Westat, Inc.

Westat, Inc., a tax-exempt for-profit research and evaluation firm headquartered in Bethesda, Maryland, delivers federal research, data collection, statistical analysis, and program evaluation services to civilian agencies as a large, unrestricted prime contractor (98% of recent awards), with no SBA set-aside designations and a footprint spanning health, education, transportation, and social policy research.

Westat's customer concentration anchors heavily to research and health agencies. The top five funding agencies by potential value account for 55% of combined dollars: the National Cancer Institute (178 awards, $6.4 billion combined potential value), CDC Office of Acquisition Services (119 awards, $6.25 billion), the Institute of Education Sciences (88 awards, $4.65 billion), the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (68 awards, $2.5 billion), and CDC Pittsburgh (131 awards, $1.47 billion). Award count and dollar concentration align closely around National Institutes of Health components, CDC, and education agencies, signaling established relationships across federal research infrastructure.

Westat operates across multiple vehicle types. The firm holds seats on the GSA's OASIS+ Unrestricted multiple-award IDIQ (ceiling not specified), enabling government-wide task order access. Major single-award IDIQs include the $3.5 billion Research, Measurement, Assessment, Design, and Analysis 3 (RMADA 3) contract with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (July 2026–July 2031), the $344.7 million Health Resources and Services Administration Evaluations and Evidence Building IDIQ (Sept 2024–Sept 2026), the $232.7 million Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality Medical Expenditure Panel Survey–Household Component vehicle (Sept 2024–Sept 2029), and the $175 million National Institute of Child Health and Human Development International and Domestic Pediatric and Maternal HIV Studies IDIQ (June 2023–May 2030). Westat also holds the $70 million FDA Quick Turnaround Social Science Research Services BPA (Dec 2025–Dec 2030), a $120 million National Highway Traffic Safety Administration Human Factors IDIQ (Sept 2024–March 2030), and multiple regional education center grants under the Procurement of Research Evaluation and Statistics Task Orders (PRESTO) vehicle. The firm leverages the GSA Multiple Award Schedule, Advertising and Integrated Marketing Solutions GWAC, and numerous agency-specific BPAs for rapid task order placement.

Recent representative work demonstrates Westat's capability range. The $797.8 million Population Assessment of Tobacco and Health (PATH) Study contract with the National Institute on Drug Abuse (Feb 2024–Nov 2036) represents a signature longitudinal research effort. CMS awarded a $24.5 million delivery order for fraud reduction and waste mitigation model testing in Medicare Fee-for-Service programs (Oct 2025–Dec 2032). The Department of Education's Institute of Education Sciences awarded $180.2 million for National Assessment of Educational Progress data collection and $19.4 million for NAEP Support and Service Center work (both Dec 2024–Dec 2029). Westat delivered a $149.8 million task order to AHRQ for systematic evidence reviews supporting the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (Dec 2024–Nov 2028). The firm also carries active responsibilities for the CDC's surveillance programs: a $9.2 million order for the Virtual SARS-CoV-2, Influenza, and Other Respiratory Viruses Network (VISION 2.3) surveillance program (Jan 2026–Sept 2026) and a $2.43 million delivery order for Assisted Reproductive Technology data collection (April 2026–Oct 2030, under OASIS+).

Activity volume increased from 68 awards in 2022 to a peak of 101 in 2024, then moderated to 33 in 2025 and 13 in 2026 (reflecting the source date of July 15, 2026). Seventy-five awards with ultimate completion within the next twenty-four months carry combined potential value of $743.6 million, marking significant recompete exposure across the NAEP work, RMADA 3 task orders, HRSA evaluation studies, and multiple CDC and NIH delivery orders.

Service Contract Inventory data shows SCI-reportable invoicing of $771.8 million across FY2022–FY2024: $220.6 million in FY2022 (3,036 FTEs), $267.3 million in FY2023 (1,336 FTEs), and $283.9 million in FY2024 (1,484 FTEs). The FTE trajectory reflects variable staffing across contract cycles. On federal services contracts captured in SCI, government-paid hourly rates averaged around $140.83/hr at the median, ranging from $52.17/hr at the tenth percentile (field interviewer roles) to $699.38/hr at the 90th percentile (senior research and IT leadership). Across SCI-reportable prime contracts, subcontractors represented approximately 6% of contractor hours, with 191 named subcontractors reported. Westat self-performs most delivery, building its own staffing rather than outsourcing labor.

Teaming relationships are sparse in the prime footprint; Westat primarily competes and delivers as a prime. Where subcontracting occurs, the firm engages Research Triangle Institute on the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey Medical Provider Component and the National Survey on Drug Use and Health, the RAND Corporation on Medicare and Prescription Drug Plan CAHPS surveys, the National Opinion Research Center on the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, and Accenture Federal Services LLC on child nutrition analysis modeling (with Accenture providing quick-turnaround data analytics support). Additional subs across federal grant work include academic research centers such as The Johns Hopkins University, Harvard School of Public Health, Clemson University, Rutgers University, and the University of Maryland Baltimore County, reflecting Westat's role as coordinating center for multi-site epidemiological and social science research networks.

Westat subsidiary structure includes Eagle Design & Management, Inc., Insight Policy Research, Inc., Fenestra Technologies Corporation, and The Rockville Institute (a non-profit research advancement entity). The parent organization operates four distinct named entities, though subsidiary roles in federal contracting are not elaborated in the award record.

On the GSA Multiple Award Schedule, Westat maintains 123 active labor categories spanning field interviewers ($36.46/hr), field supervisors ($58.67/hr), IT researchers and senior analysts ($104.71–$167.51/hr), IT project directors and health IT specialists ($254.29–$308.49/hr), and principal-level roles requiring PhDs ($463.62/hr). The pricing spectrum reflects a labor portfolio anchored to data collection, research operations, analytics, and program management rather than specialized IT infrastructure or security-cleared technical roles. Westat does not offer cleared positions on its GSA Schedule.

The vendor's federal footprint spans 174 distinct customer agencies across 3,213 awards (prime and sub combined). Westat competes predominantly full-and-open, with no set-asides, positioning itself as a large established contractor in federal research and evaluation markets where unrestricted competition is the norm. The firm's strengths center on large-scale longitudinal surveys, epidemiological research coordination, program evaluation, and evidence-building services for civilian health, education, labor, and social policy agencies.