Alcorn State University

Alcorn State University, a U.S. state government entity and the nation's first 1890 HBCU land-grant institution, operates as a federal grant recipient delivering agricultural research, extension education, and student support services across 54 federal customer agencies, with 98% of its 542 recent awards issued as prime grants and the remainder as sub-grant participation. Located in Lorman, Mississippi, Alcorn State functions as a historically Black college and university (HBCU) and 1890 land-grant college under a mission to serve minority and limited-resource communities through research, extension, and educational programming in agriculture and related sciences.

Alcorn State's federal award footprint centers on agricultural research, extension services, student scholarships and support, and institutional capacity-building grants. The National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) dominates the customer base, issuing 162 project grants and additional formula grants under the Payments to 1890 Land-Grant Colleges program (CFDA 10.205, $7.369 million awarded October 2025), the Extension Services at 1890 Colleges program (CFDA 10.512, $5.844 million, October 2025), and the Agriculture and Food Research Initiative (CFDA 10.310, $299,999 for black soldier fly larvae composting research, September 2026). Representative research awards include evaluation of biochar and animal manure combinations for Mississippi soils (CFDA 10.310, $186,814, January 2026), a pilot-scale indoor shiitake mushroom cultivation facility using forestry byproducts (McIntire-Stennis program, $501,626, October 2025), and development of virtual reality chemistry lab modules for STEM undergraduate education (NSF HBCU-UP, $398,619, August 2025). Extension and student support work includes the Expanded Food and Nutrition Education Program (CFDA 10.514, $126,523, October 2025) delivering nutrition education across twelve southwest Mississippi counties, the 1890 Scholarships Program ($505,263 for agricultural science undergraduate awards, September 2025), and TRIO Student Support Services (CFDA 84.042, $408,015, September 2025). Historic preservation grants from the National Park Service (CFDA 15.932) totaled $2.218 million across multiple projects including Oakland Chapel, Belles Lettres Hall, Dormitory #2, and Harmon Hall, all with completion dates through August 2027. The Department of the Army Corps of Engineers Engineer Research and Development Center has issued 50 awards combining to $1.6 million in potential value, anchoring work under multiple IDIQ vehicles including W912HZ07D0002 (17 task orders, $407 thousand), W912HZ05D0009 (13 task orders, $30 thousand), and W912HZ13D0005 (13 task orders, $139 thousand).

Award activity has remained steady with 19 awards in 2022, 16 in 2023, 26 in 2024, 18 in 2025, and 4 in 2026 year-to-date. Twenty-eight awards carrying ultimate completion dates within the next twenty-four months face recompete, representing near-term renewal exposure across NIFA formula grants, Army Corps of Engineers task orders, and student support programming. NIFA formula grants alone constitute recurring 1890 land-grant entitlements with multi-year cycles and represent the core institutional revenue base. Alcorn State holds established seats on multiple Army Corps of Engineers IDIQ vehicles and participates as sub-recipient on collaborative NIFA grants, including a multi-institution NSF E-RISE award for the Mississippi Nano-Bio and Immunoengineering Consortium (CFDA 47.076, $137,791, August 2024) and sub-awards for sustainable agriculture research coordination and climate-smart integrated pest management training. The combined potential value of $3.2 million in recorded awards understates actual obligated revenue—$498.6 million has been obligated across the footprint—reflecting the formula-grant character of the portfolio, in which annual appropriations cycle through the institution without discrete task order ceilings. Primary NAICS concentration sits in Research and Development in Physical, Engineering, and Life Sciences (15 awards) and Colleges, Universities, and Professional Schools (9 awards), with top PSC categories in Technical Assistance (20 awards) and applied and basic research and development (17 combined awards). Alcorn State University operates as the direct institutional recipient and administrator of all named prime grants, with sub-award participation occurring through partnerships with Florida A&M University, North Carolina A&T State University, New Mexico State University, the University of Georgia, and the University of Arkansas on multi-institutional collaborative research and extension projects.