The University requires full F&A cost recovery. For all categories of sponsor, the University should apply its negotiated F&A rate to all extramural awards for research, instruction and other sponsored activities. Citations in the Uniform Guidance support full F&A recovery on Federal support including flow through. The appropriate rate is applied to a Modified Total Direct Cost (MTDC) base as defined in §200.1 Modified Total Direct Cost (MTDC). If a sponsor's published policy mandates a lower F&A rate, an exception to the University's policy on full cost recovery must be obtained.
F&A (Indirect) Cost Rates
Per Uniform Guidance, apply UCSF's negotiated F&A rate to all extramural awards, including Federal flow-through funding.
- Chart of F&A Rates (by project type)
- Sister UC Campus F&A Rates
- On-Campus vs. Off-Campus Guidance
F&A (Indirect) Cost Bases
- Modified Total Direct Cost (MTDC)
- General Clinic Research Center (GCRC) MTDC
- Total Direct Cost (TDC)
- Total Cost (TC)
Modified Total Direct Cost (MTDC)
UCSF's Federally-Negotiated F&A rates are based on Modified Total Direct Cost (MTDC). Per §200.1 Modified Total Direct Cost (MTDC), the Modified Total Direct Cost (MTDC) base is the Total Direct Cost (TDC) less expenditures for:
- Equipment
- Tangible, non-expendable personal property (including shipping & sales tax) with a useful life of more than one year and an acquisition cost of $5,000 or more per unit
- Software costing $5,000 or more per copy license (including the cost of sales tax, shipping, and any installation charges)
- Alterations and Renovations
- Patient Care Costs
- Hospitalization and other routine and ancillary services provided by a hospital or clinic to patients participating as research subjects
- Routine and ancillary services provided by academic departments or units and which are covered by the DHHS negotiated Patient Care Rate Agreement (generally, billed through UCSF Medical Center)
- Patient care costs do not include services in non-clinical space provided by commercial laboratories which must be budgeted in the "Other Expenses" category and assessed F&A costs. Learn about Clinical Trial Budgeting and Coverage Analysis.
- Off-Campus Rent
- Space
- Related costs, such as janitorial and utilities IF they are included in the rental agreement
- Tuition and Fee Remission
- Scholarships and Fellowships
- Financial aid paid directly to University students (stipends, scholarships and fellowships)
- Does not include any disbursement of salaries and wages
- Portion over $25,000 of each Subcontract with a third party
- Includes the DOE Laboratories (Lawrence Livermore, Lawrence Berkeley, and Los Alamos National Labs)
- F&A costs are assessed on the first $25,000 during each competitive project period. If there are multiple subcontracts from the same institution on the same proposal/award, EACH subcontract should be assessed F&A on the first $25,000 during the competitive project period. Examples of occasions when UCSF may need to issue multiple subcontracts, under one prime award, to a single institution include Program Project/Center Grants (P series), Research Project Cooperative Agreements (U01) or other programs that fund discrete projects, such as when the university administers pilot project funding.
- Total Costs of Subcontracts to other UC Campuses
- Expenses for Participant Support Costs if award is subject to Uniform Guidance (add link to internal TBC page https://osr.ucsf.edu/content/uniform-guidance-federal-awards)
- Expenses for Participant Support Costs (Account 57824), which are items such as stipends or subsistence allowances, travel allowances, and registration fees paid to or on behalf of participants or trainees (but not employees) in connection with conferences or training projects
- Does not include Research subject payments (Account 57823), also known as patient incentives and respondent fees, which are small payments made to individuals who are participating in a research project as a “human subject”
- Does not apply to NIH Ruth Kirschstein NRSA programs and must have been included in NIH Funding Opportunity Announcements (FOA). Note: application of this exclusion requires reference to REMS VSP Exception #130765 at Award Acceptance.
General Clinic Research Center (GCRC) MTDC
The GCRC MTDC base includes all exclusions listed in the MTDC base (1-9) plus salaries and fringe benefits for nurses, bionutritionists, ward clerks, and social workers supported as a direct cost to the grant.
