National Opinion Research Center

National Opinion Research Center, doing business as Norc, is a nonprofit research organization affiliated with the University of Chicago that delivers large-scale survey research, data collection, statistical analysis, and program evaluation services to federal civilian agencies as a prime contractor on full-and-open basis, with no small-business set-asides or socioeconomic certifications. Norc self-performs approximately 93 percent of contractor hours on federal service contracts and engages specialized subcontractors selectively for domain-specific expertise—across SCI-reportable prime contracts, subcontractors perform 8 percent of total contractor hours, with 148 named subcontractors spanning healthcare consulting, payment model design, program evaluation, and international development.

Norc's capability portfolio centers on probability-based national surveys, longitudinal panel management, health surveillance data collection, program evaluation, and statistical analysis supporting policy research across health, education, labor, and social policy domains. Representative federal work includes a $310 million single-award indefinite delivery contract with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for the National Immunization Survey tracking vaccination coverage among U.S. children and adolescents through survey research and data collection (130 CDC awards totaling $2.16 billion combined potential value anchor the customer base); a $900 million single-award IDC with the Department of Energy's Energy Information Administration for energy research support running through March 31, 2034; a $3.5 billion Research, Measurement, Assessment, Design, and Analysis 3 (RMADA 3) multiple-award IDIQ with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services providing analytic support and technical assistance for healthcare demonstration models and evaluation; and a $344.7 million Health Resources and Services Administration single-award contract for evaluations and evidence-building services. Recent delivery orders include a $50.1 million Administration for Children and Families order for the 2029 National Survey of Early Care and Education under OASIS+ Unrestricted, a $22.2 million Bureau of Labor Statistics order for the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997 recompete under OASIS+ Unrestricted, and a $17.26 million Institute of Education Sciences definitive contract for the Data Repository and Restricted Use Data Program providing secure computing infrastructure hosting approximately 320 restricted education datasets.

Customer concentration is heavily skewed toward civilian health and social-policy agencies. The top five funding agencies account for approximately 31 percent of recent awards by count but 70 percent by combined potential value: the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (55 awards, $5.11 billion), the CDC Pittsburgh office (130 awards, $2.16 billion), the Institute of Education Sciences (29 awards, $2.02 billion), the HHS Office of the Assistant Secretary for Administration (96 awards, $1.01 billion), and the CDC Office of Acquisition Services (51 awards, $607.8 million). This divergence reflects Norc's role as a prime on large-dollar, long-duration health and education research vehicles alongside numerous smaller departmental and agency task orders. Norc serves 142 distinct federal agencies across recent activity.

Norc holds multiple parent vehicles spanning governmentwide, single-agency, and GSA Schedule platforms. The top vehicles by task-order volume and dollars are the GSA Multiple Award Schedule (113 task orders, $1.27 billion combined potential value), several HHS indefinite delivery contracts including HHSP23320095647WC (47 task orders, $89.6 million) and the HHS Program Support Center IDIQ (23 task orders, $206.7 million), the OASIS+ Unrestricted multiple-award GWAC (GSA Federal Acquisition Service, awarded October 17, 2025, with a placeholder ceiling), the CDC National Immunization Survey single-award IDC ($310 million, September 1, 2023 through December 31, 2029), the Bureau of Labor Statistics National Longitudinal Surveys FY23 Recompete IDC ($32.989 million, August 30, 2023 through April 14, 2027), the CMS RMADA 3 IDIQ ($3.5 billion, July 9, 2026 through July 8, 2031), the Energy Information Administration Omnibus Procurement V ($900 million, April 1, 2024 through March 31, 2034), the USAID MEL-SI IDC for Uganda ($60.07 million, February 16, 2024 through February 2031), the FDA Quick Turnaround Social Science Research Services BPA ($70 million, December 18, 2025 through December 30, 2030), the HRSA Evaluations and Evidence Building IDIQ ($344.7 million, September 26, 2024 through September 25, 2027), the National Institute on Aging Data Access and Data Linkage BPA ($147.03 million, August 10, 2026 through August 9, 2027), and the Census Bureau CBSM Research Support Services BPA ($9.9 million, July 16, 2025 through July 15, 2030).

