The FY25 Federal Contracting Scorecard Is Out: What the Numbers Mean for Small Businesses Right Now

The SBA released the FY25 federal procurement scorecard last week, and the top-line number is striking: small businesses captured nearly 28 percent of all prime federal contract dollars, the highest share in over a decade. But the category-by-category breakdown tells a more complicated story that every small contractor needs to understand before writing another proposal.

Category: GovCon News · 8 min read · Published 2026-06-29

The U.S. Small Business Administration released the FY25 federal procurement scorecard on June 25, 2026. The scorecard measures how well federal agencies met their small business contracting goals during the fiscal year that ended September 30, 2025. The numbers are worth reading carefully, because they reveal where agency buying is expanding, where it is contracting, and which offices have earned a track record of following through on small business commitments.

For a small business deciding which agencies to target, which certifications to pursue, and where to concentrate proposal resources, this data is about as close to a market signal as federal contracting produces.

The Headline: A Record Share of Prime Contracts

In FY25, nearly 28 percent of all prime federal contract dollars went to small businesses, exceeding the statutory 23 percent goal by a meaningful margin. In dollar terms, that is

The SBA reports that those contracts supported an estimated 793,400 jobs through prime awards, with another 418,000 jobs supported through small business subcontracting, for a combined total of roughly 1.2 million jobs. These are not just headline statistics. They are evidence that agencies are actively using the procurement system to direct spending toward small business and that the dollar pool available to small contractors is substantial and growing.

Exceeding 28 percent is a record. The statutory floor is 23 percent. The gap between the two matters for contractors because it signals broad agency compliance with small business set-aside requirements, not just a few agencies carrying the average.

Which Agencies Are Buying From Small Businesses

The SBA scorecard grades each agency on a letter system based on how well it met its small business and socioeconomic contracting goals. The government-wide grade for FY25 was an A. Three agencies earned A-plus grades: the General Services Administration, the Department of Housing and Urban Development, and the Department of Commerce. An additional 13 agencies earned A grades.

For a small business doing strategic business development, these grades are actionable information. An A or A-plus grade means the agency has demonstrated a real commitment to meeting its small business goals and has the internal processes to back it up. That does not mean it is easier to win at those agencies, but it does mean that small business set-asides will be honored, that procurement offices are tracking their numbers, and that contracting officers have leadership pressure to put small businesses on contract.

GSA, in particular, is worth examining closely. GSA earned the highest grade and is also in the middle of a major reorganization of its Federal Acquisition Service, driven by revenue growth that doubled to

HUD and Commerce are less commonly targeted by small business contractors, which makes their A-plus grades worth noting. Both agencies have strong small business records and represent opportunities that may be less contested than the DoD or civilian agency pipelines that smaller contractors typically pursue first.

The Veteran-Owned Business Story

Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Businesses had a strong year in FY25. SDVOSBs received $32.5 billion in prime contracts, clearing the 5 percent federal target and continuing a streak of above-goal performance.

Part of the context for this result is a deliberate policy shift. During FY25, SBA cleared a backlog of more than 2,700 Veteran Small Business Certification applications that had accumulated under the prior administration when resources were diverted to expand 8(a) program certifications. Clearing that backlog expanded the number of firms eligible to compete for SDVOSB set-asides, which matters directly for contract availability.

If you hold a SDVOSB certification and have not revisited your agency targeting in the past six months, the FY25 data is a prompt to do so. The 5 percent goal is a floor that agencies take seriously, and a $32.5 billion market that is meeting or exceeding its goal is one that is structurally supportive of certified veteran-owned firms.

The 8(a) and SDB Shift

The data on small disadvantaged businesses and 8(a) firms requires more context than a single headline number provides.

On the SDB side, the federal government exceeded its SDB contracting goal in FY25, awarding 11.6 percent of prime contract dollars, or $75.3 billion, to small disadvantaged businesses. That is above the goal. But the share declined from 12.27 percent in FY24, the first decrease in ten years.

