How are F&A rates calculated

How are F&A Rates Calculated?

F&A Rates are developed under the requirements of the U.S. Office of Management and Budget Circular A-21, Cost Principles for Educational Institutions. The rates are calculated according to the F&A Cost Rate Agreement for Georgia State University and negotiated with our cognizant federal audit agency, the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS), Division of Cost Allocation (DCA), Mid-Atlantic region. The following rates are negotiated:

• Organized Research (On-Campus)
• Organized Research (Off-Campus)
• Instruction (On-Campus)
• Instruction (Off-Campus)
• Other Sponsored Activity, i.e. Public Service (On-Campus)
• Other Sponsored Activity, i.e. Public Service (Off-Campus)

All F&A costs within the institution are assigned to nine cost pools related to primary functions. Then a portion from each cost pool is attributed to the research enterprise according to guidelines provided in Circular A-21. Totaling the portions of each cost pool allocated to research yields the University's total F&A costs (TFAC) attributable to sponsored research. The TFAC total is then converted into the F&A rate by dividing it by "Modified Total Direct Costs" (MTDC). 

MTDC includes the total direct costs of a sponsored project less the cost of equipment over $5,000, capital expenditures, alterations/renovations, space rental costs, student stipends, tuition, scholarships and fellowships, participant support costs, and the portion of each subaward/subcontract in excess of $25,000 within a competing segment of an award.

F&A Rate Fraction