Guidance on Facilities & Administrative (F&A) rates

Federal agencies are required to use the negotiated F&A rate in effect at the time of the initial award throughout the project life (each competitive segment of a project) of the sponsored agreement (grant, contract or cooperative agreement). The implementation of the new rates will, as much as possible, avoid impacting the direct cost budget for all existing federal awards. 

• Current awards with an issue date prior to July 1, 2024: These awards will continue to use the 61.0% rate for their remaining non-competitive grant periods unless the sponsor provides additional funding specifically designated for the increased F&A rate.
• New awards with issue date on or after July 1, 2024: These awards are covered by Duke’s new rate agreement. The university will apply the on-campus organized research rate of 61.5% (or other applicable rate based on the rate agreement, such as off-campus, OSA, etc.). Duke central offices may coordinate with the sponsor to determine if the award amount can be increased to account for the change in rate.  New awards based on proposals previously submitted at a 61.0% F&A rate will be charged at 61.0% until such time additional funding is received from the issuing agency.
• Proposals submitted on or after September 12, 2024: These proposals should follow the new rate agreement which provides for an increase in the F&A rate to 61.5%, and adoption of the Uniform Guidance MTDC changes effective July 1, 2025.
  • New proposals in the PCA status that require the full research rate and are due within the five-business-day deadline will not be returned to adjust for the new F&A rate.  For new proposals that are PCA but have a deadline with more than a five-business-day due date, ORA/ORS will return the record for updates.     
  • New proposals in initialized state are to be adjusted for the new F&A rate
  • New proposals in the PNCA status should be adjusted for the new F&A rate if the proposal due date allows enough time for the change AND they are not subject to a total cost cap that would necessitate rebudgeting dollars from direct costs to cover the increased indirects. 

Instructions for updating F&A rates as described above can be found here.

Organized Research applies to research and development activities that are separately budgeted and accounted for and have definite objectives; includes sponsored and internal research. Federally-funded clinical trials are considered organized research.  

Grants or contracts will not be subject to more than one F&A cost rate. If more than 50% of a project is performed off-campus (in space not owned or leased by Duke University, or in space where the rent is directly charged to the sponsored project), the off-campus rate will apply to the entire project. 

Instruction applies to those activities offered through regular academic departments or other units, such as summer school, whether they are offered for credit towards a degree or on a non-credit basis. This also includes instruction, course and curriculum development, academic advising, and scholarly activities such as preparing papers, delivering papers, attending seminars and professional society meetings. 

Other Sponsored Activities applies to those activities not considered Organized Research or Instruction. Some examples include: 

• Awards supporting travel, conferences, symposia, workshops, and seminars that do not otherwise meet the criteria for organized research or instruction;
• Public Service, inclusive of health service, legal clinics, sustainability, and curriculum development;
• Public events – sponsorship of museums, arts, dance, film, and music programs;
• Duke University Press publications. 

For sponsored projects that 1) are funded by a non-Federal sponsor (with non-federal funds) and 2) does not include F&A cost recovery at the prevailing Federal or industry rates, it is permissible to recover F&A costs by direct charging costs attributable to that project that are normally treated as F&A costs. Examples include clerical and administrative salaries; space/facilities; routine postage; cell phone; memberships; subscriptions; and local area network expenses. 

In all cases, the services or items being charged: 

1. Must be allowable per institutional policy to the project;
2. Must have a demonstrated benefit to that specific project
3. Must be allocated proportionate to the level of their use on that project.