Total Direct Cost (TDC)
The Total Direct Cost (TDC) base includes expenditures which are specifically identifiable to a particular project and which can be charged directly to that contract or grant.
Total Cost (TC)
The Total Cost (TC) base includes the total costs of contract or grant.
Project Types
It is important to identify the Purpose of each project in order to apply the correct indirect cost rate. Below are the definitions for the different types of projects that relate to the Award Purposes (definitions) programmed into the University's financial system.
The codes Research (R), Instruction (I), Clinical Education (CE), Academic Support (AS), or Public Service (PS) appearing below designate Function associated with the financial activity posted to a specific award. The letters R, I, CE, AS and PS are the alpha counterpart to the Function Code, which is the numeric translation of each of these descriptions and is a required element in the chartfield used in posting all revenue and expense transactions. When the Function Codes are finalized, the letters will be replaced with the numeric code.
Use the following categories to determine the proper Federally-negotiated F&A Rate:
Project Type |
Definition |
| SPONSORED RESEARCH | Research (BASIC) Clinical Trials (CLIN) (R) (for Federal) |
| INSTRUCTION | Instruction (INST I) Clinical Education (CLNED) (CE) Career Development (CARDV) (I) |
| OTHER SPONSORED ACTIVITY |
Public Service (PUBSV)(PS) Other Clinical Service (CLINO) (I, R) |
Accounting Implementation Guidelines
The F&A rates are implemented by the Accounting Office as follows:
- Federal Grants and Contracts
- Subcontracts Under Federal Grants and Contracts
- Non-Profit Grants and Contracts
Federal Grants and Contracts
F&A rates for federal grants and contracts awarded prior to November 27, 2017 will remain fixed at the rate(s) in the original award notice for the total project period stated in the award notice.
The F&A rates are effective as of November 27, 2017, the date that the DHHS, Division of Cost Allocation, Western Region has signed this rate agreement will be input into the accounting system as each award notice arrives for all competitive federal grants and contracts awarded on or after November 27, 2017. Competitive federal grants and contracts include new, renewal, revision or competitive supplement awards. Should a competitive award notice be received which improperly utilizes expired F&A rates, OSR will contact the federal agency to obtain a corrected award notice. If the proposal was submitted using the expired rates, and the federal agencies do not provide additional funds to cover the new rates, the expired rates will be used. This instance of using the old rate will not require an indirect cost exception (aka waiver).
For competitive federal grants and contracts awarded on or after November 27, 2017, F&A rates will increase each July 1, in accordance with the terms of the F&A Cost Rate Agreement. For example, the F&A rates for an on-campus four year research award starting in January 1, 2018 will be 59.5% for the period 1/1/18 - 6/30/18, 60.0% for the period 7/1/18 - 6/30/19, 60.5% for the period 7/1/19 - 6/30/20 and then 61.5% until the end of the competitive period of the award.
Subcontracts Under Federal Grants and Contracts
F&A rates for subcontracts under federal grants and contracts with start dates prior to November 27, 2017 will remain fixed for the life of the prime agreement (i.e., through the competitive period of the prime award) at the earlier expired F&A rate agreement.
The new DHHS-negotiated F&A rates will be input into the accounting system for all new, renewal, revision or competitive supplements with start dates on or after November 27, 2017 as described above for federal grants and contracts. However, if a new subcontract award with a start date of November 27, 2017 or later is received which has been issued at an expired F&A rate, OSR will request the new DHHS rates from the subcontracting agency. Should the subcontracting agency deny the request, and the expired rates were used in the proposal, then the expired rates will be used until the end of the competitive period of the prime agreement. This instance of using the expired rate will not require an indirect cost exception (aka waiver).
Non-Profit Grants and Contracts
The rules for federal grants and contracts described above will apply to those awards which do not have an F&A waiver in place.