Southwestern Community College District

Southwestern Community College District, doing business as Southwestern College, is a public, state-controlled Hispanic-Serving Institution based in Chula Vista, California, that operates as a federal grant recipient and prime contractor delivering apprenticeship training, workforce development, and STEM education programs to the Department of the Navy, the Small Business Administration, and the Department of Education. The institution competes on full-and-open contract vehicles and federal grants with no set-aside designations.

Southwestern College's federal footprint centers on maritime apprenticeship training and technical workforce development. On the contract side, the college holds a single-award indefinite-delivery contract with Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA) valued at $614,230 through August 2027, against which NAVSEA has issued 11 delivery orders totaling approximately $523 thousand for regional apprenticeship services supporting the Southwest Regional Apprentice Program. Work is performed at naval facilities in Chula Vista and Bremerton, Washington, with training in surface warfare, ship engineering, and naval shipyard technical skills. Representative delivery orders include a $65,488 contract issued January 30, 2026, for education and certification services at the Southwest Regional Apprentice Program in Chula Vista with completion in May 2026; a $52,886 Fall 2025 tuition delivery order issued August 7, 2025, to support apprenticeship training in Bremerton, Washington; and a $59,990 Spring 2025 education and certification order issued February 3, 2025, for the Southwest Regional Apprentice Program. The college also operates under two additional NAVSEA indefinite-delivery vehicles: one valued at $1 million with 19 task orders and another at $795 thousand with 11 task orders. On the grant side, Southwestern College has received federal funding for STEM education curriculum development, small business development center operations, and technology access initiatives. The National Science Foundation awarded the college a $998,759 Project Grant under the STEM Education program (CFDA 47.076) effective August 2025 through July 2028 for development of an Associate of Science degree in Geomatics and Land Surveying Certificate program, integrated with GIS, remote sensing, LiDAR, and drone technology. An earlier NSF grant of $649,987 (CFDA 47.076) funded development of a Micro-Nano-Technology Technical Education Certificate program through July 2027 in partnership with UC San Diego's NANO3 facility. The Small Business Administration has awarded the college multiple cooperative agreements totaling $3.2 million over 2022–2023 and a $176,224 cooperative agreement effective May 2024 for operation of a Small Business Development Center (CFDA 59.037) providing counseling, training, and technical assistance to small businesses and entrepreneurs in the Chula Vista region. The Department of Commerce Economic Development Administration funded a $6 million village-to-venture entrepreneur support initiative running through October 2025 in partnership with the University of San Diego and the Connect Foundation, targeting female, veteran, and BIPOC entrepreneurs. The National Telecommunications and Information Administration awarded a project grant for technology access initiatives across Southwestern College's four higher education centers, providing laptops, broadband, and Wi-Fi hotspots to students in need through August 2025.

Customer concentration is heavily dominated by the Department of the Navy, which accounts for 45 of the 111 awards across the college's federal footprint. Naval Sea Systems Command leads with 24 awards valued at $6.5 million combined potential value, while the Navy Bureau of Medicine and Surgery holds 19 awards valued at $976 thousand. The Small Business Administration Office of Entrepreneurial Development follows with 12 awards, and the Department of Education Office of Postsecondary Education also accounts for 12 awards. Together, the top five customer categories cover 68% of recent awards. The combined potential value across all 111 federal awards stands at $7.6 million, though combined dollars obligated total $163.8 million, reflecting substantial historical invoiced revenue from executed awards. Prime awards comprise 90% of activity, with grant and contract work split across apprenticeship training (22 awards), elementary and secondary school programs (19 awards), and vocational/technical education delivery (29 awards by PSC code). Activity has remained relatively stable in recent years—nine awards in 2022, five in 2023, nine in 2024, and eight in 2025—with only three awards facing ultimate completion within the next twenty-four months, indicating minimal near-term recompete exposure. The college also serves as a sub-recipient on federal grants managed by the Southwestern College Foundation, the San Diego State University Foundation, and Arizona State University, delivering small business procurement technical assistance, women's business center services, and bilingual teacher preparation support through those partnering institutions.