Roger Williams University

Roger Williams University, a private non-profit educational institution based in Bristol, Rhode Island, delivers specialized paralegal and legal education services to federal agencies as a prime contractor (81% of recent awards) and as a sub-recipient on federal research grants. The university competes without set-aside designations in full-and-open procurements, with no SBA certifications or minority-ownership designations in the source data.

The university's federal footprint is heavily concentrated in Navy legal education. The Department of the Navy Secretary of the Navy Judge Advocate General accounts for 37 awards with $10 million in combined potential value — roughly 59% of all prime-contract dollars — through a single-award Indefinite Delivery Contract (N0040617D0436) valued at $1,944,250 and running through July 2027. Under this IDC, Roger Williams University issues firm fixed-price delivery orders ranging from $13,500 to $206,250 to provide online paralegal studies credits to Navy judge advocates and legal staff nationwide, with place of performance in Bristol, Rhode Island and Washington, D.C. Eighteen delivery orders under this vehicle total $1 million in combined potential value. Representative recent task orders include a $206,250 delivery order (May 23, 2024) and a $185,250 delivery order (August 31, 2023) for paralegal studies credits. Beyond Navy JAG, the university holds secondary contract relationships with the Naval Education and Training Command ($3.8 million across eight awards), the Navy Reserve Operational Support Centers ($1.5 million across two awards), and the Rhode Island Air National Guard (a $22,302 purchase order in March 2024 for Yellow Ribbon military event planning and logistical support).

The university's grant footprint is substantially larger in scope and more diversified than its contract business. NSF, the National Institutes of Health, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration anchor most of the research-award volume. As a prime grant recipient, Roger Williams University holds cooperative agreements with EPA Region 1 for the Narragansett Bay Estuary Program (CFDA 66.456): a $2.2 million project grant (October 1, 2025, through September 30, 2028) and a $909,800 project grant (October 1, 2026, through September 30, 2031) supporting estuary restoration, water-quality monitoring, and subawards to local partners. The university is also a prime recipient on NSF research awards in marine biohybrid engineering and oceanographic instrumentation: a $212,587 grant (October 1, 2025, through September 30, 2028) for biohybrid jellyfish oceanographic sensors under the Division of Ocean Sciences (CFDA 47.050), a $199,559 grant (July 15, 2026, through June 30, 2029) for propulsion hydrodynamics research under the Division of Chemical, Bioengineering, Environmental, and Transport Systems (CFDA 47.041), a $170,282 grant (August 1, 2026, through July 31, 2029) for nutrient-detection sensor development (CFDA 47.041), and a $295,661 grant (May 1, 2025, through April 30, 2028) to investigate ctenophore predation mechanisms under the Division of Integrative Organismal Systems (CFDA 47.074). The university also received a $1,694,000 project grant (June 1, 2023, through May 31, 2026) from the Department of Education Office of Postsecondary Education under the Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education (CFDA 84.116) to support its Environmental Science and Engineering Laboratory. NOAA awarded a $690,000 project grant (September 1, 2022, through August 31, 2026) for shellfish nursery, aquatic diagnostic laboratory, and food science program infrastructure. As a sub-recipient, the university has participated in NSF-funded grants led by the University of Rhode Island on biomedical research networks and seafood research, in Caltech-led biohybrid propulsor research, in Brown University autonomous-vehicle research, and in regional Sea Grant and aquaculture-related programs.

Activity trajectory shows recent decline: 11 awards in 2022, 10 in 2023, 17 in 2024, 10 in 2025, and 6 so far in 2026. Eight awards have ultimate completion dates within the next twenty-four months, creating recompete exposure primarily in Navy JAG delivery orders and select NSF and EPA estuary grants. The university's combined potential value across 141 awards (prime and sub) stands at $16.9 million, though combined dollars obligated total $64.4 million, indicating that many awards have been exercised well beyond their original ceiling values. The top five customer agencies by award count (Department of the Navy, National Science Foundation, NIH NIGMS, Naval Education and Training Command, and NOAA) account for 55% of all awards. The university competes across 39 distinct federal customer agencies, but Navy legal education dominates both volume and dollars; NSF and NIH grants represent the second and third tiers of activity by award count but carry lower dollar magnitudes per award. The university operates as a prime on 81% of recent awards and as a sub-recipient on 19%, with no significant teaming relationships or subcontractor engagements visible in the contract data — most subcontracting appears within the Narragansett Bay Estuary Program grants, where the university passes through subawards to regional partners such as the Nature Conservancy, Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management, and local nonprofit organizations.