Typical facilities and administration (F&A) costs include:
The F&A rate is a predetermined rate used to calculate costs for grants, contracts and other agreements with the federal government. The rate may fluctuate by fiscal year, location (i.e., on or off campus) or activity.
The following are example scenarios of how you might apply the F&A rate as presented in Brown’s Rate Agreement, depending on when the award was funded.
An on-campus research award funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) started on June 1, 2021 and utilized a rate of 58.5% for the first month of the project and then changed to 59% on July 1, 2021. The rate changed again on July 1, 2022 to 59.5%. All future years of this award through June 30, 2027 will continue to use the 59.5% rate. After June 30, 2027, the 59.5% rate is provisional, until a new rate agreement is adopted. Supplements to this award will use the rate agreement in effect at the time of the notice of award (NoA).
An on-campus research award funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) started on August 1, 2021 with a rate of 59% for the first 11 months of the project before changing to 59.5% on July 1, 2022. All future years of this award through June 30, 2027 will continue to use the 59.5% rate. After June 30, 2027, the 59.5% rate is provisional, until a new rate agreement is adopted. Supplements to this award will use the rate agreement in effect at the time of the NoA.
An NSF on-campus research award with a start date of August 1, 2023 will have the rate of 59.5% through June 30, 2027 and thereafter, until the provisional rate of 59.5% is amended after July 1, 2027.
If you have additional questions about applying the F&A rate, contact resadmin@brown.edu.
A provisional rate is a temporary indirect cost rate applicable to a specified period that is used for funding, interim reimbursement and reporting indirect costs on federal awards pending the establishment of a final rate for the period.
A predetermined rate is applicable to a specified current or future period, usually the organization's fiscal year. The rate is based on an estimate of the costs to be incurred during the period. A predetermined rate is not subject to adjustment.
The current rates are used for all awards made on or after July 1, 2022, regardless of what rate was used in the proposal budget. There will be no change in the F&A rate for proposals submitted using a provisional rate from the prior rate agreement. The predetermined rates for July 1, 2022 through June 30, 2027 are the same as the provisional rates in the previous rate agreement.
When applying the F&A rate to existing federal multi-year grants and contracts, review the rate agreements in effect during the grant/contract years for the predetermined rates per grant year. Rates changed annually between July 1, 2019 and June 30, 2023. From July 1, 2022 through June 30, 2027, the predetermined on-campus research rate is 59.5%.
All requests for new funding, including NIH supplements and competing renewals should use the current rate structure regardless of when the original award was funded.
The current rate agreement applies to all new funding, which may include supplements. Unless the sponsor policies state otherwise, supplement proposals should incorporate the current rates, even if the parent award was funded before July 1, 2022.
The NSF has a policy of funding supplemental support using the negotiated indirect cost rates approved at the time of the initial award, so supplemental proposals to the NSF should use the original agreement's rates. (See the NSF Proposal and Award Policies and Procedures Guide Chapter VI.E.) Most NSF supplements submitted by Brown are for Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) participant support, which generally don’t include F&A.
Carryover is subject to the F&A rate in effect when the costs are incurred.
If a nonfederal sponsor has a published rate that is lower than Brown’s negotiated rate, that lower rate can be used for proposals submission as long as documentation of the rate restriction is uploaded to the proposal record.
If the sponsor does not have a rate limitation and Brown is able to recover the full F&A, the same principles apply. Awards funded on or after July 1, 2022 are subject to the University’s current rate agreement.
If Brown is a subrecipient on an existing award and the sponsor institution requests an updated budget each year, the rate agreement in effect at the time the subaward was originally issued remains effective throughout the life of the subaward and should be used when preparing the budget, assuming that the sponsor issues modifications extending the subaward each year.
So if the subaward began before July 1, 2019, the rate of 62.5% is maintained throughout. If the subaward was issued on or after that date, it falls under the new rate agreement and should use the new rate structure. If the sponsoring institution is issuing a new, separate subaward, the current rates would be used.