Spelman College

Spelman College, a non-profit historically Black women's liberal arts college headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, acts as a federal grant recipient and as a tuition-service provider under small federal contracts for NROTC (Naval Reserve Officers Training Corps) midshipmen. Spelman operates as a prime recipient on 92% of its 257 awards in the recent federal portfolio and as a sub-recipient on 8%, with no federal contracting vehicles or IDIQs held as a prime.

Spelman's federal footprint splits distinctly between research and educational services. The college receives substantial federal research grants from the National Science Foundation ($1.1 million for Amoebozoa genome research; $1.07 million for genomic data science curriculum development; $450 thousand for three-dimensional infrared spectroscopy), the National Institutes of Health (including a $160 thousand cooperative agreement for genomic data science integration in biology), and NASA (including a $588 thousand grant for ground-based remote sensing equipment). Educational mission grants include a $970 thousand Higher Education Institutional Aid award from the Department of Education's Office of Postsecondary Education for a 2025-2030 Comprehensive Development Plan, alongside smaller grants for STEM pedagogy, physics education pathways, and campus violence prevention. Concurrently, Spelman delivers tuition and allowable fees for NROTC midshipmen through firm fixed-price delivery orders with the Department of the Navy's Bureau of Naval Personnel—awards ranging from roughly $18 thousand to $92 thousand per academic term.

The National Science Foundation dominates Spelman's customer concentration by award count (64 awards), reflecting the college's research mission in mathematics, chemistry, biology, and computer science education. The Department of Education Office of Postsecondary Education follows with 17 awards for institutional development and STEM workforce initiatives. The Department of the Navy Naval Education and Training Command places 13 awards valued at $2.1 million combined potential value for NROTC tuition. However, when ranked by potential value, NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center anchors the portfolio with 4 awards worth $10.1 million combined, likely reflecting capital equipment or infrastructure investments. The top five funding sources account for 45% of recent award count; concentrated by dollars, they account for 73% of combined potential value.

Spelman serves as a sub-recipient on grant work led by the University of Washington (sexual assault recovery research among sexual minority women, multiple awards), Tufts University (compound hydrometeorological extremes research), the University of Louisville (mindfulness interventions for Black Americans), Georgia State University (community-based geosciences and environmental health), Emory University (Earth observations for environmental health), and others. In these roles, Spelman contributes undergraduate student researchers, faculty expertise in clinical psychology and infectious disease epidemiology, support for faculty research proposal development, and community-based learning partnerships. The college also participates in the Georgia AI Manufacturing Coalition as a sub-recipient to Georgia Tech Research Corporation, supporting AI job training for underserved communities.

Activity has declined markedly from 2022 (24 awards) to 2026 (2 awards to date, year incomplete). Eight awards carrying combined potential value of $589 thousand face ultimate completion within the next twenty-four months, creating recompete or renewal exposure. Spelman holds no standing GWACs, BPAs, or parent vehicles as a prime contractor; its federal service delivery occurs entirely through direct grants and small tuition orders. The college's federal engagement centers on strengthening STEM education, broadening participation of Black women in research-intensive fields, and providing undergraduate research training aligned with NSF and NIH diversity missions.