Norfolk State University

Norfolk State University, a historically black college and university (HBCU) based in Norfolk, Virginia, is a tax-exempt educational institution that operates as a recipient of federal grants and as a prime contractor providing educational services—primarily NROTC midshipmen tuition, allowable fees, and related educational programming—to the Department of the Navy. The university also participates as a sub-recipient on multi-institution research and workforce-development grants from NSF, Department of Education, Department of Defense, Department of Agriculture, and other federal agencies.

Norfolk State University operates almost exclusively as a grant recipient (95% of 349 awards across all federal sources) rather than as a federal contractor, with the exception of a small portfolio of firm-fixed-price delivery orders from the Bureau of Naval Personnel for NROTC educational services. The university does not sit on government-wide contract vehicles or GSA Schedules; its contract footprint consists of direct delivery orders against Navy Basic Ordering Agreements (BOA N0018919GZ022, with 7 task orders totaling $375 thousand; BOA N0014006G0036, with 6 task orders totaling $218 thousand; and three additional BOAs with 3 to 4 task orders each). Representative prime contract work includes a $39.8 thousand delivery order for Spring Semester Q2 FY 26 NROTC midshipmen tuition and allowable fees (February 2026), a $51.3 thousand order for Fall Quarter FY 25 NROTC tuition (September 2025), and a $104.6 thousand educational service agreement for student exchange programming (January 2024). All Navy contract awards carry no set-aside designation and are competitively awarded on a firm-fixed-price basis.

The university's primary federal revenue stream is grant funding, with a diversified customer base spanning 68 agencies. The National Science Foundation leads by award count (64 awards across all NSF divisions), followed by the Department of Education Office of Postsecondary Education (33 awards). By dollar value, NASA Langley Research Center anchors the top-customer ranking with 3 awards totaling $1.1 million, followed by NASA Shared Services Center ($457 thousand across 7 awards) and the Department of Navy Bureau of Naval Personnel ($374 thousand across 9 awards); however, these collectively represent only 13% of combined potential value across all awards, indicating broad distribution. Recent grant work spans STEM education, research infrastructure, workforce development, and institutional capacity building: a $5 million five-year Inflation Reduction Act Urban and Community Forestry grant from the USDA Forest Service (August 2024) for tree planting, ecosystem restoration, and environmental justice initiatives in Virginia communities; a $4.999 million NSF CREST Center for Emergent Chiral Quantum Matter grant (October 2026) to establish a five-year quantum materials research center integrating research with education and workforce development; a $734.2 thousand NSF STEM Education grant for the "Pipeline to Purpose" project (June 2024) providing scholarships to 15 high-achieving STEM students over five years to increase STEM teacher production in Virginia; a $600 thousand NSF CISE grant (October 2023) for real-time aerial imaging with edge AI; and a $519.9 thousand NSF Integrative Activities grant (October 2025) investigating novel spin textures in non-centrosymmetric magnetic materials through neutron scattering, with collaborating institutions Prairie View A&M University and Rice University. Educational support awards include a $2.576 million Department of Education HBCU Institutional Aid grant (October 2025) for institutional strengthening and management improvement, a $520.7 thousand TRIO Student Support Services grant (September 2025), and a $272.4 thousand TRIO Teacher Preparation Student Support Services grant (September 2025). The university also serves as a sub-recipient on multi-institution NSF and DOD research collaborations: as a sub-recipient under an NSF AI Institute (ACTION project) led by University of California, Santa Barbara (with sub-awards in February 2024, January 2025, and December 2025) focusing on AI and cybersecurity research for threat assessment and workforce development; as a partner in a Fort Lewis College-led NSF PREM (Partnership for Research and Education in Materials) program addressing materials science and student research; and as a sub-recipient on collaborative NSF research projects in photosynthesis and microelectronics for veterans training.

Activity shows modest growth in recent years—14 awards in 2022, declining to 6 through October 2026—with only 4 awards facing ultimate completion within the next twenty-four months, representing minimal near-term recompete exposure. The university's award portfolio reflects its core mission: federal investment in HBCU capacity building, STEM education and workforce pipeline development, and research infrastructure, with secondary transactional revenue from Navy tuition billing. The top NAICS classification is Colleges, Universities, and Professional Schools (44 awards); the predominant PSC category is Education/Training–Tuition/Registration/Membership Fees (51 awards). Norfolk State University competes full-and-open in both contract and grant channels with no set-aside posture; grant competition is merit-based through NSF STEM Education, Integrative Activities, and HBCU-specific programs, as well as Department of Education Title programs and federal research initiatives.