• Cost Share occurs when a quantified portion of the costs of an Award are not paid by the sponsor, but paid instead by using resources within a department, school, college, or other party outside the UW
• Cost Share is a documented commitment
• The cost share commitment is required by the sponsor to use resources other than the Award itself for completing of the Award objectives

Video – Cost Share Defined

All Cost Share Contributions MUST:

• Be incurred on an unrestricted budget or other funding source
  • Sponsored Award funds may not be used for Cost Share contribution without the prior written approval from both the benefitting and contributing Award Sponsors.
• Be documented and represented in the UW systems i.e., Financial Accounting System and Cost Share Summary
• Expenditures used for Cost Share contributions must meet the four cost principles of Allowable, Allocable, Reasonable and Consistently Treated. This means:
  • Allowable: if it is permitted as a cost within general regulations, the terms of the Award, and/or the University’s F&A rates.
  • Allocable: if the goods or services can be directly charged based on the benefit provided.
  • Reasonable: reflects the action that a prudent person would have taken under the circumstances when the decision to incur the cost was made.
  • Consistently Treated: all costs incurred for the same purpose and in like circumstances are treated uniformly as direct or indirect costs.
• Only be used as a Cost Share Contribution ONCE
• Include all applicable Indirect Cost (Fringe, Cost Share F&A)
• Be incurred between the Cost Share Award’s Start and End Dates
• Cost Share must be clearly identified as a requirement by the sponsor on the sponsor program announcement
• May not exceed the minimum mandatory cost share requirement
• Before committing to Cost Share, ensure the outlined contribution meets UW and SEFS requirements
• Contributing resources must be identified at the proposal submission stage in coordination with the SEFS RGC team

Video – Cost Share Contribution Requirements

Video – Cost Share F&A Rates

• Cost Share is discouraged due to the potential redirection of UW resources from other UW priorities, impact to the research base used in calculating Facilities and Administrative (F&A) cost rates, added exposure under audit for disallowed costs, and the added administrative burden
• The UW will meet Mandatory Cost Share requirements when delineated in a specific program announcement 

Video – Policy Overview

SEFS Cost Share Policy

This policy outlines and clarifies aspects of UW Cost Share Policies Procedures and Guidelines on grants and contracts specifically within the School of Environment and Forest Sciences (SEFS). It should be noted that once Cost Share is accepted by a Sponsor it becomes a binding commitment and the required responsibility of the PI to provide, monitor and report the Cost Share contribution. To fulfill this requirement, SEFS Research, Grants and Contracts (RGC) team assists SEFS PI’s in carrying out this administrative task and burden.

When can you include Cost Share in your proposal?

Cost Share is discouraged by the University of Washington, thus, when possible, SEFS will only meet minimum mandatory Cost Share requirements specified by the request for proposals (RFP) from funding agencies.

Voluntary Cost Share is not allowed.

Costs Permissible as Cost Share and Limitations:

• Unrecovered F&A – Unrecovered F&A (also known as Unrecovered Indirect Costs, or UIDC) is the difference between the Standard and Actual F&A amounts when the Standard F&A Rate is greater than the Actual F&A Rate. UIDC may only be used as a Cost Share Contribution when approved by the Award’s Sponsor.

• Faculty Effort – The portion of the salary, related employee benefits and associated F&A of faculty members expending effort on the award. Cost Share contribution will not exceed 20% of the faculty’s effort, as described in individual faculty’s work planning efforts.

• Third-Party Cost Share – Third (3rd) Party Cost Share is provided by an individual or organization other than UW or the sponsor. The provision of Cost Share is not tied to any formal agreement or financial instrument (such as a sub-award or purchase order) and cannot be subject to or made as a requirement of any other agreement with the UW. 3rd Party Commitments are typically in the form of donated effort, resources (equipment or materials), or in-kind (volunteer effort). 3rd Party contributors must agree to the Cost Share contribution through issuance of a letter of commitment. As the Cost Share is met, the 3rd Party must submit a report of the resources provided toward meeting the commitment. The PI is responsible for fulfilling the total Cost Share commitments should 3rd Party contributors not meet their commitment.

• Subaward Cost Share – Subaward Cost Share is a Cost Share Commitment by a subaward recipient that is either required by the UW or proposed by the subaward recipient. The Cost Share Commitment should be clearly specified in the subaward agreement issued by the UW.

• Graduate and Undergraduate Research Assistantships – These can be used when allowable by the Sponsor and committed to effort on the project.

• Non-Faculty Effort Cost Sharing – This type of Cost Share may include effort from non-faculty UW employees, supplies, services, or other resources acquired, during the Award period, from non-sponsored funds. All such Cost Share contributions must be documented and reported to GCA.

Exclusions:

• Fellowships from federal awards cannot be used. Tuition, as part of the fellowship, cannot be used. The intent of fellowships is to offset cost of living, rather than to compensate students for effort toward the grant objectives, thus, making these unsuitable as a Cost Share.

• Volunteers are unallowable for SEFS projects due to the burden of tracking their effort.
• To Be Determined (TBD) is unallowable due to liability and the burden of tracking their effort.

Additional Guidelines

The Cost Share commitment must be met by all parties to close out the Award. The unmet Cost Share at the end of the Award may lead to a reduction in the total awarded amount. Cost Share requirements may apply to Award extension periods

UW Research Policies, Procedures and Guidance: GIM 21 – Cost Share on Sponsored Programs