Facilities & Administrative (F&A) Cost Rates
CURRENT F&A RATES
| Year | On Campus | |
| Research | 07/01/2025 - 06/30/2026 | 58.5% |
| 07/01/2026 - 06/30/2029 | 59.5% | |
| Instruction | 07/01/2025 - 06/30/2027 | 51.0% |
| Other Sponsored Activities | 07/01/2025 - 06/30/2027 | 38.0% |
| Department of Defense Contracts | 07/01/2025 - 06/30/2026 | 61.5% |
| 07/01/2026 - 06/30/2027 | 62.5% |
APPLICATION OF F&A RATES TO SPONSORED PROGRAMS
Facilities & Administrative (F&A) cost rates are applicable to all sponsored projects. The application of these rates allows The Research Foundation for SUNY and Binghamton University to recover actual costs (e.g. facilities, utilities, etc.) associated with externally funded activities that cannot be identified specifically to a particular project or activity.
The first step in determining the proper F&A rate is to read the sponsor program guidelines. If there is a limit on F&A, the program guidelines or announcement will list the rate that should be used. If the guidelines do not mention F& A or indicate that something other than the applicable federally negotiated rate, the appropriate full rate will be used.
The next step is to identify the nature of the project. ¶¶Òõ¶ÌÊÓƵ has the following categories of F&A rates:
- Research - Research is described as all research and development activities involving the training of individuals in research techniques (commonly called research training) where such activities utilize the same facilities as other research and development activities and where such activities are not included in the instruction definition below
- Instruction - Instruction is defined as teaching and training activities. Except for research training as described above, this term includes projects which support curriculum development as well as all types of teaching/training activities. Instruction also includes sponsored instruction and training which means specific instructional or training activity established by grant, contract, or cooperative agreement.
- Other Sponsored Activities (OSA) - Other Sponsored Activities means programs and projects which involve the performance of work other than Research and Instruction. Examples of such programs and projects are material testing agreements that test a device, drug, or compounds that a company owns with no data analysis or interpretation by principal investigator; community service programs and studies; technical assistance and service programs; and conferences.
There are several considerations involved with determining the F&A rate used on a Sponsored Programs award. The primary determination is the performance location of Binghamton personnel. Activities related to subawards, vendor services, or other third-party efforts are not considered in the rate determination.
Additionally, work performed at a location for convenience, telecommuting, conferences, and/or summer travel are not justifications for an off-campus rate determination. Any requests for an off-campus rate will be reviewed using the following criteria:
- Activities performed must be at sites not controlled by the University. This includes sites for which rent/lease payments are directly charged to the sponsored project budget.
- Performance at the off-campus project site must be on a continuous basis and of sufficient duration throughout the project period (normally at least a full semester during each budget period of the project period.)
- The University personnel working or engaged on the project must be physically located at the off-campus project site.
- Intermittent visits to the site or performance at the site is not sufficient.
- Travel to and from an off-campus project site should be properly budgeted.
Fringe Benefits
Fringe Benefits are applied to ALL sponsored program personnel salaries, without exception. In rare cases in which the sponsor will not pay these costs, they must be paid from department or other Research Foundation accounts (such as incentive award allocations). Currently, the Research Foundation has six categories for Fringe Benefit Rates:
| Personnel Classification | 7/1/25-6/30/26 | 7/1/26-6/30/27 | 7/1/27-6/30/28 | 7/1/28-6/30/29 |
|
Faculty - Academic Year (IFR) |
59.59% | 62.22% | 63.91% | 65.66% |
|
Faculty - Summer Only |
14.00% | 14.00% | 14.00% | 14.50% |
| Postdoctoral Associates | 28.00% | 25.00% | 24.00% | 24.00% |
| Research Foundation Employees | 37.50% | 36.00% | 36.50% | 38.00% |
| Graduate Students | 13.00% | 13.50% | 14.00% | 14.00% |
| Undergraduate Students | 5.50% | 5.50% | 5.50% | 5.50% |