Federal contractor · SANTA CRUZ, CA

UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA SANTA CRUZ

UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA SANTA CRUZ received $1M in federal contract obligations in FY2026, on 4 awards (+43% vs FY2025). Since FY2017: $15.2M. Its largest customer was Department of the Navy ($893.3K). It also received $97.1M in federal grants and other assistance in FY2026.

Obligations · FY2026
$1M
New awards
4
Sole-source
14%
Single offer
76%
UEI
VXUFPE4MCZH5
Other than small businessEducational institutionGovernment entity
Open in the contracts explorerRelationship graph

Spending by fiscal year

Obligations per federal fiscal year (October–September).

  1. 452.9KFY2017
  2. 1.3MFY2018
  3. 1.7MFY2019
  4. 1.9MFY2020
  5. 3.2MFY2021
  6. 502.3KFY2022
  7. 741.5KFY2023
  8. 3.6MFY2024
  9. 722.3KFY2025
  10. 1MFY2026

Top buying agencies

Obligations in FY2026.

  1. Department of the Navy$893.3K86%
    2 awards
  2. Department of the Army$140.1K14%
    1 awards
  3. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention$00.0%
    1 awards

What was bought · Where the work was performed

Obligations in FY2026.

What was bought

  1. Research & development$893.3K86%
  2. Professional services$140.1K14%

Where the work was performed

  1. Santa Cruz County, CA$893.3K86%
  2. Sonoma County, CA$140.1K14%

Integrity signals

Shares of the year's obligations, next to the country's.

  • Low competition89%
    US 39% · $923K
  • Sole-source awards14%
    US 30% · $140.1K
  • Single-offer competitions76%
    US 8.7% · $783K
  • Urgency justifications0.0%
    US 5.1% · $0

A signal is a reason to look closer, not evidence of wrongdoing: most sole-source awards are lawful and justified.

Agencies awarding it sole-source contracts

  1. Department of the Army$140.1K
    Department of Defense · 1 awards

Largest awards

  1. R&D SERVICES$2.5M
    Centers for Disease Control and Prevention· Santa Cruz County, CA· Research & development· Sep 30, 2024 – Aug 27, 2026· 75D30124C20302
  2. U.C. SANTA CRUZ RDT&E STUDY AS LIVING MARINE RESOURCES (LMR) PROJECT FOR NAVAL FACILITIES ENGINEERING SYSTEMS COMMAND, EXPEDITIONARY WARFARE CENTER, ENVIRONMENTAL SECURITY PROGRAMS$1.1M
    Department of the Navy· Santa Cruz County, CA· Research & development· Mar 6, 2025 – Jun 3, 2026· N3943025C2005
  3. MASKING PARAMETERS FOR PINNIPEDS$640.8K
    Department of the Navy· Santa Cruz County, CA· Research & development· Apr 2, 2024 – Feb 20, 2026· N3943024C2007
  4. WSD/CVD HATCHERY FISH GENETICS ANALYSIS$140.1K
    Department of the Army· Sonoma County, CA· Professional services· Apr 6, 2026 – Apr 6, 2026· W912P726CA008

Federal grants & assistance received

Grants, loans (counted at their subsidy cost), direct payments and insurance, by fiscal year of the action (USAspending.gov, FABS). Reported apart from contracts and never added to them.

UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA SANTA CRUZ received $97.1M in federal assistance in FY2026, on 564 actions (64 new awards), −26% vs FY2025. Its largest program was 84.063 · Federal Pell Grant Program ($32.3M).

Assistance · FY2026
$97.1M
New awards
64
Actions
564
Since FY2021
$815M

Assistance by fiscal year

  1. 178.4MFY2021
  2. 112.9MFY2022
  3. 161.8MFY2023
  4. 133.8MFY2024
  5. 130.9MFY2025
  6. 97.1MFY2026

By type

  1. Grants$62.5M64%
  2. Direct payments$34.7M36%

Top programs

  1. 84.063 · Federal Pell Grant Program$32.3M33%
  2. 93.859 · Biomedical Research and Research Training$10.8M11%
  3. 93.172 · Human Genome Research$8.2M8.5%
  4. 93.855 · Allergy and Infectious Diseases Research$4.4M4.5%
  5. 84.334 · Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs$4M4.1%
  6. 81.049 · Office of Science Financial Assistance Program$3.6M3.7%
  7. 47.050 · Geosciences$3.3M3.4%
  8. 93.242 · Mental Health Research Grants$2.7M2.8%

