharge Academy, and digital storytelling. Macalester also holds a $116,859 project grant (CFDA 47.050, Geosciences, awarded January 2022) examining interactions of natural and social systems with climate change and infrastructure development in the Arctic, and sub-recipient status on grants from the Regents of the University of Minnesota (National Space Grant College and Fellowship Program) and Woodwell Climate Research Center for Arctic plant ecophysiology research.

The Department of the Navy Naval Education and Training Command placed 10 task orders worth $190,000 combined potential value under Indefinite Delivery Contract N0014006G0024, representing Macalester's non-NSF federal revenue. Award activity has averaged fewer than five grants per year over the past five years, with recent volume at one award in 2026, five in 2025, and two in 2024. Three awards reach ultimate completion within the next twenty-four months. Macalester also holds sub-recipient status on Navy grants through the National Space Grant College and Fellowship Program administered by the University of Minnesota. The college's federal posture is exclusively research and educational programming for undergraduate and graduate students embedded within faculty-led scientific inquiry across geosciences, chemistry, computer science, behavioral and cognitive sciences, and the humanities — no contracting or commercial service delivery.