Facilities and Administrative Costs

Facilities and Administrative (F&A) costs, also called overhead or indirect costs, reimburse UNT for laboratory and office space, utilities, administrative services (e.g., Department and Dean Administrators, Purchasing, Accounting, Human Resources, Security, etc.), custodial services, buildings, and other general use of UNT facilities. In other words, these include costs essential to support sponsored activities that cannot be specifically identified and directly charged to a specific research grant or contract. F&A cost percentages are determined periodically from actual cost records through a detailed cost accounting procedure and are audited and approved by the federal government.

Full F&A costs should be charged on all projects, the only exceptions being for those sponsors who have a published policy that limits indirect cost recovery. Any exceptions to full F&A cost recovery must be approved by the VPRI or his/her designee. The F&A amount is calculated by multiplying the modified total direct cost total (MTDC) by the F&A rate.

The MTDC total is determined by subtracting the following costs, if any, from the total direct costs.

• Capital expenditures and Equipment (non-expendable equipment estimated to cost $5,000 or more and with a useful life of 1 year or more).
• Patient care charges (not typically included on UNT Denton projects).
• Rental costs.
• Tuition remission (see section on Graduate Research Assistants for explanation on tuition relating to sponsored research grants and contracts).
• Participant Support costs.
• Sub-award costs in excess of $25,000 (any portion above the initial $25,000 per sub-award, over the lifetime of the project).
• Scholarships and Fellowships.

An off-campus F&A rate may apply for projects where more than 50% of all proposed activities and project related effort will be performed in, or on, non-university owned or leased space during the project period.

If a project is carried out in space leased by UNT and the rent is not charged to the grant or contract, the on-campus rate prevails.