Missouri State University

Missouri State University, a state-controlled public institution of higher education headquartered in Springfield, Missouri, delivers research and development services, STEM education and training, environmental and agricultural technical assistance, and workforce development programs primarily as a prime grant recipient to federal agencies. The university operates across 87% prime awards and 13% sub-awards, competing full-and-open across federal research and education funding lines rather than through set-aside vehicles. Missouri State holds no SBA certifications and is classified under primary NAICS codes including Colleges, Universities, and Professional Schools and Other Scientific and Technical Consulting Services.

Missouri State's federal grant footprint spans science, health, agriculture, environmental, and education initiatives. The National Science Foundation leads by award count with 38 recent awards spanning Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) site funding ($489,183 for applied deep learning, CFDA 47.070), Research at Undergraduate Institutions (RUI) grants in astrophysics ($714,580, CFDA 47.049), and Computing Research Infrastructure (CRII) awards in systems memory optimization ($149,832, CFDA 47.070). The Department of Education's Office of Postsecondary Education has issued 29 awards, including $1.5 million for an Autism Transition Program (CFDA 84.116), $3 million for STEM faculty recruitment and retention (Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education, CFDA 84.116), and TRIO Upward Bound support. The Department of the Army Corps of Engineers Engineer Research and Development Center has funded two major contract awards: a $4.5 million definitive contract (March 2022, completed August 2023) for development of a printed, lightweight multi-array gas sensor system for detection of harmful gases in partnership with subcontractor Brewer Science Inc., and a $2.5 million cooperative agreement for assessment of a multi-functional gas sensor array platform for harmful gas monitoring (June 2023). The Department of Agriculture funded a $150,000 grant (CFDA 10.326) for plant breeding and education in grape genetics and biotechnology, and the Defense Health Agency awarded $999,994 (CFDA 12.420) for research integrating explainable AI into serum biomarker trajectory modeling for traumatic brain injury management.

Secondary research sponsors include the National Institutes of Health (National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health funding grape seed extract studies for chronic pain, $3 million range estimated), the Environmental Protection Agency Region 7 ($336,774 for pollution prevention technical assistance to Missouri manufacturers, CFDA 66.708), the Department of Energy Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy ($130,000 for Clean Cities Coalition support, CFDA 81.086), and the National Park Service (cooperative agreements for ecosystem monitoring and NAGPRA consultation support). Smaller contract work includes tuition and academic expense orders from the Office of the Secretary of Defense ($55,000–$84,000 per order, 2022–2024) and English language training services from the State Department Bureau of International Narcotics Law Enforcement ($33,500–$55,000).

On the contract side, Missouri State operates under five named indefinite delivery contracts with the Army Corps of Engineers, placing 14 task orders under IDC N0018918DZ011 ($1.3 million combined potential value), 6 under DACW4395D0534, 5 under HQ003412D0014 ($1.4 million), and 4 under BPA DACW2583D0072. The university awards span 101 distinct federal agencies, with the top five funding sources (NSF, Education, Army, Defense, and NASA) accounting for 31% of award count and 97% of combined potential value. Recent activity shows decline from a 22-award peak in 2022 to 8 awards in 2026 year-to-date, with 17 awards approaching completion within the next twenty-four months and facing recompete.

Missouri State's prime federal grant work emphasizes undergraduate research training, faculty development in STEM, agricultural and environmental science, and health workforce development. The university acts as prime recipient across most awards; sub-recipient roles include participation under Washington University (NASA high-temperature materials research), University of Missouri System (asteroseismology analysis using Kepler/TESS data), the University of Texas at El Paso (NSF postdoctoral training), and state entities including Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services and Arkansas Game and Fish Commission on natural resource conservation and public health projects. The institution operates subsidiaries as named in corporate structure but the source does not indicate separate federal contracting authority for subsidiary entities beyond the parent university.