FAQs
As with costs directly charged to the sponsor, allowable cost sharing must be necessary and reasonable for the performance of the project objectives. As with direct charged expenses, cost shared expenses must be reasonable, allocable (i.e., directly benefit the specific project), and consistent with the terms of the award. Allowable cost sharing expenses must be expended (i.e., incurred) during the effective date of the award project. For details on eligibility criteria, see What Is Allowable/Eligible Cost Sharing.
In general, values for contributions of services and property are established in accordance with A-21 Cost Principles for allowability and the terms of the federal award. All documentation should include a brief statement describing the basis for determining the valuation of services, material, or equipment. Detailed Valuation and Documentation Guidelines are described in the reference document: Cost Sharing Primer for DLC Administrators.
Request that the subrecipient provide a budget that separately details, year by year, the proposed project; funds that are requested from the prime sponsor; and the direct and indirect costs that are offered as cost sharing by the subrecipient. The subrecipient’s budget should provide the same level of detail that the DLC provides for an MIT budget request. Subrecipient cost sharing should be included on the Proposal Summary Form Cost Sharing section.
Mandatory committed (required by the sponsor in the proposal solicitation or in the award negotiation): The DLC pays direct costs; MIT pays F&A costs.
Voluntary committed (committed in the proposal but not required in the proposal solicitation): The DLC pays both direct and F&A costs.
Yes, use:
- Up to 66 percent of the MIT-provided tuition subsidy for Graduate Research Assistants
- Equipment
- Other expense categories
- Faculty academic year (AY) effort greater than 10 percent, Employee Benefits, F&A
If cost sharing is neither required as a condition of the award nor mandated by the Institute—and less than 10 percent of an individual’s total effort is expected to be contributed to the project—the following statement should be included in the text of the proposal or on the budget justification: “MIT fully supports the academic year salaries of Professors, Associate Professors, and Assistant Professors, but makes no specific commitment of time or salary to this particular research project.” This statement assures not only that the faculty member will make a contribution to the project, but also that the expected level of AY effort will not be a significant portion of the individual’s overall effort.
The data warehouse has a Brio Report which will display all cost-sharing commitments in a DLC.
