[Federal Register Volume 70, Number 204 (Monday, October 24, 2005)]
[Notices]
[Pages 61464-61465]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 05-21134]


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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

National Institutes of Health


National Institutes of Health Town Hall Meeting on Ruth L. 
Kirschstein National Research Service Award (NRSA) Tuition, Fees and 
Health Insurance Policies

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The purpose of this notice is to announce that the National 
Institutes of Health (NIH) will hold a Town Hall meeting to hear 
comments and insights concerning possible revisions to certain fiscal 
policies that govern the Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service 
Awards (NRSA), which comprise institutional training grants (T32 and 
T34s) and individual fellowships (F30, F31, F32, F33). The meeting 
which is open to the public will focus primarily on the funding of 
educational costs such as tuition, fees and health insurance provided 
through institutional training grants. The meeting will be held 
November 30, 2005 in the Natcher Conference Center, Room E1/E2 on the 
NIH campus in Bethesda, Maryland.
    Background: NRSA programs currently support over 17,000 predoctoral 
and postdoctoral research training positions mostly in the nation's 
academic laboratories. While the budget for the NRSA programs grew 
smartly during the five years in which the overall appropriation for 
the NIH was doubled, since fiscal 2003, the last of the growth years, 
the appropriation for NRSA training programs has grown rather modestly. 
Given this reality, the NIH must re-examine aspects of its NRSA 
policies that may not be sustainable in a period of limited budget 
expansion.
    The largest of the NRSA programs funds institutional training 
grants that use the T32 mechanism to support both pre- and post-
doctoral research training. Currently, the direct cost funding of these 
programs is segmented into four categories: stipend, tuition/fees/
health insurance (referred to collectively as tuition), travel, and 
training related expenses. The funding levels for three of these 
(stipend, travel, and training related expenses) are stipulated and 
controlled by NIH, although each can be adjusted as fiscal 
circumstances and program needs evolve. The funding for tuition, on the 
other hand, is not fully controlled by NIH; the funding for tuition is 
governed by a formula tied to the amount each institution requests for 
this expense. The formula provides for each T32 trainee the sum of 
$3,000 plus sixty percent of the requested tuition in excess of $3,000. 
This formula is used to determine the tuition level provided via each 
competing grant; that level, once established for a given competing 
grant, is used for the subsequent non-competing renewal awards during 
the project period. This formula has been employed since fiscal 1996 
and has been modified once.
    During the five year growth period, the increased funding devoted 
to NRSA activities was used for meaningful, and long overdue, trainee 
stipend increases and for covering some of the escalating requests in 
the tuition category of training grants. However, in fiscal 2004 and 
2005, when there was limited NRSA budget growth, the requests and 
outlays for tuition continued to rise substantially. Barring other 
adjustments, the continuation of this trend in tuition growth will 
result in a significant annual decrease in the number of NRSA trainee 
positions, and to fewer programs supported by T32 training grants. 
Since these outcomes could have a substantial disruptive effect on 
biomedical research training, NIH has frozen the tuition expenses on 
competing renewals of T32 awards in fiscal 2006. (See http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/notice-files/NOT-OD-05-059.html) Moreover, 
NIH training officials have decided to study various options for 
handling the funding of trainee tuition in the future. The goal of this 
effort is to find an approach that equips the agency both to adjust to 
budgetary challenges and to continue to provide appropriate support to 
institutions to help defray the educational costs of NRSA trainees. 
This town hall meeting is being held to gather the views of the 
training community on this issue.
    Among the options that will be studied are the following:
    1. The current tuition formula could be applied in conjunction with 
a ceiling; the funds provided would be the amount dictated by the 
currently-used formula or the amount dictated by the ceiling, whichever 
is less. The magnitude of the ceiling would be based on the fiscal 
resources available as well as on applicable data. For the sake of 
discussion, those offering comments may assume the ceiling could be in 
the range of $16,000 to $18,000.
    2. A fixed allowance could be provided for tuition; the same 
allowance per trainee would be provided to each

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grantee institution. This approach is employed by the National Science 
Foundation for its graduate research fellowship program. For the sake 
of discussion, those offering comments may assume the allowance could 
be in the range of $16,000 to $18,000. The allowance could be adjusted 
periodically by the NIH as fiscal circumstances warranted.
    3. The current tuition formula could be retained without 
modification. Those offering comments may assume that under this option 
the number of NRSA trainees and funded training grant programs will 
likely experience a series of year-to-year decreases as long as the 
current fiscal patterns prevail.
    Participation: Those who wish to attend the Town Hall meeting are 
invited to submit a brief statement, not to exceed two pages, 
summarizing views and experiences relevant to the topic of the meeting. 
Some of those submitting statements will be asked to make brief oral 
presentations at the meeting. In selecting those to make presentations 
and in allocating time, the organizers hope to ensure that a full range 
of opinions is heard and that all parts of the NRSA constituency are 
represented. Those not asked to present will be welcome at the meeting 
and will be given a brief opportunity to contribute during two ``open 
mike'' sessions. Individuals should submit their statements along with 
their name, affiliation, and contact information to 
[email protected] by November 4, 2005. Individuals chosen to 
make presentations at the Town Hall meeting will be notified on or 
around November 14, 2005. Those unable to attend but who wish to 
provide statements are welcome to do so. All statements will be 
considered by NIH staff. Those who do not submit statements but wish to 
observe the meeting will be admitted on a space-available basis. An NIH 
official will present background information on NRSA tuition support at 
the outset of the meeting.
    All individuals who wish to attend the meeting should register 
through the Town Hall meeting's Web site at http://pub.nigms.nih.gov/nrsameeting, available on or about October 24, 2005. The detailed 
schedule for the meeting, when completed, will be posted on this Web 
site along with any meeting updates. Participants are responsible for 
their own expenses associated with participating in this meeting, such 
as for travel.
    Inquiries: Questions concerning this notice should be directed to: 
Dr. Warren Jones, National Institute of General Medical Sciences, 
National Institutes of Health, 301-594-3827, [email protected].

    Dated: October 13, 2005.
Norka Ruiz Bravo,
Deputy Director for Extramural Research, National Institutes of Health.
[FR Doc. 05-21134 Filed 10-21-05; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4140-01-P