Norc competes predominantly as a prime contractor (90 percent of recent awards by count). Activity has grown unevenly—59 awards in 2022, 74 in 2023, 83 in 2024, then declining to 62 in 2025 and 40 in 2026 year-to-date. The source data reflects awards through mid-2026, so the 2026 tally is incomplete. Seventy awards with combined potential value of $582.2 million reach ultimate completion within the next twenty-four months, representing a material recompete exposure for existing vehicle holders and opportunity for competitive challengers, particularly on the National Longitudinal Surveys contract (final delivery order completion April 14, 2027) and multiple CDC, AHRQ, and CMS orders expiring through mid-2027.

Service Contract Inventory (SCI) reported invoicing of $720.6 million across FY2022–FY2025 on federal service contracts above the $150,000 threshold. Invoicing grew from $162.8 million in FY2022 to $207.9 million in FY2024, then declined to $179 million in FY2025. FTE deployment ranged from 540 to 986 contractors across these fiscal years. Government-paid hourly rates span a wide spectrum—10th percentile $52.59/hr (telephone interviewers), median $170.61/hr (research scientists and analysts), 90th percentile $405.79/hr (senior research strategists and principal investigators). GSA Schedule labor rates reflect the same breadth, from $33.33/hr for telephone interviewers to $497.15/hr for MR&A strategists with master's degrees and fifteen years of experience; Norc offers 153 active labor categories across the schedule with no security-cleared roles.

Norc's federal grant footprint is substantial and diversified across NIH, NSF, CDC, Department of Education, Department of Justice, and other civilian agencies. Recent grant awards include a $7.998 million NSF project grant (September 1, 2025 through August 31, 2027) to enhance and modernize the General Social Survey, a $2.489 million National Institute on Aging project grant (September 1, 2026 through May 31, 2031) for the NSHAP Caregiver Study, a $1.998 million HHS Office of the National Coordinator cooperative agreement (September 22, 2025 through September 21, 2030) for FHIR-based subscription capability in health IT interoperability, a $1.887 million NIA project grant (September 15, 2025 through April 30, 2030) to sustain the Dementia DataHub, a $1.799 million CDC cooperative agreement (September 30, 2025 through September 29, 2028) for the Preventing ACEs with Linkages and Stronger Systems program, and a $1.499 million Department of Justice project grant (January 1, 2024 through December 31, 2028) for the Elder Abuse Survivor Equity Study. Norc acts as prime recipient on these awards and as sub-recipient on university-led and nonprofit-led grants from state health departments, academic institutions, and national foundations.

Norc's subcontracting footprint shows engagement as a sub on prime contracts with American Institutes for Research (special education spending research, marketplace operations support), MDRC (TANF Data Collaborative, Head Start Connects), ICF (consumer and taxpayer experience surveys), Deloitte Consulting (CMS Regional Learning System), Social Impact Inc. (USAID Peru DRG evaluation), and others. The vendor typically performs research design, data collection, sampling, statistical analysis, and technical assistance roles; subs appear less frequently on Norc's own prime contracts, reflecting Norc's established internal capacity in survey operations and analytics.

Norc holds no federal set-aside certifications and competes full-and-open across all customer agencies. The organization is classified as a tax-exempt corporate entity (nonprofit) with headquarters at 300 E Randolph St Ste 4600, Chicago, IL 60601. Primary NAICS codes include Administrative Management and General Management Consulting Services (337 awards), Research and Development in the Social Sciences and Humanities (119 awards), and Marketing Research and Public Opinion Polling (57 awards). PSC codes reflect support and professional services across program evaluation, management, and research domains. Norc's positioning as a large, established, full-cost nonprofit research organization anchors long-term relationships with the CDC, CMS, Department of Labor, Department of Energy, and others, with contract ceilings exceeding $900 million and performance periods extending through 2034 on some vehicles.