United States Government Publishing Office publisher pbl distributor dst United States Government Accountability Office Resources, Community, and Economic Development Division author aut Government Organization text government publication eng GAOREPORTS Legislative Agency Publications gao legislative 2010-08-12 U.S. Government Printing Office 1995-03-06 monographic deposited born digital 34 p. GA 1.13:RCED-95-74 https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/GAOREPORTS-RCED-95-74 P0b002ee18038c3bf f:rc95074 DGPO 2010-08-12 2011-03-28 GAOREPORTS-RCED-95-74 machine generated eng fdlp REPORT GAOREPORTS-RCED-95-74 RCED-95-74 Colleges/universities Research programs Administrative costs Overhead costs Accounting procedures Cost control Research and development costs Cost accounting Research and development contracts Contract costs Letter Report RCED Pursuant to a legislative requirement, GAO reviewed the government's regulations that allow universities to recover indirect costs associated with federally funded research, focusing on the effects of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) revisions that: (1) established a 26-percent cap on federal reimbursements for universities' administrative costs; (2) further clarified and tightened certain indirect cost accounting procedures; and (3) control indirect cost growth, improve the consistency of cost treatments, and streamline indirect cost accounting procedures.<p/>GAO found that: (1) the 26-percent administrative cost cap affected 69 to 82 of the 140 universities surveyed and reduced annual administrative costs reimbursements by about $104 million; (2) the cap also lead to more uniform indirect cost rates among the universities; (3) the 1991 revisions eliminated or reduced some previously allowable indirect costs; (4) the effects of the 1993 revisions are not fully known because federal agencies are implementing them through renegotiated multiyear rate agreements; (5) the change in the treatment of tuition remission costs could reduce the number of science and engineering doctoral candidates at 4 universities; (6) OMB has proposed several revisions to its indirect cost principles to control indirect cost growth and improve accounting procedures; and (7) federal and university officials oppose a total cap on indirect cost rates because it could adversely affect the universities' ability to provide modern laboratory facilities and equipment. https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-RCED-95-74/html/GAOREPORTS-RCED-95-74.htm https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-RCED-95-74/pdf/GAOREPORTS-RCED-95-74.pdf GAO/RCED-95-74 https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/GAOREPORTS-RCED-95-74 Letter Report GAO/RCED-95-74; University Research: Effect of Indirect Cost Revisions and Options for Future Changes; Colleges/universities Research programs Administrative costs Overhead costs Accounting procedures Cost control Research and development costs Cost accounting Research and development contracts Contract costs