Some notes on indirect costs at US universities, since people might be curious (Note: I am not an expert and only really have experience with UT. You may find budget.utexas.edu/about/budget interesting) - ThreadSky

peteronyisi.bsky.social • 21 days ago

Some notes on indirect costs at US universities, since people might be curious

(Note: I am not an expert and only really have experience with UT. You may find https://budget.utexas.edu/about/budget interesting)

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peteronyisi.bsky.social•21 days ago

In my lab I can plug equipment into the wall and get power, I can get a network hookup, the trash gets taken out, the library subscribes to PRL, and the bathrooms get fixed when things break. The reason I don't get a bill for these things is that they're covered by indirect costs (IDC).

peteronyisi.bsky.social•21 days ago

IDC rates are negotiated with the federal government and do have to be justified. The "normal" rate at UT now is 59% (i.e. IDC is like a mandatory 59% service charge on the "direct cost" bill). There are exceptions: off-campus research (like my grant) gets a 26% rate.

peteronyisi.bsky.social•21 days ago

In my grants I only account for salaries, student tuition, travel, and direct equipment and service purchases. But the cost of keeping a roof over our heads is a real (and high) one, and I don't pay rent to the university for it.

peteronyisi.bsky.social•21 days ago

UT's total federal IDC is around $160 million. Now, is this large or small? The utilities bill covered under this (not the education budget) is $67M, custodial services $16M, operations and maintenance $10.5M, libraries $16M ... it adds up pretty quickly.

peteronyisi.bsky.social•21 days ago

There's a common notion (even among academics) that IDC is dominated by layers of unnecessary administrators but, honestly, actually reading the budget, I don't see this. Our Sponsored Projects office costs $7.5M which is a fair chunk but is less than a percent of the total grants income.

muonneutrino.bsky.social•21 days ago

I think the correct framing here is that they are refusing to pay the rent.

peteronyisi.bsky.social•21 days ago

And to be clear: IDC is not about subsidizing the university; it's about sponsors paying for the infrastructure that the projects they want to execute are using. It's no more surprising than the price of a cup of coffee partially reflecting the rent for the shop, not just beans and labor.

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