Minnesota State University Mankato

Minnesota State University Mankato, a public higher-education institution based in Mankato, Minnesota, delivers federal grant-funded research, workforce development, and educational programming as a prime recipient (88% of awards) and sub-recipient across 43 federal agencies. The university does not hold federal contracts as a prime contractor; its federal footprint is entirely grant-based.

The university's customer concentration is broad and grant-driven. The National Science Foundation leads by award count (19 awards) alongside the Department of Education Office of Postsecondary Education (17 awards), followed by the Department of Justice Bureau of Prisons Central Office (8 awards, $1.1 million combined potential value), the Department of Health and Human Services Administration for Children and Families (7 awards), and the NSF Division of Engineering Education and Centers (6 awards). The top five customers account for 48% of awards; the dispersion across 43 agencies reflects the distributed nature of academic research and STEM education funding. Dollar concentration is modest—the Department of Justice BOP accounts for $1.1 million of the $1.2 million combined potential value across all awards, reflecting the university's primary federal engagement through small research and education grants rather than large procurement contracts.

Recent grant work spans STEM education, environmental research, and correctional education. The university received a $775 thousand Congressional Community Project Funding grant from the SBA (CFDA 59.059) for small business development in the Mankato region (October 2024–September 2026). NSF-funded work includes a $502,674 Biological Sciences project studying nitrogen exchange in mammalian gut microbes (July 2025–June 2028, CFDA 47.074); a $1.5 million STEM Education scholarship program for co-op-based engineering students (October 2022–September 2027, CFDA 47.076); and a $206,650 special education personnel development grant for PROJECT LEAP IT training special education professionals (October 2025–September 2026, CFDA 84.325). The university also received a $150 thousand USDA Capacity Building grant for Non-Land Grant Colleges of Agriculture (CFDA 10.326) integrating students into tile drainage and soil health research (August 2026–July 2029), a $398,674 Department of Education TRIO Student Support Services award (CFDA 84.042, September 2025–August 2026), and a $133,520 EPA Environmental Education grant (CFDA 66.951) for watershed and environmental stewardship programming in southern Minnesota (July 2024–June 2026). On the federal contract side, the university held delivery orders under the Kaskaskia College community college district vehicle from the Department of Justice Bureau of Prisons for correctional education support and the Women's College Program—six awards between September 2022 and September 2024, including a $420,457.80 delivery order for Women's College Program services (September 2023). The university acts as a sub-recipient on NSF research initiatives including collaborative work on neurodiversity in engineering, Lake Superior Basin geomorphology, and vector-borne disease modeling, as well as on grants from the University of California–Los Angeles on autism communication devices and from the University of Southern California on engineering student professional identity.

Activity has declined year over year from 15 awards in 2022 to 3 awards in 2026, with eight awards reaching completion inside the next twenty-four months. The university sits on a single parent vehicle—Indefinite Delivery Contract 15BNAS20DV5F10007—with seven task orders and $704 thousand combined potential value. Federal grant funding dominates the portfolio; the university competes as a research institution rather than as a services contractor, with NAICS concentration in Colleges, Universities, and Professional Schools and PSC concentration in Education and Training tuition and registration.