The federal government recently approved new F&A (also known as indirect cost) rates for federal sponsored programs at Northern Illinois University. Sponsored Programs (SPA) will begin applying these rates to all new proposals and awards received on or after March 1, 2024, with a budget start date beginning on or after July 1, 2024.
The on-campus rates for Organized Research and Instruction will increase from 49% to 52% and the rate for Other Sponsored Activities will change from 32.9% to 37%. All off-campus programs will continue to use the 26% rate. The new Federally Negotiated Indirect Cost Rate Agreement (NICRA) can be found here.
| Current Rate | New Rate | |
| Organized Research | 49% | 52% |
| Instruction | 49% | 52% |
| Other Sponsored Activities | 32.9% | 37% |
| All Off-Campus Programs | 26% | 26% |
There will be no changes to rates for existing awards. New rates for existing funding will apply to competitive renewals and competing continuations. They will not apply to active awards with agency approved future funding increments (e.g., NSF awards are often multi-year awards for which the agency releases only one year of funding at a time).
There is no change in practice for sponsors that limit or prohibit F&A in their published guidelines; SPA will continue to follow those restrictions.
Waivers may be considered for Principal Investigators who are unable to accommodate the increased rates in their incoming new awards. In most cases, pending proposals submitted or approved at the previous rates will be honored.
NIU has been operating under rates set in 2017, and under provisional rates since June 2022. F&A rates are calculated based on actual university costs to support federally funded programs but where these costs are difficult to quantify on a per project basis. Costs include laboratory space, libraries, departmental administration, and sponsored programs administration, to name a few.
Please contact Dara Little, Associate VP for Research/Executive Director Sponsored Programs with questions about these rates or the implementation plan.
