United States Department of Agriculture (USDA)

Salary

Salaries should be based on KR values unless a known increase/decrease is expected, for example due to a change in title/rank; salaries are usually escalated in the out years using 2-3% inflation; salary should not exceed the Executive Level IV salary amount; provide a justification for a higher rate if salary exceeds this amount

Fringe

Fringe should be based on KR values

Research Associate (Post Doc) Salary

Salaries should be based on KR values if a current employee; the current minimum salary for a Post Doc can be found at this link

Research Associate (Post Doc) Fringe

Fringe should be based on KR values; Post Docs are eligible for retirement in the 4th year of employment, or upon employment at MSU if they participated in a retirement plan at a previous employer that made employer contributions. Please contact HR for more information.

Graduate Student Stipend

Stipend amounts should be based on standard/published college/department levels or HR levels

Graduate Student Fringe

Appropriate health benefits should be applied based on the current Grad Fringe Chart; 7.65% for summer hourly work

Undergraduate Labor

Usually based on hourly rates; see HR standard rates

Undergraduate Fringe

Fringe of 7.65% applied during the summer; fringe only applied during AY if student is not expected to be enrolled full time

Administrative Staff

In most circumstances, the salaries of administrative or clerical staff are included as part of indirect costs.  If included in a proposal budget, clearly describe the circumstances for requiring direct charging of these services in the budget justification.

Allowable items ordinarily will be limited to research equipment not already available for the conduct of the work; general purpose equipment is not allowable (such as a personal computer) unless primarily or exclusively used for the project and well justified; some USDA programs have limitations on the amount or type of allowable equipment

Costs associated with conference, workshop, or symposium attendees who are not employees of the applicant or subawardees. Trainee costs are the costs associated with educational projects that support trainees. In the budget justification, identify the purpose of the conference/training, dates, and places.

Domestic

Allowable for employees who travel on business related to the award; should be in accordance with organizational policy; justification should be itemized to include the purpose of travel, destination, anticipated or known dates of travel, duration, and number of individuals, type of travel (mileage/air), lodging & food (per diem) for each trip

International

Allowable for employees who travel on business related to the award; should be in accordance with organizational policy; justification should be itemized to include the purpose of travel, destination, anticipated or known dates of travel, duration, and number of individuals, type of travel (mileage/air), lodging & food (per diem) for each trip.  International travel includes any travel outside of North America and/or U.S. Possessions.

Communications

Generally allowable if integral to the project

Computer Services/ADP

Generally allowable; include established rates in the justification

Conferences

Include facility rental and equipment rental related to holding the conference/meeting; fees for speakers are allowable (include amount and description of the service); meals may not be charged outside of the scope of the conference (see Meals/Refreshments below); details of costs should be itemized

Consultant Services

A consultant should not be affiliated with the performing organization (i.e., not an MSU employee); consultant rate should not exceed the Executive Level IV level based on an 8 hour day; provide the consultant name, service to be provided, hourly or daily fee, and estimated time devoted to the project; may include consulting expenses (travel, meals, lodging); if details not available at proposal stage, funds for this purpose will be withheld until provided to the sponsor; a resume or CV and a letter of collaboration/intent should be included

Equipment/Facility Rental

Equipment rental should include the type of equipment, purpose, length of time needed, and rate; facility rental may be included for off-site facilities not owned by the organization and should include the monthly rental charge; laboratory facilities should include a letter of agreement allowing the project to operate in the space; land-use charges may be included and should include the charge per acre, number of acres, and total costs; user fees may be budgeted and should include the type of service, applicability to the project, and itemization of costs

Graduate Student Tuition & Fees

Generally allowable.  The Agricultural Research Service (ARS) does not allow Tuition and Fees on Non-Assistance Cooperative Agreements.

Honoraria

Unallowable

Incentives

Unallowable for nearly all NIFA programs except EFNEP

Materials & Supplies

Generally allowable; justification should include the types of materials in general terms with estimated costs

Meals/Refreshments

Meals not related to a conference/meeting are generally not allowable unless the activity maintains the continuity of a meeting and to do otherwise will impose arduous conditions on the meeting participants; breakfast meals are generally not allowable because no continuity of the meeting exists

Publication/Dissemination

Allowable; provide justification

Subaward

NIFA no longer requires sub-award letters of commitment, detailed subaward budgets and budget narratives to be part of the proposal package submission unless a sub-award is to a Federal Agency, or the total amount to sub-awards is over 50% of the overall project budget.  OSP will continue to require the completed subaward documents for our files at the time of proposal submission (i.e. Scope of Work, Budget, Budget Justification, Subrecipient Commitment form, and other documents that may be required by the RFA).  These documents are necessary to meet compliance and audit requirements. 

USDA’s budget requirements also apply to a subawardee, including any applicable indirect costs limitations.

Unallowable

NIFA typically allows the lesser of MSU’s approved rate or 30% of Federal Funds Awarded inclusive of any subaward F&A amounts.  For help with determining what rate to use when your budget includes subcontracts, see the “USDA/NIFA F&A Calculator” section below.

However, allowable Indirect Cost Rates vary by USDA program. Please refer to the solicitation.  NIFA also maintains a chart at the following link: https://nifa.usda.gov/resource/indirect-cost-chart.

IDC restrictions should also be listed in the RFA. When applying for USDA funding that does not have an RFA, MSU will accept the USDA agency reduced rate provided that the Office of Sponsored Programs is given a copy of their F&A policy, a link to their website stating their policy, or a letter/email from a senior official at the USDA agency informing MSU of the applicable rate and base (e.g. TDC, TFFA, MTDC). If documentation is not available at the time of proposal, MSU’s policy is to submit the budget with the full applicable F&A rate and if needed, will revise the budget once the F&A documentation has been obtained.

The Agricultural Research Service limits F&A depending on the agreement type.  See the following chart for F&A limitations for ARS: https://www.ars.usda.gov/ARSUserFiles/FMAD/Agreements/Partnership%20Resources/IDC%20Funding%20Restrictions%20and%20Tuition%20Reimb%20Limitations%2006122019.pdf. 

Only include if required by the FOA; the same level of budget details are required for any required cost share; cost sharing by a 3rd party must include a letter signed by the contributing AOR and counter signed by the recipient's AOR; if the letter is submitted with the proposal, the counter signature is not required