Northwest Community College

Northwest College, a state-controlled nonprofit educational institution headquartered in Powell, Wyoming, operates as a federal grant recipient focused on workforce development and student support services in advanced technologies and career pathways, splitting its federal footprint evenly between prime grant awards (51%) and sub-recipient arrangements (49%).

Northwest College's recent federal award activity centers on National Science Foundation STEM education, U.S. Department of Education postsecondary support, and the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration. As a prime recipient, the college has secured three significant grants awarded in 2025: a $475,000 NSF STEM Education project grant (CFDA 47.076) through the Division of Undergraduate Education to develop a nine-credit Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems (RPAS) technician certification program with a paid internship capstone, running through August 31, 2028; a $305,710 Department of Education TRIO Student Support Services grant (CFDA 84.042) through the Office of Postsecondary Education to deliver academic tutoring, career advising, financial literacy education, and transfer assistance to low-income, first-generation, and underrepresented students through August 31, 2026; and a Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration project grant awarded December 1, 2025, to recruit and enroll qualified students in the college's Commercial Driver's License Program, targeting enrollment of at least 15 students with completion through September 30, 2028.

Customer concentration skews toward federal education and human services grantors. The top five funding agencies account for 78% of awards: the Department of Health and Human Services Administration for Children and Families leads with 12 awards (predominantly ARPA Child Care and Development Block Grant sub-awards flowing from the Wyoming Family Services Department); the Department of Education Office of Postsecondary Education with 9 awards; the National Endowment for the Humanities with 3 awards; the Department of Education Office of Career Technical and Adult Education with 3 awards; and the Department of Agriculture Risk Management Agency with 2 awards. In its sub-recipient role, Northwest College has engaged the University of Wyoming on GEAR UP Wyoming (Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs) college-access services since October 17, 2025, and Wyoming's IDeA Networks for Biomedical Research Excellence Phase 4 since October 10, 2025. The college also serves as a sub-recipient under Wyoming's Perkins V Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Program and Adult Education for Family Literacy (AEFLA) Section 202 program, and receives sub-awards from Montana State University Billings for Japanese language instruction and intercultural program development.

Total combined dollars obligated across all 37 awards in the source dataset is $15.7 million. Activity has concentrated in the past two fiscal years — thirteen awards in 2024 and seven in 2025 — with only one award scheduled for ultimate completion within the next twenty-four months, indicating minimal recompete exposure near term. The college's capability portfolio emphasizes advanced-technology workforce certification (remotely piloted aircraft systems, commercial driver licensing), STEM educator professional development, student success services for disadvantaged populations, and adult education and literacy coordination at the regional and statewide level.