Missouri State University

Missouri State University, a public tax-exempt institution of higher education headquartered in Springfield, Missouri, operates as a prime recipient on federal grants across research, education, and workforce development programs rather than as a federal contractor. The university holds no prime federal contracts and does not sit on government-wide contract vehicles; its federal footprint consists entirely of grants from civilian research agencies, the Department of Defense, and education offices, with sub-recipient participation on collaborative research grants managed by peer universities and federal agencies.

Missouri State's grant portfolio spans 393 total awards (88% as prime recipient, 12% as sub-recipient) across 99 distinct customer agencies. The top customer by award count is the National Science Foundation (37 awards), followed by the Department of Education Office of Postsecondary Education (29 awards) and the Office of the Secretary of Defense (24 awards carrying $6.3 million in combined potential value). The Department of the Army Corps of Engineers Engineer Research and Development Center dominates by potential value, with 6 awards worth $11.5 million combined, anchored by a $4.5 million firm fixed-price definitive contract awarded in March 2022 for research and development of a printed, lightweight, multi-array gas sensor system for harmful-gas detection in collaboration with subcontractor Brewer Science, Inc., and a $2.5 million cooperative agreement awarded in June 2023 for assessment of a multi-functional gas sensor array platform. The university holds no named seat on IDIQ vehicles; its parent-vehicle activity centers on Army Corps indefinite delivery contracts (Nos. N0018918DZ011 with 14 task orders; DACW4395D0534 with 6 task orders; HQ003412D0014 with 5 task orders carrying $1.4 million combined value).

Capability portfolio centers on STEM research, education training, and workforce development. Representative prime grant work includes a $999,994 Defense Health Agency Military Medical Research and Development award (September 2025–August 2028) for research integrating explainable artificial intelligence into trajectory modeling of serum biomarker profiles for traumatic brain injury management; a $714,580 NSF Division of Astronomical Sciences award (September 2025–August 2028) for fundamental research on horizontal branch stars using Gaia, TESS, and Kepler mission data; a $489,183 NSF Computer and Information Science and Engineering REU site award (October 2026–September 2029) for undergraduate research training in deep learning methodologies with applications to cybersecurity, robotics, and autonomous systems; a $336,774 EPA Region 7 Pollution Prevention Grants Program award (November 2025–October 2027) providing pollution prevention technical assistance to Missouri manufacturing companies in food and beverage, automotive, aerospace, and metal fabrication industries through the university's Ozarks Environmental and Water Resources Institute; and a $3 million Department of Education Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education award (June 2023–May 2026) for recruitment and retention of exceptional STEM faculty. The university also holds cooperative agreements supporting environmental science and natural resource management, including work with the National Park Service Heartland Inventory and Monitoring Network for ecosystem health monitoring across fifteen national park units and a $370,000 USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service watershed planning technical assistance agreement. Non-research grants include congressional community project funding for STEM facility renovation at Temple Hall and Cheek Hall (totaling $41.1 million and $80–100 million respectively) and a $1.5 million Department of Education Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education award supporting the Autism Transition Program at Missouri State University West Plains.

Sub-recipient participation spans collaborative research with Washington University (high-temperature fractionation of materials research for NASA), the University of Missouri System (asteroseismology data analysis using NASA Kepler, TESS, and K2 missions), the University of Pittsburgh (traumatic events and injury research), AT Still University–Kirksville College of Osteopathic Medicine (Southwest Missouri Area Health Education Center workforce development), and state agencies including the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services (health program evaluation) and the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission (freshwater snail and alligator snapping turtle population assessments). The university also serves as a sub-recipient under a federal State Small Business Credit Initiative Technical Assistance Grant administered through the State of Missouri, providing legal, accounting, and financial advisory services to socially and economically disadvantaged and very small business owners through its efactory business development center.

Activity has averaged 18.8 awards per year over the past five years (2022–2026), with recent decline from 26 awards in 2023 to 7 by mid-2026, reflecting the snapshot nature of the award listing through early October 2026. Seventeen awards face ultimate completion within the next twenty-four months, representing recompete or continuation opportunity. The university operates no named subsidiaries separate from its parent Springfield campus and West Plains regional campus entities.