F&A & GAIR Rates
NIH Guidance
NIH issued NOT-OD-25-068 the afternoon of Friday, February 7, 2025. This notice reduces the facilities and administration (“F&A” or indirect cost) rate that NIH will fund to 15%, as of Monday, February 10, 2025. There are three related court cases and temporary restraining orders halting implementation of this notice.
This guidance may change frequently in the coming days and weeks as we learn more. We will keep the research community updated as soon as possible.
- Proposal submissions. All proposals must be submitted in accordance with CU Boulder’s negotiated (full) F&A rate. Proposals may NOT be submitted at 15%. (Non-standard proposals such as fellowship grants can continue to be submitted in accordance with program notices of funding opportunities.)
- New awards. We anticipate new awards to be issued with CU Boulder’s negotiated rate agreement. If we receive new awards that reference the 15% F&A rate, such awards will be placed on hold until such time as this issue is resolved. The same is true of any NIH flow-through awards we receive from other institutions that reference the 15% rate.
- No-cost extensions. The automatic NCE link in eRA Commons has been deactivated. We have not yet received any official explanation from NIH regarding why this is the case. There is a very real possibility that NIH will no longer allow us to take a one-time automatic no-cost extension at the end of our period of performance. PIs should not assume that no-cost extension requests will be approved for NIH funded projects.
- Reimbursement. We anticipate current awards to continue using CU Boulder’s negotiated rate agreement. Research Financial Service will draw down funds from NIH at the negotiated rate.
Resources
- F&A Rate History
- Fringe Benefit Rates History
- Campus Cost Allocations
GAIR and fringe benefit rate history, description and calculation
F&A Rates
| Activity | 20-21 | 21-22 | 22-23 | 23-24 | 24-25 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Research (on-campus) | 54.0% | 56.5% | 56.5% | 56.5% | 56.5% |
| Research (off-campus) | 26.0% | 26.0% | 26.0% | 26.0% | 26.0% |
| LASP | 40.0% | 43.0% | 43.0% | 43.0% | 43.0% |
| Instruction (on-campus) | 49.0% | 47.5% | 47.5% | 47.5% | 47.5% |
| Instruction (off-campus) | 26.0% | 26.0% | 26.0% | 26.0% | 26.0% |
| Other Sponsored Activities (on-campus) | 33.5% | 33.5% | 33.5% | ||
| Other Sponsored Activities (off-campus) | 14.4% | 14.4% | 14.4% | ||
| Intergovernmental Personnel Act Rate (off-campus) | 10.0% | 10.0% | 10.0% |
GAIR & Eco-Pass Recharge Rates
| Fiscal Year | GAR | GIR | Total GAIR*† | Eco-Pass |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| FY26 | 8.07% | 0.61% | 8.68% | Included in FY 2026 Fringe Benefit Rate |
| FY25 | 7.86% | 0.63% | 8.49% | Included in FY 2025 Fringe Benefit Rate |
| FY24 | 7.51% | 0.73% | 8.24% | Included in FY 2024 Fringe Benefit Rate |
| FY23 | 7.64% | 0.55% | 8.19% | Included in FY 2023 Fringe Benefit Rate |
| FY22 | 7.26% | 0.63% | 7.89% | Included in FY 2022 Fringe Benefit Rate |
| FY21 | 7.26% | 0.59% | 7.85% | Included in FY 2021 Fringe Benefit Rates |
| *Police Department recharge is included in GAIR rate effective July 1, 2016 | ||||
| †Auxiliary units no longer receive direct charges for connectivity as of FY25; this change is reflected in the FY25 GAIR increase. | ||||
Fringe Benefit Rates
| Employee Type | FY22 | FY23 | FY24 | FY25 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Regular Faculty | 29.0% | 29.4% | 30.8% | 31.0% |
| Prof Exempt & Research Faculty FT, Classified permanent FT & PT, All except LASP | 37.3%* | 37.9%* | 39.1% | 40.0% |
| Prof Exempt & Research Faculty PT, Prof & Classified temporary FT & PT | 16.0%* | 16.5%* | 15.0% | 14.6% |
| Student Faculty | 11.0% | 9.3% | 9.5% | 11.4% |
| Hourly | 1.3% | 1.7% | 1.2% | 1.8% |
| Athletics Director/Coaches | 17.5% | 19.2% | 18.5% | 16.5% |
| Police Officers | 34.0% | 35.9% | 35.5% | 35.7% |
| LASP Prof Exempt & Research Faculty | Classified permanent FT & PT | 36.2% | 37.0% | 37.8% | 38.9% |
| LASP Leave Rate | 28.8% | 24.6% | 22.7% | 25.6% |
*Part-time (PT) is <50% and Full-time (FT) is ≥50%. Additional pay is also subject to these benefit rates.