Budget Development

In collaboration with the principal investigator (PI), the Pre-Award team develops budgets for most grant applications, ensuring that they adhere to grantor requirements, TU policies and align with proposed activities. 

Create a Competitive Budget

A strong budget should:

  • Support the activities proposed in the project narrative within the projected time frame
  • Be reasonable and cost-effective for the proposed activities
  • Adhere to the Code of Federal Regulation 2 C.F.R. Part 200, otherwise known as the Uniform Guidance (the Uniform Guidance dictates that all costs budgeted and expended should be, according to the principles of cost accounting standards, allowable, allocable, and reasonable)

Standard Project Costs

Review the categories below for guidance on calculating common project costs and including them in your proposal budget. 

Salaries and Wages

Summer Effort

  • Faculty members may receive supplemental compensation during the three-month summer period when they are not under contract. This is the most common way to be compensated for grant work.
  • Pre-Award will calculate summer salary based on estimated personnel effort as a percentage of the individual’s Institutional Base Salary (IBS).

Academic Year Effort

  • Academic year effort is usually requested to permit a faculty member to take a course release. Course releases require prior approval.
  • Each course release is calculated as 10% of an individual’s IBS and funds are paid to the university, not to the individual. Pre-Award will assist with calculations.
  • Requesting more than one course release per year is uncommon, and should be discussed with your department chair, dean and the OSPR immediately.

Sabbatical

  • Check your college's policies and procedures regarding sabbatical leave (eligibility, deadlines, etc.).
  • A sabbatical leave application will need to be completed and submitted.
  • If a faculty member is taking a full-year sabbatical, they may request up to 50% of their standard full-year IBS. This compensation will be treated as supplemental pay.
  • In compliance with federal regulations and Towson University policies, non-faculty exempt staff members may not be paid supplemental salary with grant funds.
  • Non-exempt staff and part-time Contingent I and II employees may be eligible to receive pay/overtime pay from grant funds. Pre-Award will provide additional assistance with this.
  •  Graduate/Research Assistants are paid in accordance with College of Graduate Studies guidelines and rates, which are updated annually. 
  • Students may receive a “step” increase to their base assistantship from grant funds. Steps are based on program specific criteria that may include years of service, special skill sets, competitive recruitment, etc. as determined by the program and/or supervisor. PIs and programs should make every effort to be consistent in the use of steps across students.

General guidance for paying students hourly: 

  • Employment should not interfere with students’ educational goals.
  • The academic year is up to 30 weeks (15 for each term). A normal work week during the academic year is 10 to 20 hours, and 20 hours per week is the maximum students may work on campus.
  • Summer term is up to 12 weeks. Students can work up to 40 hours per week during the summer term.
  • Depending on the job responsibilities, new student hires are paid anywhere from $15/hour or higher, commensurate with higher skill sets and responsibilities. Consult your department chair or colleagues for consistency.
  • Contingent I: Temporary, non-regular positions lasting six months or less, regardless of hours worked. Competitive recruitment is generally not required, and employees do not receive paid leave or tuition remission. Contracts can be renewed once.
  • Contingent II: Non-regular positions lasting more than six but no more than 12 months, working at least 50% time. Employees must be competitively selected and are eligible for some paid leave, tuition remission, and certain other benefits.
  • These positions will be considered TU employees and receive benefits determined by their employment classification. TU conforms to NIH guidance for budgeting postdocs on sponsored programs/grants with external funds. For more information, please review the guidance and contact Pre-Award to appropriately budget these positions and balance the overall goals of the project.
  • Benefits of hiring Postdocs include advancing the scholar’s career and training goals and enhancing the University’s research community through mentorship and education. 

Fringe Benefits 

  • Faculty
    Summer: 8%
    Academic Year: 39%
  • Students
    8%, year-round
  • Contingent Staff
    Contingent I: 8%
    Contingent II: 27%
  • Postdocs
    See guidance

Other Direct Costs

Line items can vary widely, and Pre-Award will work with you to determine how to request funds to support your project. Common categories include:

  • Materials and Supplies
  • Equipment
  • Computer Services
  • Publication Costs
  • Transcription
  • Tuition: Included as a mandatory benefit for Graduate Assistants in proportion to effort amount. No tuition is included for hourly students.
  • Travel: Transportation, lodging, subsistence and related items incurred by project personnel for both project and dissemination purposes.
  • Human Subjects: Incentives/payments for research participation must be processed in accordance with government and University requirements as outlined in OSPR’s Grant Management Policies.
  • Participant Support Costs: Participants are individuals who benefit from the grant project, participate in workshops or program cohort or similar. (not to be confused with Human Subjects). 
  • Subrecipients/Subawards/Subcontracts: Towson University, as the "prime" recipient of a grant or contract, may allocate a portion of the work to another organization to complete. This is usually done if the organization or an individual at that organization has expert knowledge of the related field and will be a significant contributor to the project. TU will require documentation during the proposal stage to provide approval for a subrecipient. Typical required documentation includes a subrecipient budget, scope of work and signed letter of intent.

  • Consultant: An individual or organization that provides goods or services ancillary to the operation of the program or project.

Indirect Costs (IDC)

Indirect costs (also known as Facilities & Administrative Costs, F&A, or overhead) are real costs that are incurred by the university to provide the infrastructure necessary to conduct research and to implement external funding. 

IDC recovered at TU are distributed in accordance with the table below. Individual groups/divisions have discretion in the use of these funds, though they should be utilized to support research. PIs should discuss accessing their portion of recovered IDC with their department chair. 

group/division percentage
Library 1%
Principal Investigator (PI) 5%
PI Department 10%
PI College 15%
Academic Affairs/Provost Office 19%
OSPR 25%
Division of Administration and Finance 25%

TU negotiates an IDC rate every four years with the federal government. A copy of the current rate agreement is available for download. 

  • For on-campus projects, use 49.62% of Modified Total Direct Costs (MTDC).
  • For off-campus projects, use 22.12% of Modified Total Direct Costs (MTDC).
    • The off-campus rate is used when the majority of activities are planned to occur outside of facilities that are owned, leased, or operated the university.

Sponsors or specific funding opportunities may restrict IDC. In such cases, TU calculates IDC accordingly:

  • IDC may not be allowed.
  • Federal training grants limit IDC to 8% MTDC.
  • Foundations and other private sponsors usually limit IDC to 0-20% of the Total Direct Costs (TDC).