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A bill to establish Federal research award reimbursement limits for indirect costs for institutions of higher education, and for other purposes.
5/3/2024, 10:56 AM
Summary of Bill S 4247
Indirect costs are expenses that are not directly attributable to a specific research project, such as administrative costs and overhead. Currently, there are no set limits on how much institutions can receive for these indirect costs, leading to concerns about potential misuse of federal research funds.
This bill seeks to address these concerns by establishing reimbursement limits for indirect costs, ensuring that federal research funds are used efficiently and effectively. The bill also includes provisions for oversight and accountability to ensure that institutions are using federal research funds appropriately. Overall, the goal of Bill 118 s 4247 is to promote transparency and accountability in the use of federal research funds by institutions of higher education. It aims to strike a balance between supporting research efforts and ensuring that taxpayer dollars are being used responsibly.
Congressional Summary of S 4247
No Subsidies for Wealthy Universities Act
This bill limits the indirect costs that are allowable under federal research awards to institutions of higher education (IHEs) with endowments above specified thresholds. (Generally, indirect costs represent expenses that are not specific to a research project but are needed to maintain the infrastructure and administrative support for federally funded research.)
Specifically, the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) must annually collect information regarding the endowments of each IHE that has entered into a program participation agreement with the Department of Education.
With this collected information, NCES must identify and make lists of (1) each IHE with an endowment of more than $5 billion, and (2) each IHE with an endowment of more than $2 billion (but not more than $5 billion). NCES must submit these lists to the Office of Management and Budget, which must then distribute the lists to federal agencies, Congress, and the public.
The bill establishes the following limits on the indirect costs allowable under federal research awards:
- for an IHE with an endowment of more than $5 billion, the IHE is prohibited from using these awards for indirect costs;
- for an IHE with an endowment of more than $2 billion (but not more than $5 billion), the IHE is limited to an indirect cost rate of 8%; and
- for all other IHEs, an indirect cost rate of 15%.
The Government Accountability Office must annually report to Congress on indirect cost reimbursement on federal research awards for IHEs.
