(updated 12/14/05)

Note:These are general budget instructions. RFAs may have specific requirements. Be sure to carefully check the RFA you are applying to for more information.

Applications must include a line-item summary budget and annual budgets for each year of the partnership together with a detailed explanation of the budget figures. Clearly indicate the method of cost computation and how the total charge for each budget item was determined for the HED award, the cost sharing by the applicant institution, and contributions from other partners in the budget detail. The items on the five-column budget form are: (1) Personnel (wages and salaries); (2) Fringe Benefits; (3) Travel; (4) Equipment (if applicable; typically a cost shared item); (5) Supplies; (6) Other Direct Costs; (7) Total Direct Costs; (8) Indirect Costs; and (9) Totals.

All of the items listed in the five column budget, whether supported by HED award monies or cost sharing contributions, must be reasonable, necessary to accomplish partnership objectives, allowable in terms of the applicable federal cost principles, auditable, and incurred during the award period. U.S. Institutional cost sharing must meet the minimum 25 percent requirement.

1. Personnel (Line I). Personnel includes all individuals involved in the partnership who are employed by the applicant institution. Stipends for any individuals not employed by the applicant institution are usually listed and documented under Other Direct Costs. The budget detail must provide the position, title, and the method of cost computation of the actual wages/salary, including summer salary, for each individual. Calculations should be shown as a percentage of academic year or annual salary and must conform to established institutional policies and practices.

2. Fringe Benefits (Line II). Fringe benefits may include established institutional contributions for social security, employee insurance, pension plans, etc. Only those benefits that are not included in the institution’s indirect cost pool may be considered direct costs. Fringe benefits are calculated on the basis of a certain percentage of annual salary. Where more than one fringe benefit rate is used, include each as appropriate.

3. Travel (Line III). In compliance with the “Fly America Act” , all international air travel rates must be based on the use of U.S.-registered carriers and/or international carriers “code-shared” with U.S. carriers when available. In the latter instance, travelers must have tickets issued by a registered U.S. carrier. Provide the actual calculations for each trip (domestic and international) by specifying the trip origin, trip destination(s), the number of individuals traveling, the length of the trip in days, and the per diem for each of the destination(s). Click here for international travel per diem rates. Click here for domestic travel per diems.

N.B. Applicants must budget for attendance at HED’s annual 2½ day conference in Washington, DC for one year during the award period. Partnerships are expected to send one representative from the U.S. institution(s) and one representative from the international institution(s). Additional project personnel may attend, subject to approval by HED, if they are funded by other sources.

4. Equipment (Line IV). Permanent equipment is defined as non-expendable personal property with a useful life of more than one year and an acquisition cost of $5,000 or more per unit. HED discourages the use of award monies for equipment-related costs. In-kind equipment contributions, however, are appropriate and encouraged.

5. Supplies (Line V). Supplies include consumable supplies, materials to be used by the partners and items of expendable equipment; i.e., items costing less than $5,000 and with an estimated useful life of less than one year. The budget detail must list the types of supplies with accompanying approximate total costs and indicate the approximate cost per unit, where applicable.

Example:

Paper, notebooks, pencils, pens, and magic markers: $80
20 books x $5/book = $100
Total: $180

N.B. Supplies consumed by the partnering overseas institution under a subaward from their partner U.S. institution should appear under Other Direct Costs (below).

6. Other Direct Costs (Line VI). N.B. All HED award monies to be expended by cooperating institution(s), under a subaward, must be itemized and explained in this section.

(a) Give the cost of all training activities including instruction, participant, and travel costs per person and per activity. Indicate costs charged to the HEDaward (USAID) and cost share by the applicant institution and other partners. Indicate training costs as unit costs per participant as well as totals, as in Example 1 below as appropriate. This information is required by the USAID J-1 visa procurement system (TraiNet).

(b) Stipends for any individuals not employed by the applicant institution should be listed in this section.

(c)The cost of photocopying and printing, long-distance phone calls, equipment rental, postage, and other services related to partnership activities, which are not included under other budget categories or under indirect costs should be included in this category.

Note: Participants entering the United States on a J-1 are required to be covered by Health and Accident Coverage (HAC). Information on HAC is available on-line (http://trainet.usaid.org/HACIns/). Both HAC and TraiNet incur additional costs for training, which applicants are encouraged to consider when developing their budget.

7. Total Direct Costs (Line VII). Provide accurate calculation of total for Direct Costs. Total Direct Costs are calculated by adding lines I through IV (Personnel + Fringe Benefits + Travel + Equipment + Supplies + Other Direct Costs = Total Direct Costs)

8. Indirect Costs (Line VIII). Indirect costs are calculated by applying a negotiated indirect cost rate (NICRA) to a distribution base (usually some or all of the direct costs of the partnership; e.g., salaries plus fringe benefits). The budget detail must state the applicant institution’s NICRA and that of other collaborating U.S. institutions.

9. Totals (Line IX). Provide accurate calculation of Totals. Totals are calculated by adding Direct and Indirect Costs (Lines VII and VIII).

N.B. Cost sharing by the applicant institution should be clearly stated in the budget as the applicant’s contribution. Preference is given to applicants proposing to waive or substantially cost share indirect costs in order to utilize the highest possible proportion of award monies for direct partnership costs.

Upon completing the budget detail, applicants should double-check to ensure that the figures are consistent with those on the budget forms, are correct, and that all costs included in the application conform to established institutional policies and practices before the application is submitted to HED.

Note: Funds leveraged beyond USAID and the U.S. government may be subject to guidelines specified by the funding source, and are not required to be reported in the manner described in these instructions.

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Higher Education for Development (HED)

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