If you are budgeting employee salaries to be paid from a sponsored project, you must also budget a proportionate amount for fringe benefits charges. You may estimate these charges by applying the appropriate fringe benefit rates found on the Sponsored Programs Administration webpage.

Facilities and administrative (F&A) costs are those incurred for common or joint objectives and cannot be identified readily and specifically with a particular sponsored project. F&A costs are also referred to as facilities and administrative (F&A) costs.

For example, an investigator's use of electrical power, water and other utilities, or the services of the purchasing and accounting offices are not normally charged directly because it is not practical to account for them separately.

F&A costs benefit the research but are initially paid for by the University. The F&A cost rate (expressed as a percentage) is charged to direct costs on each research project to reimburse the University. Almost all award documents detail the authorized F&A cost rate and the awarded F&A cost amount.

The rate is applied to the "modified total direct costs" (MTDC) of the grant budget.

MTDC = Total Direct Costs excluding the following:

1. Capital equipment expenditures exceeding $5,000.00 per item
2. The portion of any subcontract budget exceeding $25,000.00
3. Scholarships, fellowships or tuition waivers.

Additional information regarding the specific facilities and administrative cost rates in grant proposal preparation can be found on the Sponsored Programs Administration webpage.

Related Policies:

NDSU Policy 813 - Facilities and Administrative Costs