April 14: DoE announces 15% cap on facilities and administrative reimbursements

This email is being sent to PIs with open federal awards, deans, research associate deans, and unit heads whose units have federal sponsored projects.

Dear colleagues,

As many of you have probably heard, the Department of Energy (DoE) on Friday announced plans to cap facilities and administrative (F&A) reimbursements at a rate of 15% for institutions of higher education. For comparison, our effective F&A rate for the DoE is about 46.7%.

As with the similar National Institutes of Health (NIH) announcement, there is a lot we do not know about how this would be implemented.  There will likely be legal action, which will take time to play out. Because court cases regarding F&A rates have thus far been specific to NIH, any court action on this DoE decision would require a separate legal process. I am coordinating with other university and system leaders as well as with national higher education associations and fellow senior research officers.

F&A reimbursements are essential to CSU’s research enterprise because they cover shared expenses for research lab space and other facilities, high-speed data processing, safety and security, and other research costs that are not easily assignable to any one specific grant. For more explanation of F&A costs and how they support research please view this short explainer video. A statement issued by the Council on Government Relations notes that “this cap on F&A costs threatens to undermine the financial stability of research institutions and could significantly hinder the progress of critical research projects at a time when innovation is crucial for national competitiveness.”

This situation is obviously concerning, and we are working diligently with our partners both in Colorado and nationwide to respond. We are here to support you and will keep you updated on our Federal Research updates website. Please feel free to send questions to [email protected].

I want to thank the many researchers who helped over the weekend to articulate the impacts of your DoE-funded research. Thank you for your unwavering dedication to your inspiring, important work.

Best,

Cass

Cassandra Moseley, Ph.D. (she/hers)
Vice President for Research

Professor, Department of Forest and Rangeland Stewardship
Office of the Vice President for Research