The 8(a) Business Development Program tells a sharper story. 8(a) firms received 3.7 percent of all prime contracts in FY25, accounting for $24.3 billion in awards, a decrease of

The cause is not a mystery. SBA Administrator Kelly Loeffler launched the first audit of the 8(a) program in its nearly 50-year history in 2025, initiated termination proceedings against roughly 800 firms that failed to meet program requirements or refused to turn over financial documents, and on June 11, 2026, submitted a proposed rule to dismantle the race-based admissions framework that historically determined eligibility based on membership in a presumptively disadvantaged group. New 8(a) admissions have dropped sharply as well: the prior administration approved approximately 2,100 new 8(a) firms, while the current administration has approved 65 to date.

What does this mean for small businesses? If you are currently in the 8(a) program, the compliance and documentation expectations are higher than they have been at any point in recent history. Firms that cannot produce auditable financials are at elevated risk of termination proceedings. If you have been pursuing 8(a) certification, the proposed rule to end race-based admissions will change the eligibility framework once it is finalized, and the comment period is the moment to engage with that process.

For businesses that are not 8(a) certified, the declining share of 8(a) set-asides and the expansion of SDVOSB and other unrestricted small business set-asides may shift the competitive landscape in ways that create more opportunity in the open small business pool.

What to Do Right Now

The scorecard data is most useful when it drives a specific change in your business development approach rather than sitting as background reading.

Target the A-plus agencies with purpose. GSA, HUD, and Commerce have each demonstrated through their procurement data that they prioritize small business awards. If your capability fits any of these agencies' mission areas, add them explicitly to your pipeline and start building relationships with their small business offices this quarter. Most offer small business outreach days, one-on-one sessions with contracting officers, and sources sought notices that are worth responding to.

Validate your certification is current and compliant. SDVOSB certification through the SBA's VetCert program, Women-Owned Small Business certification, HUBZone certification, and 8(a) participation all require active maintenance. A lapsed or incorrectly maintained certification will remove you from set-aside competitions you should be winning. Pull up your SAM.gov profile and your SBA certification record this week and confirm everything is current.

Track the 8(a) proposed rule if you are in the program or considering it. The June 11, 2026 proposed rule to end race-based admissions is open for public comment. The rule, once finalized, will change who is eligible for the program and how eligibility is determined. If 8(a) certification is part of your contracting strategy, comment on the record and consult with a GovCon attorney about how the changes may affect your status.

Review the agency-level scorecard data. The SBA publishes individual agency grades with a full methodology breakdown at sba.gov/scorecard. Go beyond the government-wide A and look at the specific agencies you target. An agency with a C or D grade on small business goals is one where the buying office may not have the internal incentive or process to follow through on set-aside commitments, and that is a strategic consideration worth knowing before you invest time in a pursuit.

How ProposalApp Helps You Act on This Data

Knowing which agencies have strong small business records and which certifications are performing well is only useful if you can match it to actual open opportunities. ProposalApp's Find Opportunities page lets you search SAM.gov by agency, NAICS code, set-aside type, or keyword and pull the full solicitation text without downloading attachments. Filter by SDVOSB set-aside at GSA or HUD and you will see which active opportunities align with the certification categories the FY25 scorecard says are well-supported.

When you find an opportunity worth pursuing, ProposalApp generates a compliance matrix from the solicitation, a bid decision score to help you qualify the pursuit, and a first-draft technical volume and project schedule so you can assess fit before committing proposal resources.

The FY25 data shows where the money went. ProposalApp shows you where the next opportunity is and whether it is worth writing.

Sources

- [SBA FY25 Small Business Contracting Scorecard Press Release | SBA.gov](https://www.sba.gov/article/2026/06/25/sba-releases-fy25-scorecard-small-business-contracting)
- [Small Business Procurement Scorecard | SBA.gov](https://www.sba.gov/federal-contracting/contracting-data/small-business-procurement-scorecard)
- [SBA Reforms 8(a) Business Development Program to End Racial Discrimination | SBA.gov](https://www.sba.gov/article/2026/06/11/sba-reforms-8a-business-development-program-end-racial-discrimination-federal-contracting)
- [SBA Clears VetCert Program Backlog | SBA.gov](https://www.sba.gov/article/2025/11/11/sba-clears-vetcert-program-backlog-put-veteran-entrepreneurs-first)
- [SBA Moves to Terminate Over 620 Firms from 8(a) Program | SBA.gov](https://www.sba.gov/article/2026/03/04/sba-moves-terminate-over-620-firms-8a-federal-contracting-program-refused-turn-over-financial-data)