COGR provides this compilation of resources, many developed by COGR, explaining Facilities and Administrative (F&A/Indirect) costs, the importance of these co
F&A
Facilities and Administrative (F&A/Indirect) costs are expenses that are required to support the performance of research, such as the construction and maintenance of research laboratories, utility expenses, safety and security, and data management and sharing. COGR advocates for reimbursement by the federal government of its share of these expenses and provides current and historical resources that explain these costs and their importance to U.S. research and development.
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Update from COGR on Department of Energy Limitations on Reimbursement of Indirect Costs
The document outlines recent policy changes implemented by the Department of Energy (DOE) regarding the reimbursement of indirect costs under financial assistance...
COGR, NACUBO, and 16 Other Organizations File Amicus Brief Supporting Community Appeal of Indirect Cost Reimbursement Rate Cap
The document is an amicus curiae brief filed in the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit by the National Association of College and University...
Facilities & Administrative (F&A/Indirect) Cost Rates Are NOT a Percent of the Total Award Infographic
The document explains that a 50% Facilities & Administrative (F&A) cost rate, which is applied only to Modified Total Direct Costs (MTDC) rather than the total award...
F&A Survey Capstone: Cost Reimbursement Rates, Actual Reimbursement, and Growing Regulatory Burden
The COGR 2023 F&A Survey Capstone analyzes data from 120 research institutions to assess trends and challenges in the reimbursement of Facilities and Administrative...
Costs of Federally Sponsored Research
Federally sponsored research incurs both direct costs, such as researcher and student salaries, project-specific supplies, equipment, and travel, and facilities and...
Resources
Point of Contact
Cindy Hope
Director, Costing and Financial Compliance
All F&A Articles
Appendix 3 to F&A Capstone Report: COGR Member Universities Responding to 2023 Cost Reimbursement Rate Survey
The document presents data from the COGR 2023 F&A (Facilities & Administrative) Survey, focusing on average administrative cost components at member universities, segmented by U.S. region and institutional research expenditures (HERD categories). The reported averages indicate notable variations across regions and institution sizes, with Northeast institutions consistently reporting some o
The 2023 COGR F&A Survey: Results & Updated Analysis: October 2023 Meeting
The 2023 COGR Facilities & Administrative (F&A) Survey, conducted between January and May 2023 with 119 institutional respondents, provides a comprehensive analysis of current F&A cost recovery practices in research institutions across the United States. The survey's findings are presented in aggregate to ensure confidentiality, serving both as a benchmarking tool for member insti
Cost of Compliance: Results from the COGR Survey on the Cost of Complying with the New NIH DMS Policy
The document summarizes the findings from a 2022 COGR survey assessing the financial and administrative burdens imposed by the new NIH Data Management and Sharing (DMS) Policy, effective January 2023, which expanded data management requirements to all NIH-funded research projects generating scientific data. The survey, completed by 34 institutions (29 mid-size to large and 5 smaller institutions),
Research Security and the Cost of Compliance—Phase I Report, Disclosure Requirements Now Available
COGR conducted Phase I of the survey described in this report to quantify the considerable time and resources (financial and otherwise) that research institutions have invested (or will invest) to achieve compliance with the Disclosure Requirements. COGR is providing this Phase I report to research institutions and federal research funding agencies in the hope that it will both encou
The Politics of Indirect Costs
The provided document appears to be a lengthy, multi-part data set composed predominantly of encoded or unintelligible text, intermixed with a few recognizable words, symbols, and irregular sequences, as well as delimiters and what seem to be placeholder characters. The structure suggests that the content may have been either corrupted, encrypted, or intentionally obfuscated, making direct interpr
2017 COGR Survey of F&A Rates
The 2017 COGR Survey of Facilities & Administrative (F&A) Rates provides a detailed analysis of trends in research operating costs across U.S. research universities over a ten-year period, from FY2007 to FY2017. The survey, conducted online with input from 145 institutions, captures a representative cross-section of universities under different federal cognizant agencies, including regions
Appendix A: 2017 F&A Survey
Appendix A provides a series of survey screen shots, spanning ten sequential pages. Each page appears to capture visual representations of the user interface presented to survey respondents during the data collection process. The inclusion of these screen shots serves to document the design, structure, and functionality of the survey instrument, ensuring transparency and facilitating replication o
Appendix B Data: 2017 F&A Survey
The Appendix B – Survey Data Sheet details the results of a 2017 survey administered by the Council on Governmental Relations, focusing on institutional practices related to federal rate agreements, clinical trials, and negotiation experiences. Of the 145 institutions responding, 70% were public and 30% private, with a significant majority (89%) designating the Department of Health and Human Servi
2017 Survey of Facilities & Administrative (F&A) Rates Executive Summary
The Council on Governmental Relations (COGR), representing 190 leading research universities and institutions conducting over $60 billion in annual research, conducted its 2017 Survey of Facilities & Administrative (F&A) Rates to analyze trends and understandings in the reimbursement of indirect research costs. F&A costs, also referred to as indirect or research operating costs, are es
