Cost Sharing

Cost Sharing is the financial commitment an institution may take on any given projects expenses.

This means that the institution will be responsible for a portion of a projects expense. Therefore, within the budge justification, research narrative, or written letters, the institutions principal investigator (PI) will participate in the contribution of funds to a project without charging the projects grant. PIs do not have the authority to commit the institution to cost share on a project.  All cost sharing is prohibited, unless otherwise granted by the sponsor. The appropriate authorized personal must be present in order to make cost sharing commitments.

Mandatory Cost Sharing

If a Sponsor requires cost sharing, the sponsor guidelines will usually state that cost sharing is required. This is the only time cost sharing is deemed mandatory. In the application, an agency will specify if the applicant must cost share, and the percent of how much cost sharing is required of the parties involved. Upon the institutions approval of the mandatory cost sharing percentage, ORSP will assist PIs with creating the budget to reflect the college expenses for the project. Dollar for Dollar match is another termed used for cost sharing, however, in this situation, the institutions percentage of their cost share is transformed into a dollar amount, and the dollar amount is then added to the grant the project that requires cost sharing. Federal sponsors will never make cost sharing mandatory, and all voluntary cost sharing is prohibited.

Voluntary Committed Cost Share

When cost sharing is not mandatory, it is considered voluntary. If cost sharing is not presented by the sponsor but insinuated by the institution, it is then identified as voluntary cost sharing. If cost sharing is not presented in the proposed budget justification but the application states that the project requires a person to work a specific amount of hours, or a faculty member will provide a specific amount of hours and the cost for this time is not presented in the proposed budget, it is voluntary cost sharing. Voluntary cost sharing is expenses will be handled by the institution, and must be documented.

Both mandatory and voluntary cost sharing are required to follow the federal cost principle as the award and, are required to be fully documented, tracked and met.

Cost Sharing- Federal Policy

Please review the Federal policy in regards to cost sharing. Should you have any questions or need clarification feel free to reach out to the OSRP.

Cost Sharing- Sponsor Policy

A sponsor’s application should be read in its entirety to know if cost sharing is required with the application. If the sponsor does not specifically say that cost sharing is required, cost sharing will not be allowed. Additionally, York College CUNY must adhere to the cost sharing policy with the Research Foundation of CUNY.

Cost Sharing- Research Foundation of CUNY

When cost sharing is mandatory the project PI must receive approval from the appropriate person. Approval from the department chairperson, the divisional dean, and provost is required at least 20 days before the application deadline.

PI Guidelines:

• Provide provost with sponsor guidelines of the state requirements for cost sharing.
• Cost sharing proposal budget justification.
• Review all policies for cost sharing.
• Recognize the institutions source of cost share funds.

When all guidelines are met, approval from the Vice Chancellor will be granted.