Nova Southeastern University, Inc.

Nova Southeastern University, Inc., a private, non-profit, tax-exempt educational institution headquartered in Davie, Florida, operates as a prime recipient of federal grants and prime contractor on federally-funded educational delivery contracts, with a minor footprint as a subcontractor on research grants. The university holds minority-serving institution and Hispanic-serving institution designations and competes predominantly full-and-open rather than under small-business set-asides.

The university's federal footprint is concentrated almost entirely in tuition and educational services delivery to military medical personnel under a single-award Basic Ordering Agreement (BOA) with the Department of the Navy's Bureau of Medicine and Surgery, which extends through June 30, 2035. That vehicle anchors 203 awards valued at $21.4 million in combined potential value, with delivery orders ranging from roughly $12,600 to $825,710. Recent representative Navy delivery orders include $780.7 million for tuition and fees (January 2, 2025), $542.8 million for summer term tuition (July 16, 2025), and $516.3 million for winter term tuition (February 6, 2026). Beyond the Bureau of Medicine and Surgery BOA, Nova Southeastern holds a smaller footprint in federal research grants and oceanographic services. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has funded coral reef research, restoration, and monitoring work through approximately 50 awards totaling $796 thousand, including a $1.926 million grant (March 1, 2025) to expand coral nursery operations at the university's Oceanographic Campus in Davie, Florida. The Department of Defense Recruiting Command awarded a $136.1 thousand purchase order (June 15, 2025) for personnel, equipment, and facilities to support the Broward County STEM Challenge 2025. The National Park Service awarded $204 thousand (September 4, 2024) for stony coral tissue loss disease reconnaissance and intervention services in Dry Tortugas National Park.

The university's research grant portfolio spans federal agencies across health, environmental science, and education. Significant recent recipients include the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke ($614.5 thousand, May 8, 2026, for mycotoxin exposure research in ME/CFS patients), the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration ($802.3 thousand, October 1, 2025, for HAZMAT instructor training), the Department of the Interior Office of Insular Affairs ($255 thousand, November 6, 2025, for the National Coral Reef Management Fellowship Program), the National Institute of General Medical Sciences (multiple awards for cardiac mitochondrial function research, diabetes and Alzheimer's disease studies, and spliceosomal protein targeting in melanoma therapy), the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research (periodontal disease and periodontitis research), the National Science Foundation (cognitive psychology, bilingual executive function, and undergraduate STEM education support), and the Department of Education Office of Postsecondary Education (mobile innovation units, cybersecurity computing, and undergraduate STEM coaching). The university acts as sub-recipient on federal research grants managed by the University of Miami, University of Florida, Research Triangle Institute, and other institutions, with research responsibilities ranging from coral reef ecosystem monitoring to immunological assay work to cost-effectiveness analysis.

Customer concentration sits with the Department of the Navy Bureau of Medicine and Surgery, which accounts for 203 awards and $21.4 million in combined potential value—roughly 56% of the navy's funding across Nova Southeastern's footprint. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is the second-largest customer by award count (50 awards) but carries modest dollar volume ($796 thousand), reflecting recurring but small grants. The Health Resources and Services Administration (33 awards), the Navy broadly (25 awards, $3 million), and the National Institutes of Health (19 awards) round out the top five. The source indicates 82 distinct federal customer agencies, reflecting a broad research grant portfolio.

The BOA with the Bureau of Medicine and Surgery represents Nova Southeastern's primary contract vehicle. The source identifies an Indefinite Delivery Contract (N0060085G1793) with 209 task orders and $22.2 million in combined potential value as the parent vehicle for the bulk of Navy tuition and fees delivery orders. A second IDC (DOCWC133F08CQ0057) under the Department of Commerce carries 11 task orders valued at $1.1 million. A Basic Ordering Agreement (N0018925GZ093) with the Bureau of Medicine and Surgery carries 11 additional task orders worth $2.2 million. The university does not hold positions on government-wide acquisition contracts or GSA schedules reflected in the source.

Federal contract award volume has grown: 26 awards in 2022, 30 in 2023, 45 in 2024, and 30 in 2025 (through mid-July). The source identifies 23 awards with ultimate completion dates within the next twenty-four months and combined potential value of $549 thousand, representing modest recompete exposure relative to the overall portfolio. Activity is driven primarily by recurring Navy tuition delivery orders, which cycle through multiple annual term periods (summer, fall, winter, spring).

Service Contract Inventory reporting shows minimal SCI-reportable invoiced federal revenue. The university reported $112 thousand in FY2022 and $2.8 million in FY2023, with zero FY2024 activity in the SCI dataset. SCI-captured FTEs ran 2.7 in FY2022 and 3.0 in FY2023. Government-paid hourly rates on SCI-reportable contracts ranged from a 10th percentile of $63.45/hr to a median of $238.34/hr to a 90th percentile of $413.23/hr, suggesting a mix of entry-level support and senior research labor. The university performed 0% of contracted hours through named subcontractors on SCI-reportable prime contracts, indicating direct delivery of services.

Prime awards (contracts and grants combined) account for 94% of Nova Southeastern's recent federal footprint. As a subcontractor, the university participates in research grant work under primes including the Regents of the University of Colorado (T-cell immunology), the University of Miami (coral reef ecosystem monitoring, cardiovascular research, relationship intervention coaching), the University of Florida (Area Health Education Center programs across nineteen Florida counties), Research Triangle Institute (regional health services planning), Boston University (tau biomarker research), Northeastern University (participant recruitment), and the Regents of the University of Minnesota (melanocortin receptor ligand work). The subcontract work typically involves research execution, laboratory analysis, field operations, participant recruitment, or cost-effectiveness analysis under grant agreements managed by larger research institutions.

The university's federal contracting posture is that of an educational institution leveraging its campus, faculty, and research infrastructure to deliver tuition services to the military and conduct federally-funded research in biomedical sciences, marine science, oceanography, coral reef restoration, and STEM education. The Navy tuition BOA dominates revenue and award count; the research grant portfolio, while broader in agency reach, is distributed across smaller awards and often positions Nova Southeastern as a sub-recipient rather than prime recipient.