U.S. Agriculture: Status of the Farm Sector (Fact Sheet, 03/03/95,
GAO/RCED-95-104FS).

As it debates the 1995 Farm Bill, Congress will consider the first major
change in five years to the nation's agricultural policy. This will be
the first opportunity for many Members of Congress to participate in
farm bill deliberations.  To aid Members, this fact sheet provides
national data on the status and trends in (1) agriculture's position in
the U.S. economy, (2) the level of U.S. agricultural outputs and inputs,
(3) the condition of the agricultural resource base, and (4) the federal
government's financial support of agricultural producers.

--------------------------- Indexing Terms -----------------------------

 REPORTNUM:  RCED-95-104FS
     TITLE:  U.S. Agriculture: Status of the Farm Sector
      DATE:  03/03/95
   SUBJECT:  Agricultural industry
             Agricultural products
             Economic analysis
             Water conservation
             Soil conservation
             Natural resources
             Farm subsidies
             Disaster relief aid
             Agricultural policies
             Pesticides
IDENTIFIER:  1995 Farm Bill
             
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Cover
================================================================ COVER


Fact Sheet for Congressional Committees

March 1995

MULTIFAMILY HOUSING - BETTER
DIRECTION AND OVERSIGHT BY HUD
NEEDED FOR PROPERTIES SOLD WITH
RENT RESTRICTIONS

GAO/RCED-95-104FS

Universities' Indirect Cost


Abbreviations
=============================================================== ABBREV

  GAO - General Accounting Office
  HHS - Health and Human Services
  NASA - National Aeronautics and Space Administration
  NIH - National Institutes of Health
  NSF - National Science Foundation
  NSTC - National Science and Technology Council
  OMB - Office of Management and Budget
  ONR - Office of Naval Research

Letter
=============================================================== LETTER


B-259713

Letter date goes here

The Honorable Mark O.  Hatfield
Chairman
The Honorable Robert C.  Byrd
Ranking Minority Member
Committee on Appropriations
United States Senate

The Honorable Bob Livingston
Chairman
The Honorable David R.  Obey
Ranking Minority Member
Committee on Appropriations
House of Representatives

Federal agencies obligated about $12 billion to universities and
colleges for scientific research in fiscal year 1994.  The government
pays for direct costs specifically identified with a particular
research project as well as indirect costs for associated
administrative and facilities expenses.  For every dollar spent for
the direct costs of universities' research, subject to certain
exclusions, the government pays an additional 50 cents, on average,
to cover its share of universities' indirect costs. 

You requested that we examine the federal government's principles,
contained in Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Circular A-21, for
allowing universities to recover indirect costs associated with the
performance of federally funded research.  Specifically, you asked us
to assess the effect of (1) October 1991 revisions to Circular A-21
that primarily established a 26-percent cap on federal reimbursements
to universities for three components of their administrative costs
and (2) July 1993 revisions that further clarified and tightened
certain indirect cost accounting procedures, including the
specification that the remission of tuition for graduate students
working on federally funded research be treated as a direct cost. 
You also asked us to identify alternatives for further revising
Circular A-21's cost principles to control the growth of indirect
costs, improve consistency in the way that universities treat costs,
and/or streamline indirect cost accounting procedures.  This review
follows up on our August 1992 report on universities' indirect
costs.\1


--------------------
\1 Federal Research:  System for Reimbursing Universities' Indirect
Costs Should Be Reevaluated (GAO/RCED-92-203, Aug.  26, 1992).  See
the list of related GAO products at the end of this report.