To establish policy regarding the charging of Facilities and Administrative (F&A) Costs to Sponsored Projects
January 1989
revisedDecember 2014
May 2024
Responsible OfficeResearch Services
Research Services
The total costs of a sponsored project include (a) those directly attributable to its performance, e.g., salaries of project personnel, supplies, materials, equipment, and travel, and (b) F&A costs, e.g., depreciation of buildings and equipment, utilities, administration and libraries. These latter costs are recovered through the application of an F&A cost rate, calculated in accordance with the cost principles set forth in 200 CFR Subpart E (Cost Principles).
It is the policy of the University to charge all sponsored projects F&A costs at the appropriate federally approved rate. The only exceptions to this policy are as follows:
Under exceptional circumstances, requests for waivers of F&A cost recovery or acceptance of a reduced rate on sponsored projects can be made at the time the proposal is submitted. Requests must include the proposed F&A rate and dollar value of the waiver and justification for the request. The cognizant dean/or resource center director is authorized to waive all or a portion of the F&A cost recovery.
The University negotiates with the Federal Government F&A cost rates for the following categories:
Current F&A cost rates are available at the following URL: https://researchservices.upenn.edu/resources/penn-data-for-proposals/
Principal Investigator
Business Administrator
Cognizant Dean or Resource Center Director
Office of Research Services
The source of this document is Research Services.