February 8: New guidance from NIH capping F&A
Dear Colleagues,
As many of you have probably already heard, yesterday NIH released new guidance that would impose a standard facility and administrative (F&A) cost cap at a rate of 15% for all NIH-funded institutions. This cap would replace individually negotiated rates and apply to both existing and future awards starting February 10, 2025. Since 2017, however, Congress has prohibited NIH from changing how it calculates F&A rates.
These issues are very fluid and rapidly evolving. Several national associations, including AAU and APLU, have issued strong statements condemning this move, and there is likely to be legal action. I am working closely with the provost and executive vice president, other university leaders, the CSU System as well as national higher education associations and my fellow senior research officers.
F&A reimbursements are vital to CSU’s research enterprise because they cover shared expenses for research lab space, other facilities, high-speed data processing, safety and security measures and other research costs that are not easily assignable to any one specific grant. APLU notes that “cutting F&A costs would imperil critical U.S.-led research breakthroughs at a moment of fierce global competition for research and innovation dominance.”
We know this is unsettling, and we are working rapidly and aggressively with our partners across Colorado and nationally to respond to this issue. Thank you for all that you do on behalf of CSU’s vital research mission. We are here to support you and will continue to provide updates on our Federal Research Funding website. Please continue to send questions to [email protected].
Cass Moseley
Vice President for Research