Awarding agencies

  1. Department of Education$38.8M40%
  2. National Institutes of Health$36M37%
    Department of Health and Human Services
  3. National Science Foundation$12M12%
  4. Department of Energy$3.6M3.7%
  5. National Aeronautics and Space Administration$1.9M2.0%
  6. Bureau of Reclamation$1.3M1.3%
    Department of the Interior
  7. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management$796.8K0.8%
    Department of the Interior
  8. Department of the Navy$749.5K0.8%
    Department of Defense

Largest awards

  1. GRANT PROGRAM$42.7M
    84.063 · Federal Pell Grant Program· Department of Education· Direct payment for specified use· Sep 18, 2024 – Jan 22, 2026· P063P240054
  2. GRANT PROGRAM$40.7M
    84.063 · Federal Pell Grant Program· Department of Education· Direct payment for specified use· Sep 18, 2025 – Sep 18, 2026· P063P250054
  3. GRANT PROGRAM$35.8M
    84.063 · Federal Pell Grant Program· Department of Education· Direct payment for specified use· Sep 21, 2023 – Dec 20, 2025· P063P230054
  4. RESEARCH IN PARTICLE PHYSICS$35.1M
    81.049 · Office of Science Financial Assistance Program· Department of Energy· Project grant· Mar 4, 2021 – Aug 4, 2026· DESC0010107
  5. BIOELECTRIC INTELLIGENT CONTROL OF WOUND REGENERATION$22.3M
    12.910 · Research and Technology Development· Departmental Offices· Cooperative agreement· Dec 17, 2020 – Aug 28, 2026· D20AC00003
  6. THE UCSC GENOME BROWSER - ABSTRACT THE UCSC GENOME BROWSER AND ASSOCIATED TOOLS ARE USED BY HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OF BIOMEDICAL RESEARCHERS…$18.1M
    93.172 · Human Genome Research· National Institutes of Health· Cooperative agreement· Jun 27, 2022 – Aug 3, 2026· U24HG002371

Source: Federal financial assistance transactions (Financial Assistance Broker Submission) (U.S. Department of the Treasury, USAspending.gov), data current to Oct 8, 2026, loaded Oct 8, 2026 · FY2021–FY2026.

Subawards

Matched by Unique Entity ID: the first-tier subawards this organization reported as a prime recipient, and those primes reported paying it.

As a prime: who it pays · FY2026

  • Sub-grants: $2.6M (19 subawards)

16 sub-recipients

  1. THE LELAND STANFORD JUNIOR UNIVERSITY$643.2K25%
    STANFORD, CA · 3 subawards
  2. SONOMA STATE UNIVERSITY$249.5K9.7%
    ROHNERT PARK, CA · 1 subaward
  3. SAN JOSE STATE UNIVERSITY RESEARCH FOUNDATION$243K9.4%
    SAN JOSE, CA · 1 subaward
  4. UNIVERSITY OF UTAH$217.7K8.4%
    SALT LAKE CITY, UT · 1 subaward
  5. UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN SYSTEM$187.3K7.2%
    MADISON, WI · 2 subawards
  6. UNIVERSITY ENTERPRISES, INC.$150.9K5.8%
    SACRAMENTO, CA · 1 subaward
  7. BRIGHAM YOUNG UNIVERSITY$138.3K5.4%
    PROVO, UT · 1 subaward
  8. CALIFORNIA ASSOCIATION FOR RESEARCH IN ASTRONOMY$122.8K4.8%
    KAMUELA, HI · 1 subaward
  9. GEORGIA TECH RESEARCH CORP$101.9K3.9%
    ATLANTA, GA · 1 subaward
  10. WESTED$93.5K3.6%
    SAN FRANCISCO, CA · 1 subaward

As a sub-recipient: who pays it · FY2026

  • Sub-grants: $7.6M (32 subawards)

25 primes

  1. UNIVERSITY OF ALASKA FAIRBANKS$1.1M15%
    FAIRBANKS, AK · 2 subawards
  2. WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY, THE$955.2K13%
    SAINT LOUIS, MO · 1 subaward
  3. THE BROAD INSTITUTE, INC$852.5K11%
    CAMBRIDGE, MA · 1 subaward
  4. CLEMSON UNIVERSITY$591.6K7.7%
    CLEMSON, SC · 1 subaward
  5. THE LELAND STANFORD JUNIOR UNIVERSITY$552.8K7.2%
    STANFORD, CA · 4 subawards
  6. UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH FLORIDA$406.7K5.3%
    TAMPA, FL · 1 subaward
  7. UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA$371.4K4.9%
    TUCSON, AZ · 1 subaward
  8. THE JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY$317.5K4.2%
    BALTIMORE, MD · 1 subaward
  9. OFFICE OF EMERGENCY SERVICES$300K3.9%
    MATHER, CA · 1 subaward
  10. UNIVERSITY OF ROCHESTER$295.8K3.9%
    ROCHESTER, NY · 1 subaward

