Paying for University Research Facilities and Administration
Federal spending for scientific research at U.S. academic institutions equals approximately $15 billion each year. According to the analysis in this report, about three-quarters of this amount supports the direct costs of conducting research. The other one-quarter covers facilities and administrative (F&A) costs. The authors estimate that universities pay between $0.7 and $1.5 billion in F&A costs that would otherwise be eligible for federal reimbursement. This report provides up-to-date quantitative and qualitative data on F&A costs to inform that policy debate.
-
Download Individual Chapters Below
Note: Many electronic documents posted prior to 2003 are available as chapter PDFs or HTML files linked from the Contents.
Document Details
- Copyright: RAND Corporation
- Availability: Available
- Format: Paperback
- Pages: 116
- List Price: $20.00
- Price: $16.00
- ISBN/EAN: 0-8330-2805-7
- Document Number: MR-1135-1-OSTP
- Year: 2000
- Series: Monograph Reports
Contents
Preface PDF
Figures PDF
Tables PDF
Summary PDF
Acknowledgments PDF
Glossary PDF
Chapter One
Introduction PDF
Chapter Two
Background: How Universities Recover F&A Costs from the Federal Government PDF
Chapter Three
Issue 1: Comparison of F&A Rates Across Sectors PDF
Chapter Four
Issue 2: Distribution of F&A Rates by Spending Category PDF
Chapter Five
Issue 3: The Impact of Changes in Circular A-21 PDF
Chapter Six
Issue 4: The Impact of Federal and State Law on F&A Rates PDF
Chapter Seven
Issue 5: Options to Reduce or Control the Rate of Growth of Federal F&A Reimbursement Rates PDF
Chapter Eight
Issue 6: Options for Creating an F&A Database PDF
Chapter Nine
Summary and Conclusions PDF
Appendix A
Brief History of Circular A-21 PDF
Appendix B
Rate Types Allowed in Circular A-21 PDF
Bibliography PDF
The research described in this report was conducted for the Office of Science and Technology Policy and performed under the auspices of RAND’s Science and Technology unit.
This report is part of the RAND Corporation monograph report series. The monograph/report was a product of the RAND Corporation from 1993 to 2003. RAND monograph/reports presented major research findings that addressed the challenges facing the public and private sectors. They included executive summaries, technical documentation, and synthesis pieces.
The RAND Corporation is a nonprofit institution that helps improve policy and decisionmaking through research and analysis. RAND's publications do not necessarily reflect the opinions of its research clients and sponsors.

