Facilities and Administration & Fringe Benefit Rates

Facilities and Administration Rates

WVU Rate Agreement (PDF)

Fringe Benefit Rates FY2027

Effective July 1, 2026
Benefits Eligible, Full time	26.50%
Non-Benefits Eligible, Part time	7.80%
Student Worker	1.40%
Graduate Assistant	10.00%

Fringe benefit costs are estimated at the FY 2027 (July 1, 2026 – June 30, 2027) proposed fixed rates for salaries and wages for WVU employees. These rates are being used in place of current provisional rates available on the West Virginia University negotiated rate agreement. Due to delays experienced within the Cost Allocation Services unit of the DHHS, including the final review and execution of the institution’s fixed rates for FY2027, the proposed fixed rates are subject to change as determined by the designated cognizant agency. The estimated rates reflect the anticipated fringe benefit costs for the project period and will be adjusted, as necessary, to meet any final negotiated fringe rates upon approval. The fringe benefit costs as described under 2 CFR §200.431, are allowable and necessary to cover the full cost of employing the listed personnel for the duration of the award.

NOTE: Until amended by the designated cognizant agency, these fringe benefits rates must be used from July 1, 2026 – June 30, 2027, on all proposal requests and active sponsored awards to properly allocate costs and reduce award close-out delays.

F&A Rates FY2027

Rate Categories	Category	Duration	Applicable Rate
Organized Research	On-Campus	07/01/25 - Until Amended	53.00%
Instruction	On-Campus	07/01/25 - Until Amended	54.00%
Other Sponsored Activities	On-Campus	07/01/18 - Until Amended	32.50%
All Programs	Off-Campus	07/01/18 - Until Amended	26.00%

These facilities and administration rates (F&A) must be charged for all sponsored programs unless a program or an agency has been granted a legislatively endorsed restriction on the F&A rate that is to be charged or, in the case of private agencies, an established written policy exists which limits F&A rates.

About Facilities and Administrative (F&A) Costs

Facilities and Administrative (F&A) costs (also known as “indirect costs’ or “overhead costs”) are those costs of an institution which are not readily identifiable with a particular project or activity but nevertheless are necessary to the general operation of the institution and the conduct of its activities. The cost of operating and maintaining buildings, grounds and equipment depreciation, general and departmental administrative salaries and expenses, sponsored programs and library costs are types of expenses usually considered as F&A costs.

In theory, all such costs might be charged directly; practical difficulties however preclude such an approach. Therefore, they are usually grouped into common pool(s) and distributed to those institutional activities benefited through a cost allocation process. The end product of this allocation process in an F&A rate(s) which is then applied to individual grant and contract awards to determine the amount of indirect costs chargeable to the award

At West Virginia University, F&A costs are calculated on what is called a Modified Total Direct Costs (MTDC) base. This base consists of all salaries and wages, fringe benefits, materials, supplies, services, travel and subgrants and subcontracts up to the first $50,000 of each subgrant or subcontract (regardless of the period covered by the subgrant or subcontract). Modified total direct costs shall exclude equipment, capital expenditures, charges for patient care, tuition remission, rental costs of off-site facilities,  scholarships, fellowships, participant support costs and the portion of each subgrant and subcontract in excess of $50,000.

NOTE: West Virginia University/West Virginia University Research Corporation will comply with the NIH federal guidance on the recission of Uniform Guidance flexibility under NOT-OD-26-072, and as such, a threshold of $25,000 for each subaward will be applied to NIH proposal requests including subrecipients.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services is West Virginia University and the WVU Research Corporation’s “cognizant agency” for negotiating facilities and administration (F&A) and Fringe Benefit rates to be charged on all sponsored agreements.

NOTE: Proposal budgets being submitted for funding with an F&A Rate that is not in accordance with our approved rate agreement are to be calculated based on sponsor guidance. Limited F&A can be calculated in 3 ways:

• Total Direct Costs (TDC): When we are responding to a solicitation/RFP that states that F&A is limited to a certain percentage, that percentage would be calculated on all costs. No costs would be excluded from the calculation.
• Example: The solicitation states that F&A is limited to 10%. This rate would be applied to TDC.  
• Modified Total Direct Costs (MTDC): When we are responding to a solicitation/RFP that states that F&A is limited to a certain percentage of MTDC, we would follow the definition of MTDC as provided by our Rate Agreement. If the sponsor provides a different definition of MTDC, we would exclude items as specified in their guidance. 
• Example: The solicitation states that F&A is limited to 10% MTDC. This rate would be applied to non-exempt direct costs.  
• Total Award: When a funding announcement indicates that F&A is limited to a certain percentage of the total award or total project costs, the F&A is calculated on the total amount being requested from the sponsor. 
• Example: The solicitation states that F&A is limited to 10% of the total award. If we are asking for $100,000, the F&A would be calculated as $100,000 x 10% = $10,000. This would leave $90,000 for direct costs associated with the project