Tarleton State University

Tarleton State University, a member of the Texas A&M University System and a public land-grant institution headquartered in Stephenville, Texas, operates as a federal grant recipient with a broad portfolio of research, education, and workforce development awards across agriculture, natural resources, health sciences, and student support. The university acts as the prime recipient on 90 awards (78% of its federal footprint) and as a sub-recipient on 26 awards (22%), with combined potential value of $17.9 million across 116 recent federal awards and combined obligated dollars of $130.8 million, reflecting substantial multiyear funding cycles typical of research grants and cooperative agreements.

Tarleton's customer concentration centers on education and agricultural agencies. The top five funding entities — the Department of Education Office of Postsecondary Education (15 awards), the Department of Agriculture National Institute of Food and Agriculture (11 awards), the Environmental Protection Agency Region 6 (10 awards), USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (9 awards), and the National Science Foundation (8 awards) — account for 46% of awards. By potential value, USDA Risk Management Agency leads with $5 million across two awards, though this represents a subset of the total USDA exposure, which spans multiple departmental offices funding agricultural research, rangeland management, and soil-water systems. The bulk of Tarleton's work splits between TRIO Student Support Services grants from Education (supporting low-income, first-generation, and disabled students), USDA capacity-building grants in agriculture and natural resources, and NSF research infrastructure and basic research awards in environmental science and engineering.

Recent representative prime awards include a $300 thousand grant from USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture (CFDA 10.326) awarded September 1, 2026, to build research and workforce capacity in understanding and managing woody plant cover change in Texas savanna-grassland working lands, running through August 31, 2029; a $464.5 thousand Project Grant from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (CFDA 93.837) effective September 1, 2025, through August 31, 2028, to develop an interactive computer model of left atrium electrophysiology to study atrial fibrillation mechanisms, with sub-awards to Baylor College of Medicine and the University of Houston System; a $419.5 thousand award from the National Institute of Mental Health (CFDA 93.242) to detect fatigue and assess cognitive performance in video-based meetings using machine learning approaches; and a $408 thousand grant from the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (CFDA 93.113) to conduct meta-transcriptomic assessment of chronic respiratory exposure to cobalt-based nanomaterials. Tarleton also holds multiple TRIO Student Support Services grants from Education totaling $544.7 thousand across three concurrent awards, a $350 thousand cooperative agreement from USDA Office of the Chief Economist (CFDA 10.290) to develop and maintain the Nutrient Tracking Tool enabling farmers and ranchers to quantify conservation benefits, and a $190.4 thousand NSF award (CFDA 47.074) for construction of a 952-square-foot research laboratory at Tarleton's Timberlake Biological Field Station.

Activity has grown substantially — from 6 awards in 2022 to 17 in 2025, with 3 awards recorded in 2026 (through early September). Ten awards carry ultimate completion dates in the next twenty-four months, presenting recompete opportunity for competitors. In its sub-recipient role, Tarleton engages with Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, Texas Department of Agriculture, Texas Tech University System, Texas Workforce Commission, and research universities including Montana State University, Prairie View A&M University, and the University of Texas at Arlington, typically performing water-quality monitoring, environmental modeling, agricultural equipment provisioning, and small-business development support under parent grants. The top parent vehicle carries three task orders under Indefinite Delivery Contract 533151200017.

Tarleton's capability portfolio centers on agricultural and environmental research, workforce development in STEM and rural health, and student support services. The university's award concentration reflects land-grant mission priorities: woody plant and rangeland ecology, pollinator conservation, nutrient and water-quality modeling, aquaponics and alternative agriculture systems, exotic pest surveillance on oak commodities, manure-management innovation, and construction of field-station research infrastructure. Health and social-science research awards include cognitive and physiological studies of virtual work environments, cardiovascular disease mechanisms, neurological disorders associated with chronic pain, and environmental health hazards from nanomaterials exposure. Education awards target low-income, first-generation, and rural students through TRIO programs, rural health workforce development planning, early educator pathways, and Upward Bound outreach to high school students in north-central Texas.