Washington State University

Washington State University, a public land-grant research institution headquartered in Pullman, Washington, operates as a prime recipient of federal contracts and grants across research, educational, and veterinary diagnostic services. The institution does not hold set-aside certifications and competes primarily full-and-open; its award footprint spans 5,293 prime and sub awards totaling $979 million in potential value across 284 distinct federal agencies, reflecting WSU's role as a comprehensive research university rather than a federal contractor pursuing set-asides.

WSU's federal work concentrates in research funding, particularly basic and applied research, alongside substantial diagnostic and laboratory testing services. The National Science Foundation (576 awards) and Department of Agriculture agencies—NIFA (474 awards), ARS (340 awards), and APHIS (172 awards)—account for 33 percent of awards by count. The top-five agencies by potential value include the General Services Administration ($315.8 million, primarily lease/rental of office facilities at WSU's properties), USDA Veterinary Services ($22.8 million for animal health diagnostic work), and USGS ($1.6 million for geochemical and isotope analysis services). NIFA's Agriculture and Food Research Initiative (CFDA 10.310) and NSF's research directorates dominate the research portfolio, funding work spanning plant and animal sciences, materials engineering, cybersecurity, and biomedical research across multiple disciplines.

WSU's concrete capability portfolio centers on federal research and diagnostic laboratory services. As a prime, the institution delivers specialized analytical services including isotope analysis, geochemical testing (X-ray fluorescence, inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry), veterinary diagnostic testing through the National Animal Health Laboratory Network (scrapie, bovine spongiform encephalopathy, highly pathogenic avian influenza testing), and advanced research in quantum dynamics, agricultural genomics, neurological therapeutics, and environmental science. Recent representative work includes a $300 thousand USDA Veterinary Services delivery order for HPAI cattle diagnostic testing (awarded February 2026), a $2.256 million Department of Energy definitive contract for environmental remediation (January 2026), a $649.9 million NSF-funded research initiative on viral infection multiscale modeling (awarded February 2026), and a $2.1 million USAID cooperative agreement for veterinary vaccine delivery innovation (October 2024). Grant recipients span NIFA (agricultural research), NSF (mathematics, chemistry, physics, geosciences, computing), NIH/NINDS (neuroscience and neurological disorders), Department of Energy (materials science and nuclear security), and DARPA (advanced materials and biotech). The university also holds a $500 thousand single-award indefinite delivery contract with USGS through July 2028 for geochemical laboratory analyses, with active task orders placing work under GSA Basic Ordering Agreements (GS10B04428 with 175 task orders totaling $47.9 million; GS10B05944 with 114 task orders totaling $483.1 million).

Service Contract Inventory data shows SCI-reportable invoiced revenue of $1.7 million across FY2022–FY2024 (FY2023: $697 thousand; FY2024: $1 million), with median government-paid rates around $566/hr and senior labor pricing through approximately $940/hr, reflecting WSU's positioning as a research and specialized services provider rather than a labor-intensive contractor. Across SCI-reportable prime contracts, average sub-hours share is zero percent, indicating WSU builds its own delivery teams for federal service work rather than relying on subcontractors. As a prime on contracts and grants, WSU leads research initiatives; as a sub-awardee, the institution participates in multi-institutional consortia (named sub-awardees include University of Washington, Oregon State University, University of Idaho, University of California–Davis, Triad National Security, and Johns Hopkins University across various research programs).

Activity has fluctuated: 238 awards in 2022, 240 in 2023, 330 in 2024 (a 38% increase), then 189 in 2025 and 63 in 2026 (likely incomplete year-to-date data as of July 2026). Within the next 24 months, 262 awards with ultimate completion dates face potential recompete, representing $5.6 million in combined potential value at risk. WSU's corporate structure includes Washington State University itself as a non-profit public institution; no separate named subsidiaries are identified in the source, though the university operates multiple colleges and research centers across the Pullman, Spokane, and Tri-Cities campuses that function as organizational units within the parent institution.