• FluTrackers.com Inc. does not provide medical advice. Information on this web site is collected from various internet resources, and the FluTrackers board of directors makes no warranty to the safety, efficacy, correctness or completeness of the information posted on this site by any author or poster. The information collated here is for instructional and/or discussion purposes only and is NOT intended to diagnose or treat any disease, illness, or other medical condition. Every individual reader or poster should seek advice from their personal physician/healthcare practitioner before considering or using any interventions that are discussed on this website. By continuing to access this website you agree to consult your personal physican before using any interventions posted on this website, and you agree to hold harmless FluTrackers.com Inc., the board of directors, the members, and all authors and posters for any effects from use of any medication, supplement, vitamin or other substance, device, intervention, etc. mentioned in posts on this website, or other internet venues referenced in posts on this website.
  • We are not asking for any donations. Do not donate to any entity who says they are raising funds for us.

NIH slashes overhead payments for research, sparking outrage - Move to cut indirect cost rate to 15% (which is normal rate) - February 7, 2025

sharon sanders

Editor-in-Chief & President
NIH slashes overhead payments for research, sparking outrage

Move to cut indirect cost rate to 15% could cost universities billions of dollars
The National Institutes of Health plans to severely cut the percentage of its grant money that can be used for overhead costs rather than research.In a Friday night move that quickly drew howls of protest from the U.S. biomedical research community, President Donald Trump’s administration today announced it is immediately reducing by roughly half the so-called indirect cost payments that the National Institutes of Health (NIH) makes to universities, hospitals, and research institutes to help cover facilities and administrative costs.

A 15% indirect cost rate will now apply to all new and existing grants, NIH said in a memo from its Director’s office. Typically, about 30% of an average NIH grant to an institution is earmarked for indirect costs, although some universities get higher rates. In 2023, NIH, the world’s largest funder of biomedical research, spent nearly $9 billion on indirect costs; the change would likely leave research institutions needing to find billions of dollars from other sources to support laboratories, students, and staff.

more...https://www.science.org/content/article/nih-slashes-overhead-payments-research-sparking-outrage
 
One standard measurement of a non-profit's effectiveness is to measure program and overhead expenditures as a percentage of spending. My long term understanding is that a 15% overhead rate of total expenditures is one indicator of a fairly well-run operation. It is a matter of scale. A small business has fixed costs spread over a smaller base so they might run 10%-30% overhead rate.

"A 2001 survey conducted by the BBB Wise Giving Alliance found that among potential donors, the overhead ratio and financial transparency are more important to giving decisions than the success of the organization’s programs. Survey results indicated that more than half of Americans believe that NFPs should have overhead rates of less than 20 percent."

https://publications.aaahq.org/jogn...-Governance-in-Not-for-Profit-Organizations-A
 
(Screenshot)
image.png
 
(Screenshot)

If those overhead rates above are accurate, imho, it is a travesty. :whistle:

Way back in my previous life I was a financial analyst for a large non-profit, and in particular, I was an overhead analyst. Again, tiny operations will have a distorted indirect/direct ratio because of their tiny base - but the groups above - not.

I would love to see the explanations for those overhead rates charged to the US taxpayer.
 
Back
Top