Yes, costs used to satisfy Cost Sharing commitments are subject to the same policies as the costs directly reimbursed by the sponsor unless the sponsor specifically permits an exception. To be claimed as Cost Sharing, the costs must be allowable under university and sponsor policies, must be allocable to the project, and should be reasonable and necessary for the performance of the project.

While the terms Cost Sharing and Matching are often used interchangeably, Matching has a specific meaning related to the ratio of Cost Sharing. Matching refers to a situation in which the sponsor requires the university to match the level of grant funding in some proportion with funds received from another party (such as a 50% match or a “1 to 1” match). This type of Cost Sharing is usually stated in the program announcement or Request for Proposals (RFP) as an eligibility requirement (mandatory) and is often provided from institutional resources.

The use of the Campus Computing Cluster or the use of contracted cloud services is not subject to facilities and administrative costs. The decision to not charge F&A on these services provides flexibility for our investigators to choose the best technical solution to support their research compute and storage needs. For the campus, the decision promotes cost efficiencies through a reduction in the use of space and consumption of utilities when an investigator elects to use an externally contracted cloud provider.

We do not have a separately negotiated rate agreement for industry-sponsored clinical trials, but it is national practice to charge 26% Total Direct Costs (TDC) for industry-sponsored clinical trials. All other clinical trials would use the institutional negotiated rate as a Research project.

It depends on the source of the funding, the scope or work, or assignment of the visiting scholar or student. If the source of the funding is a commercial entity, then the negotiated rate should be charged. If the source of funding is a non-profit, foundation, or governmental entity, then the first $10,000 of support is exempted from F&A with any amount in excess of $10,000 being subject to a minimum of 10% or the rate specified by the sponsor.

Uniform Guidance requires recipients to have a federally negotiated indirect cost rate. If the subrecipient does not have and has never had a federally negotiated indirect cost rate, then the university will allow the subrecipient to proposed budget with the de minimus rate of 10% MTDC. The university will not negotiate an F&A rate with subrecipients; however, it will allow a subrecipient an opportunity to secure a federally negotiated indirect cost rate before a subagreement is issued. Please note that some federal agencies may further limit the rate for certain subawardees.

If the reduced rate is a result of a statutory limitation, then any F&A above the limitation may be considered unallowable and thus not eligible to be considered cost share. If the campus elects to charge a rate less than the negotiated rate, then the difference could be used to meet cost sharing if allowed by the sponsor.

No. However, some sponsors do not allow Tuition Remission costs, so please confirm with sponsor policy and program guidelines.

USDA limits F&A on some NIFA awards to the lesser of 30% of total award (direct plus F&A costs) or the amount that can be recovered using our negotiated rate. For budgeting purposes, the rate of 30% of the total award is equivalent to 42.857% of Total Direct Costs (TDC). In this case, Total Direct Costs (TDC) INCLUDE tuition remission costs. Details for each NIFA program can be found on the NIFA website here. SPA also provides a budget template to assist in determining which rate is appropriate and is available on its website here.

Normally, we do not assess F&A on Fellowships. However, if a sponsor permits recovery of F&A on fellowship funding, the sponsor-approved rate should be included in the budget.