Mississippi State University

Mississippi State University, a public land-grant research institution based in Starkville, Mississippi, receives federal funding as a prime recipient across contracts and grants spanning research, education, extension, and diagnostic testing services to federal agencies with no set-aside designations. The university operates as a recipient rather than a commercial contractor—it competes on merit and capability for federal research and educational funding rather than under small-business or minority-business set-asides.

The university's concrete capability portfolio centers on applied research, fundamental science, agricultural and veterinary diagnostics, extension and educational programming, and high-performance computing services. Representative work includes a $15 million NOAA high-performance computing managed-service delivery order under a $45 million parent indefinite delivery contract (completion September 2027); USDA animal health diagnostic testing services including foreign animal disease testing through the National Animal Health Laboratory Network (multiple small delivery orders totaling thousands to tens of thousands); a $7.197 million Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency Other Transaction Award for ALBATROSS MILESTONE research; a $3.368 million Department of Defense joint munitions simulation and evaluation equipment OTA; and NSF-funded research in cybersecurity, materials science, machine learning, and workforce development. Recent activity also includes an $36.8 million Head Start program award as prime recipient managing early childhood services, a $14.77 million Smith-Lever extension funding formula grant across all 82 Mississippi counties, and substantial USDA formula grants supporting the Mississippi Agricultural and Forestry Experiment Station, Forest and Wildlife Research Center, and cooperative extension activities.

Customer concentration is broad across federal agencies. The top five funding sources by award count—USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture (375 awards), USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (281 awards), National Science Foundation (253 awards), USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture again (141 awards), and USDA Agricultural Research Service (136 awards)—account for 35 percent of awards, indicating deep engagement with agricultural research and extension missions. By potential value, the Army Corps of Engineers Engineer Research and Development Center leads with 46 awards worth $115.7 million combined, followed by NOAA with 79 awards valued at $60.1 million, reflecting the university's capacity in infrastructure, environmental science, and computing research.

The university holds parent IDVs including a $45 million NOAA indefinite delivery contract for high-performance computing research and development collaboration (one $15 million delivery order exercised as of September 2025); a $7.419 million Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency Other Transaction IDV for ALBATROSS research (multiple award); and a $1.391 million Army Engineer Research and Development Center OTA for digital twin immersive environments development. Mississippi State also executes task orders under standing government contracts such as the Army Corps of Engineers indefinite delivery vehicle (71 task orders recorded) and various single-award and multiple-award parent vehicles for specific agency missions.

Activity shows growth over the past five years—from 177 awards in 2022 to a peak of 222 in 2024, with 171 awards in 2025 and 51 recorded through October 2026 (a partial-year snapshot). The recompete cliff over the next twenty-four months reflects 187 awards with ultimate completion dates in that window, carrying combined potential value of $31.8 million, representing active recompete exposure in research, extension, and educational programming.

In its research posture, Mississippi State operates as a full-and-open competitor—the source carries no SBA set-aside designations across its prime work. The university's Service Contract Inventory footprint is narrow, capturing only five SCI-reportable prime records totaling $6 million in invoiced federal services revenue across FY2022–FY2024 (FY2023: $2.5 million, FY2024: $3.5 million), with roughly 9–12 FTEs reported. Government-paid hourly rates on those contracts ran a median of $124.08/hr with a 90th percentile of $158.85/hr, reflecting specialized technical and professional labor. Across SCI-reportable prime contracts, subcontractors account for approximately 5 percent of total hours, with three named subcontractors identified—a low sub-engagement model indicating the university primarily builds and executes its own delivery teams.

The university's grant footprint is substantial and diverse. Recent recipients include the National Science Foundation (research in computing, engineering, STEM education, and physics), USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture (agricultural research, aquaculture, forestry, food systems), Department of Education (workforce training, special education, TRIO student support), Department of Health and Human Services (behavioral health, Head Start), Environmental Protection Agency (water quality and coastal resilience), and Department of Defense (research in materials, autonomous systems, and cybersecurity). The university acts as prime recipient on most grants, with sub-awards to partner institutions including North Carolina State University, Louisiana State University, University of Georgia, University of Arkansas, and others. Grant awards range from under $200,000 for targeted research projects to multi-million-dollar formula grants and cooperative agreements supporting institutional capacity and statewide extension programming.

As a public institution, Mississippi State University's federal award footprint reflects its land-grant mission: applied research and technology transfer aligned with agricultural, natural-resource, and rural-development priorities; graduate and undergraduate education in STEM and professional fields; and extension and outreach to state constituents across all 82 counties. The university competes on scientific merit, research infrastructure, and educational excellence rather than set-aside status, positioning it as a peer institution and collaborative research partner across civilian and defense agencies.