Facilities & Administrative (F&A) Cost Rates
Binghamton University Facilities and Administrative Cost Recovery Policy
CURRENT F&A RATES
| Year | On Campus | Off Campus | |
| Research | 07/01/2018 - until amended | 57% | 26% |
| Instruction | 07/01/2015 - until amended | 50% | 26% |
| Other Sponsored Activities | 07/01/2015 - until amended | 38% | 26% |
| Department of Defense Contracts | 07/01/2018 - until amended | 60% | 29% |
| Materials/Evaluative Testing | 07/01/2015 - until amended | 25% | |
| Continuing Education Rate | 07/01/2015 - until amended | 25% | |
| Administrative Rate | 07/01/2015 - until amended | 15% |
APPLICATION OF F&A RATES TO SPONSORED PROGRAMS
Facilities & Administrative (F&A) cost rates are applicable to all sponsored projects. The application of these rates allows The Research Foundation for SUNY and Binghamton University to recover actual costs (e.g. facilities, utilities, etc.) associated with externally funded activities that cannot be identified specifically to a particular project or activity.
The first step in determining the proper F&A rate is to read the sponsor program guidelines. If there is a limit on F&A, the program guidelines or announcement will list the rate that should be used. If the guidelines do not mention F& A or indicate that something other than the applicable federally negotiated rate, the appropriate full rate will be used.
The next step is to identify the nature of the project. Binghamton University has the following categories of F&A rates:
Research - Research is described as all research and development activities involving the training of individuals in research techniques (commonly called research training) where such activities utilize the same facilities as other research and development activities and where such activities are not included in the instruction definition below
Instruction - Instruction is defined as teaching and training activities. Except for research training as described above, this term includes projects which support curriculum development as well as all types of teaching/training activities. Instruction also includes sponsored instruction and training which means specific instructional or training activity established by grant, contract, or cooperative agreement.
Other Sponsored Activities (OSA) - Other Sponsored Activities means programs and projects which involve the performance of work other than Research and Instruction. Examples of such programs and projects are community service programs and studies, technical assistance and service programs, and conferences.
Materials/Evaluative Testing – Used for agreements with companies providing a specific company-issued protocol is being used in testing and evaluating a new or investigational device, drug, or compound that the company owns. The project allows no room for principal investigator to interject his or her own ideas and the deliverable is strictly data analysis and interpretation.
Administrative – Applies to unrestricted awards and awards received in support of activities where the sponsor provides the funds in advance and without further obligation on the part of the institution (i.e. no constraints on how the funds may be used, no financial or technical reporting requirements, no deliverables, no claims to copyright nor other claims to the ownership or licensing of intellectual properties). This rate is used after approval from the Associate Vice President for Research Administration or the Assistant Vice President for Sponsored Programs.
Note: Materials/Evaluative Testing and Administrate rates do not apply to federal or federal-flow thru funds.
Continuing Education – Used strictly for formalized continuing education efforts in the delivery of non-credit programming.
Finally, a determination must be made as to whether it is an on- or off-campus project. If fifty percent or more of the budgeted effort is performed on-campus, then the on-campus rate applies; when more than 50 percent of the budget effort is performed off-campus, the off-campus rate applies. If the project involves work at both on-campus and off-campus sites, either the on-campus or off-campus rate would be applied, consistent with where the majority of the work is to be performed
Fringe Benefits
Fringe Benefits are applied to ALL sponsored program personnel salaries, without exception. In rare cases in which the sponsor will not pay these costs, they must be paid from department or other Research Foundation accounts (such as incentive award allocations). Currently, the Research Foundation has five categories for Fringe Benefit Rates, outlined below (2024/2025 Approved and Out-years Projected):
| Personnel Classification | 7/1/23-6/30/24 | 7/1/24-6/30/25 | 7/1/25-6/30/26 | 7/1/26-6/30/27 | 7/1/27-6/30/28 |
|
Faculty - Academic Year (IFR) |
63.72% | 65.45% | 66.84% | 68.28% | 69.76% |
|
Faculty - Summer Only |
14.00% | 14.50% | 14.50% | 14.50% | 14.50% |
| Postdoctoral Associates | 23.00% | 32.00% | 34.00% | 35.00% | 35.00% |
| Research Foundation Employees | 40.00% | 41.00% | 41.50% | 43.00% | 43.00% |
| Graduate Students | 13.00% | 13.00% | 13.00% | 13.50% | 13.50% |
| Undergraduate Students | 6.0% | 6.0% | 6.0% | 6.0% | 6.0% |