By fiscal year

  • FY2021: $10.7M paid out · $9.5M received
  • FY2022: $8.7M paid out · $13.9M received
  • FY2023: $10.3M paid out · $16M received
  • FY2024: $8M paid out · $17.7M received
  • FY2025: $3.8M paid out · $13.2M received
  • FY2026: $2.6M paid out · $7.6M received

Primes report first-tier subawards of $30,000 or more themselves, and many go unreported (GAO-24-106214). Reporting moved from FSRS to SAM.gov in March 2025 and fewer sub-contracts have been reported since. Amounts are what primes reported; they are never added to prime award totals.

Source: Subawards (first-tier sub-contracts and sub-grants reported under FFATA) (U.S. Department of the Treasury, USAspending.gov (reports filed in SAM.gov, formerly FSRS)), data current to Oct 9, 2026, loaded Oct 9, 2026 · Subawards loaded from FY2021.

Teaming partners

Companies this company reported paying, primes that reported paying it, from FFATA subaward reports.

Companies it pays

102 companies · $44.1M reported

  1. THE LELAND STANFORD JUNIOR UNIVERSITY$7.5M
    STANFORD, CA · 18 subawards
  2. THE BROAD INSTITUTE, INC$3M
    CAMBRIDGE, MA · 4 subawards
  3. UNIVERSITY OF HAWAII$1.5M
    HONOLULU, HI · 4 subawards

Primes that pay it

98 companies · $77.9M reported

  1. OFFICE OF EMERGENCY SERVICES$7.6M
    MATHER, CA · 13 subawards
  2. WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY, THE$5.9M
    SAINT LOUIS, MO · 21 subawards
  3. THE TRUSTEES OF PRINCETON UNIVERSITY$5.9M
    PRINCETON, NJ · 9 subawards

Showing the top 3 of each list. Open the profile for potential partners and the full lists.

Primes report first-tier subawards of $30,000 or more themselves, and many go unreported (GAO-24-106214). Reporting moved from FSRS to SAM.gov in March 2025 and fewer sub-contracts have been reported since. Amounts are what primes reported; they are never added to prime award totals.

Source: Subawards (first-tier sub-contracts and sub-grants reported under FFATA) (U.S. Department of the Treasury, USAspending.gov (reports filed in SAM.gov, formerly FSRS)), data current to Oct 9, 2026, loaded Oct 9, 2026 · Subawards loaded from 2021.

Competitors

Companies that win from the same buyers in the same markets: obligations by agency and industry compared over the last three fiscal years.

Compared on 7 markets (agency × industry), FY2024–FY2026.

  1. INNOVATIVE WIRELESS TECHNOLOGIES, INC.$3.3M−92% in FY2026
    LYNCHBURG, VA · 53% of this company's obligations are in markets they both serveNavy · Scientific research and development servicesCenters for Disease Control and Prevention · Scientific research and development services
  2. THE PROBITAS PROJECT, INC.$2.4M−23% in FY2026
    VIENNA, VA · 44% of this company's obligations are in markets they both serveNavy · Scientific research and development servicesArmy · Scientific research and development services
  3. PACIFIC IMPACT ZONE SOLUTIONS INC$2.5M−100% in FY2026
    HONOLULU, HI · 44% of this company's obligations are in markets they both serveNavy · Scientific research and development servicesArmy · Scientific research and development services

Showing the top 3 of 25 competitors. Open the profile for the full list.

Who sells to the same buyers in the same markets, not who wins against whom on a given contract. Prime contract obligations by the agency and NAICS code of each award; subawards are never added. A company is a family of legal entities, joined by parent UEI or, in part, by an AI reading of names.

Source: Federal contract transactions (Federal Procurement Data System) (U.S. Department of the Treasury, USAspending.gov), data current to Oct 9, 2026, loaded Oct 9, 2026 · FY2024–FY2026.

Source: Federal contract transactions (Federal Procurement Data System) (U.S. Department of the Treasury, USAspending.gov), data current to Oct 9, 2026, loaded Oct 9, 2026.