New F&A (indirect) Rates

David Norton, Vice President for Research

The University of Florida has signed a new F&A (indirect) rates effective July 1, 2025. New rates are listed at https://research.ufl.edu/dsp/proposals/budgeting/fa-rates-idc.html. The On-campus Research rate increases from 52.5% to 53.5%.  The rates for Other Sponsored Activities, Scripps, Instruction, Off-Campus and DOD contracts have all changed.  Please review the rates relevant to your activity at the link above.

There has been a change in thresholds as allowed by the changes in federal grant regulations 2 CFR 200.  Effective July 1, UF will be allowed to recover F&A on the first $50,000 (up from $25,000) on outgoing subawards and the definition of equipment will transition to “tangible personal property (including information technology systems) having a useful life of more than one year and a per unit acquisition cost which equals or exceeds $10,000”.  This is up from $5,000.  Effective July 1, all proposals and existing awards will be expensed according to these new thresholds.

The following provides details on the impact of these increases on new proposals, existing awards, and pending awards:

New proposals (including supplements and any other request for funding not already committed by a sponsor): Effective immediately all proposals must use the new F&A rates.  Only awards with exceptions specifically identified in accordance with the University’s Facilities & Administrative Cost Policy (F&A Policy and F&A Directives and Procedures) may use rates different than those provided in the negotiated agreement. UFIRST has been updated to reflect these rates.  Progress reports, continuations, and other proposals to request release of already committed funding may continue to reflect the existing rates.

New awards received by UF on or after July 1, 2025 or with start dates on or after July 1, 2025: Any award received before July 1 with a start date before July 1 will maintain the rates in effect at the time of proposal submission.  Any award received by UF on or after July 1, 2025 or with start dates on or after July 1, 2025 will be subject to the new rates.  As a reminder, awards are subject to the negotiated F&A rates in effect at time of initial award and those rates apply to the Life of the award. “Life” shall mean for the competitive segment approved by the funding agency at the time of the initial award. For those projects that receive scheduled installments within an existing award, (for example, multi-year NIH and NSF awards are often distributed to the university in one-year budgetary installments), UF Research will ensure that the rates in place at the time of the competitive award remain in effect.

For awards in which the proposed budget was submitted based on the old rates, you should not anticipate receiving additional funds from the sponsor or University to cover the increased cost of F&A. These projects may need to be re-budgeted with the direct costs reduced to cover the additional F&A.

Only awards with exceptions specifically identified in accordance with the University’s Facilities & Administrative Cost Policy (F&A Policy and F&A Directives and Procedures) may use rates different than those provided in the negotiated agreement.

Questions regarding the policy or interpretation should be directed to the Division of Sponsored Programs at dsp@research.ufl.edu.   Questions about proposal submission and budget development should be directed to ufproposals@ufl.edu.