New F&A Rate Agreement

A new federal rate agreement (dated 12/16/2021) is now in place for the current fiscal year through FY 2024.  These rates are applied against the Modified Total Direct Costs (MTDC) of a contract/grant in order to cover the overhead costs incurred to support research.

As updated in the Quick Reference F&A (Indirect Costs), the rate for Organized Research has increased from 52.5% to 53.5% - and will go up again in FY 2024 to 54%. Instruction has gone down from to 47.5% to 41.5%. Other Sponsored Activities is also down from 36.5% to 35%. All other rates remain the same as the prior rate agreement.

These new rates reflect actual expenditures on research support, as evaluated by the DHHS. The rates will apply to new or new-continuation contracts/grants awarded for funding on or after July 1, 2021. Existing contracts/grants may still use the old rates as originally proposed or awarded, if we are unable to apply the new rate. New supplemental funding, competitive proposals, JIT information, and industry/commercial proposals should all attempt to apply the current rates effective immediately. 

OSP has budget tools to help calculate blended rates. When justifying a blended research rate, you can simply add "Budget year X has a blended F&A rate due to the University of Utah’s research rate changing from 53.5% to 54.0% on July 1, 2023.”