Indirect Costs

According to the federal Uniform Administrative Requirements, Cost Principles and Audit Requirements for Federal Awards issued by the Office of Management and Budget (Uniform Guidance):

Direct Costs are those that can be identified specifically with an externally funded activity, or that can be directly assigned to such activities relatively easily with a high degree of accuracy.

Indirect Costs (IDC) or overhead or facilities and administration (F&A), are costs incurred for common or joint objectives that cannot be readily or specifically identified with a particular sponsored project. These costs differ from direct costs in that it is difficult and impractical to identify and attribute them to an individual project.

According to CSU policy, CSUCI is to request and recover full F&A costs, whenever possible and will apply the appropriate F&A on all proposals unless the prime sponsor prohibits or has a published policy limiting the F&A rate.

Indirect costs are the related costs of using the University’s facilities and administrative support that cannot be claimed as direct costs. Indirect costs are not profit; instead, they are part of the real costs of conducting the outside funded research and development (R&D). The federal government has established what costs may be charged as direct costs and what costs are considered included in indirect costs.

According to CSUCI’s Negotiated Indirect Cost Rate Agreement (NICRA) with the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS), Modified Total Direct Costs (MTDC) consists of all direct salaries and wages, applicable fringe benefits, materials and supplies, services, travel, and up to the first $25,000 of each sub-award. It excludes equipment, capital expenditures, charges for patient care, rental costs, tuition remission, scholarships, and fellowships, participant support costs, and the portion of each sub-award in excess of $25,000.