What are indirect costs, Facilities and Administrative costs, and overhead?
These terms, indirect, F&A and overhead, are synonyms. They are costs (e.g., heat, lights, support personnel) shared among the university community (i.e., grants, academic departments, research and service centers), in contrast with Direct costs that can be identified specifically with a particular sponsored project or other institutional activity (e.g., reagents for use on a specific grant). Even costs that are incurred for common or joint objectives can be Direct costs if they can be divided among each participating cost center relatively easily with high accuracy (e.g., phone line charges). In an effort to make terms like “indirect” and “overhead” more concrete, the Federal Office of Management and Budget has recently directed the term “Facilities and Administrative” to be used for these costs. Facilities costs include depreciation and use allowances, interest on debt, equipment and capital improvements, operation and maintenance costs and library expenses. Administrative costs incl
