The GAO conducted a review of federal research grants in response to concerns expressed by the House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology about the significant administrative workload—estimated at 42%—faced by universities in managing these grants. Focusing on four key federal agencies (DOE, NASA, NIH, and NSF) and a selection of research institutions, the report examined the origins and objectives of grant requirements, the factors contributing to administrative burden, and ongoing efforts to streamline these processes. The findings highlighted that while federal and agency-specific requirements are intended to ensure oversight, accountability, and research quality, variations in implementation, prescriptive pre-award processes, and increasing documentation demands have continued to escalate costs and workload for universities. These impacts manifest through significant investments in electronic systems, hiring and training administrative staff, and time spent by researchers complying with differing regulations.
The report acknowledges that the Office of Management and Budget and individual agencies have initiated measures to standardize and streamline administrative requirements—such as federal research terms and conditions, pre-award proposal adjustments, and greater institutional flexibility. However, these steps have not yet fully harmonized requirements across agencies or sufficiently reduced the administrative demands. The GAO recommends enhanced coordination—particularly through the OSTP—to further standardize requirements, expand pre-award streamlining, and allow greater risk-targeted flexibility in regulatory oversight. Ultimately, the balance between necessary accountability and administrative efficiency remains a central challenge, with GAO emphasizing the need for continued evaluation and follow-up to enable further progress in reducing unnecessary workload and costs in federally funded research administration.
