New F&A Reimbursement Resources to Use Amid Appropriation Scrutiny
5/24/2019
Facilities and administrative (F&A) costs have received ongoing scrutiny from President Donald Trump and congressional lawmakers during the appropriations process. NACUBO is pleased to highlight several new resources on our Grants Management page that will help institutions illustrate to both lawmakers and their campus communities the impact that these indirect research costs have on your institutions.
The new resources include the short, explanatory video below, which charts the relationship between federal research agencies and colleges and universities since its inception, and the very tangible and necessary expenses that often fall under the “indirect cost” umbrella.
In addition, a new research paper from the Council on Government Relations, “Excellence in Research: The Funding Model, F&A Reimbursement, and Why the System Works,” is also now available on the Grants Management page, along with other F&A resources.
Trump has regularly called for caps to be placed on F&A reimbursements for research grants generally, and specifically for National Institutes of Health and Department of Agriculture grants. Congressional appropriators have generally overruled the president’s requests; however, his proposals have some measure of support in Congress and federal agency leadership. A 10-percent cap on indirect cost reimbursements for Department of Agriculture grants has been proposed by House budget writers during the current appropriations process, which NACUBO will continue to monitor as lawmakers move toward finalizing FY20 funding levels.
