The Corporation Of Mercer University

The Corporation Of Mercer University, doing business as Mercer University, is a private, non-profit educational institution headquartered in Macon, Georgia that operates as a prime federal contractor (93% of recent awards) and as a sub-recipient on federally funded research grants, with primary federal work concentrated in tuition and fees delivery, biomedical research, and engineering services to military and health agencies on a full-and-open (non-set-aside) basis.

Mercer's federal contract footprint is heavily concentrated in education-related delivery orders. The Department of the Navy Bureau of Medicine and Surgery accounts for 74 awards valued at $5.1 million combined potential value, driven by recurring tuition and fees delivery orders for military personnel enrolled at Mercer University School of Medicine in Macon, Georgia. Representative contract work includes a $112,910 delivery order for tuition and fees for the fall 2025 term (awarded September 5, 2025), a $116,075 delivery order for spring 2026 tuition (awarded February 16, 2026), and a $507,265 definitive contract with the Food and Drug Administration (awarded September 22, 2023) for in vitro bioequivalence testing of generic dermatological formulations through September 2027. The Air Force places orders through two primary vehicles: Indefinite Delivery Contract FA850104G0001 (38 task orders, $6.6 million combined potential value) and Indefinite Delivery Contract N0014098G2481 (79 task orders, $5.4 million combined potential value). A single Drug Enforcement Administration purchase order for lease and rental of non-building facilities at Woburn, Massachusetts (valued at $15,262.75, awarded April 1, 2026, running through March 31, 2031) represents the institution's facilities-lease footprint.

The top five funding agencies by award count account for 57% of awards, with the Department of the Navy Bureau of Medicine and Surgery dominating both volume and dollars; the Air Force and Army follow as secondary customers. Fifty distinct customer agencies have placed awards across the 476-award portfolio. Activity has remained modest and flat over the past five years, averaging 15 awards annually, with 11 awards obligated in 2026 (year to date) and 11 awards facing completion within the next twenty-four months carrying combined potential value of $507 thousand.

Mercer's federal grant portfolio is substantially larger and more diverse. The university acts as a prime recipient on research grants from the National Institutes of Health (including the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, National Heart Lung and Blood Institute, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institute on Drug Abuse, and National Institute of General Medical Sciences), the National Science Foundation, the National Endowment for the Humanities, the Department of Education (Office of Postsecondary Education, Division of Undergraduate Education, Office of Elementary and Secondary Education), the Health Resources and Services Administration, the Federal Office of Rural Health Policy, the EPA Office of Research and Development, and the Shared Services Center. Representative research awards include an $817,161 grant from NIAID (awarded July 17, 2024) investigating gut-derived mesenchymal stem cells for cellular therapy in perianal fistulas associated with Crohn's disease, a $586,359 grant from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (awarded July 15, 2026) to develop a nebulized STAT3 inhibitor-loaded nanoliposome product for severe asthma treatment, a $230,463 grant from NIAID (awarded July 3, 2026) to develop a novel malaria vaccine antigen targeting multiple stages of the Plasmodium lifecycle, and an $178,400 grant from the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (awarded August 1, 2026) to evaluate renal complications in Cockayne syndrome. Mercer also receives TRIO Student Support Services grants (CFDA 84.042) totaling $272,364 for each of two programs (Macon and Henry campuses, awarded September 1, 2025), an NSF grant for acquisition of an ultra-high accuracy digital microscope ($116,349, awarded September 1, 2024), and workforce-development grants in computer science education, rural health residency training, and geriatric healthcare.

Mercer acts as a sub-recipient on at least 35 federal research grants, partnering primarily with Emory University (11 sub-awards to date), the University of Delaware (4 sub-awards on astrophysics analyses), Georgia State University Research Foundation (4 sub-awards on rural health workforce and education), and other academic institutions including Duke University, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, the University of Arizona, and the University of Illinois. These sub-awards involve research support in health sciences (substance use in pregnancy, maternal and child health, geriatric workforce enhancement), physics and astrophysics (anisotropy analyses for cosmic-ray research), and behavioral sciences (project LIBERATE, classroom management training).

The primary NAICS code for the contract portfolio is Colleges, Universities, and Professional Schools (87 awards), reflecting the institution's educational mission; Engineering Services (57 awards) captures Mercer's contract research and technical support work. Top PSC codes align: Education/Training—Tuition/Registration/Membership Fees (122 awards) and Systems Engineering Services (25 awards) represent the largest procurements. The recompete cliff over the next twenty-four months is modest, with 11 awards totaling $507 thousand facing completion and potential recompete opportunity.