East Texas A&M University

East Texas A&M University, doing business as Texas A&M University, is a public Hispanic-serving institution located in Commerce, Texas that operates as a prime recipient of federal research grants and educational awards across multiple civilian agencies, with no federal contract prime awardees in its footprint. The university is a child entity within the Texas A&M University System, a state-controlled 1862 land-grant institution.

East Texas A&M University's federal work centers on STEM research, undergraduate research experiences, and student support services. Representative grant work includes a $294,190 NASA Space Technology Mission Directorate award (CFDA 43.012) for balanced science program execution aligned with Moon to Mars priorities, effective through July 2027; a $198,583 National Science Foundation Engineering Research Initiation award (CFDA 47.041) for deep analytics framework development for unmanned aerial vehicle location integrity and trajectory-based analysis, running through September 2027; and a $596,300 Department of Education TRIO Student Support Services grant (CFDA 84.042) providing academic advising, tutoring, and financial literacy services to disadvantaged students through August 2026. The university also holds a $1.75 million Department of Agriculture Rural Utilities Service Distance Learning and Telemedicine grant (CFDA 10.855) for telecommunications infrastructure in rural Commerce-area communities, completing December 2026. Additional research grants span chemistry and physics, including National Science Foundation-funded Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) Sites in chemistry ($501,233, running through 2028) and physics ($351,000, completed August 2024), as well as Department of Energy Office of Science support for neutron star crust research ($140,000, through May 2027) and NSF Mathematical Sciences support for theoretical and application-driven mathematics research ($385,387, through February 2026).

Customer concentration is diffuse across 41 distinct federal agencies. The National Science Foundation accounts for 32 awards and the Department of Education Office of Postsecondary Education for 26 awards, together covering 55% of award count; NASA's Shared Services Center and Department of Army Recruiting Command each hold six awards, with NASA-SSC carrying the largest dollar magnitude at $531 thousand combined potential value. The Army Recruiting Command awards are small purchase orders for lodging and facilities support during Junior ROTC Leadership Camps in June of each year (ranging from $13,648 to $58,096 per order), delivered at the university's campus.

Recent activity has declined markedly — from 11 awards in 2022 to seven each in 2024 and 2025, with only two awards reported through September 2026. Nineteen awards are due for ultimate completion within the next twenty-four months (combined potential value $145 thousand), representing modest recompete exposure relative to the university's overall portfolio. The university operates as a prime recipient on 96% of its awards and functions as a sub-recipient on five grant awards, including a College Campus Initiative sub-award from the Texas Governor's Office providing campus advocacy for student crime victims (dating from 2022 onward) and a Department of Education literacy-content development sub-award from the Texas Education Agency (awarded September 2025).

The university's federal grant portfolio exceeds $9 million in combined obligated value across a broad span of research and education initiatives, with obligated dollars representing 7,880% of combined potential value — a signal that many grants have been substantially executed or completed. The portfolio reflects East Texas A&M's mission as a primarily undergraduate institution anchored in STEM workforce development, rural community outreach, and applied agricultural research aligned with Texas A&M AgriLife extension priorities.