Facilities & Administration Information and Rates

F&A rates, or Facilities and Administrative rates, are federally approved reimbursement rates for indirect costs, also known as overhead, incurred by institutions on sponsored projects. These costs are not directly related to a specific project but are necessary for the institution's overall operations and research activities. 

Oregon State University (OSU) has a Negotiated Indirect Cost Rate Agreement (NICRA) with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS). This agreement and our associated implementation memo govern how we apply F&A to all sponsored awards – federal and non-federal. These rates must be appropriately accounted for in any new project budget, unless prohibited or limited in some way by a sponsor. The negotiated F&A rate in effect at the time of an initial award is then applied throughout the life or competitive segment of a sponsored agreement. Existing awards requesting additional funding (supplements or renewals), however, should typically be processed with rates current at the time of the request.

• Current F&A Rate Agreement
• F&A Rate Implementation memo
• Off-Campus F&A Rate FAQ
• F&A Overview & Definitions (OSU login required)

Questions about F&A policy implementation for new proposals or existing awards can be directed to OSRAA at [email protected].

Facilities & Administration (F&A) Rates FY19-FY24

F&A Rate Exceptions

Sponsor-Limited F&A Rates

There are certain instances where a non-profit, federal, or state sponsor either prohibits completely or limits F&A cost recovery for a program to less than OSU’s negotiated rates. In these instances, a copy of or link to the sponsor’s published indirect rate policy should be attached to or included in the proposal package when it is routed for institutional approval.

• Federal F&A limitations must be either a statutory restriction (e.g., USDA Farm Bill) or included in the proposal guidelines as a limitation.
• Non-Profit limited rates must be a published policy applicable to the entire organization or program in order to be acceptable to OSU.
• State government limited rates must be included in the proposal guidelines.
• Any for-profit sources of funding will be charged the full applicable F&A rate, or a Waiver/Subsidy must be requested internally by the PI (see details below).

Note: When a sponsor caps the F&A rate, and they do not clearly specify or address an inquiry about how the limited rate is to be applied, OSU policy is to charge the capped rate to total direct costs (rather than modified total direct costs, or MTDC). When this method of calculating indirect costs is used and a project includes one or more subawards, OSU still applies the limitation of assessing indirect cost on only the first $25,000 of each sub-award.

PI Transfers (award transfer into OSU)

If a new PI transfers an award from their previous institution to OSU, a reduced F&A rate will be honored (1) if allowed by the sponsor and (2) to the extent needed to make the Direct Costs available to the PI at their previous institution remain available to them after they come to OSU.

F&A Waivers & Subsidies

F&A costs are real expenses of the university, related to research and other activities. Sponsored projects need to pay their share of these costs. It is OSU’s policy that the appropriate F&A rate shall be applied to each funded project. In limited circumstances, however, it is appropriate for OSU to grant either (1) a reduction in the amount of the F&A charged to a grant, or (2) alter the distribution of a portion of the F&A in order to pursue an opportunity.

When a PI wishes to request a waiver or reduction of these costs, there are two options to request OSU acceptance. Both options require a completed form to accompany the routed proposal record and, additional time should be provided for review and approval of this request outside of the typical proposal review timeline.

• F&A Subsidy/Waiver Policy
• F&A Subsidy Form
• F&A Waiver Form

Unfunded Partnership Agreements with Reduced F&A Rates

Sponsors may approach OSU to agree to a reduced F&A rate for certain programmatic activity. A non-exhaustive list of these unfunded partnership agreements includes faculty joint appointment funding, graduate student sponsorship programs, and consortium agreements.  They may also be negotiated through other contract vehicles such as a Master Agreement, Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), or Membership Agreement. The Vice President for Research (VPR) must approve all F&A reductions in these agreements. Then, even once VPR approval has been received for a partnership agreement, each project proposed/funded under that partnership agreement must have a completed F&A Waiver Form on file in order to track the total F&A waiver impact.