RA22 Participant Support Costs
Contents:
PURPOSE:
To establish the requirements that apply to participant support costs.
POLICY:
Funds identified as "participant support costs" are those costs paid to (or on behalf of) participants in meetings, conferences, symposia, seminars and workshops, if allowed in the award budget. Participant support costs are intended to support students and other trainees. Participant support costs may not be paid to individuals providing administrative or logistical support, individuals attending the conference as invited speakers, or research subjects participating in a study.
Per federal guidelines found at 2 CFR 200,
Participant support costs means "direct costs that support participants and their involvement in a Federal award, such as stipends, subsistence allowances, travel allowances, registration fees, temporary dependent care, and per diem paid directly to or on behalf of participants" (2 CFR 200.1).
Participant means "an individual participating in or attending program activities under a Federal award, such as trainings or conferences, but who is not responsible for implementation of the Federal award. Individuals committing effort to the development or delivery of program activities under a Federal award (such as consultants, project personnel, or staff members of a recipient or subrecipient) are not participants. Examples of participants may include community members participating in a community outreach program, members of the public whose perspectives or input are sought as part of a program, students, or conference attendees" (2 CFR 200.1).
"Participant support costs are allowable. The classification of items as participant support costs must be documented in the recipient's or subrecipient's written policies and procedures and treated consistently across all Federal awards" (2 CFR 200.456).
Human participants or human subjects in research studies are not classified as participant support costs. See RP03 - The Use of Human Participants in Research for more information.
Participant support costs are excluded from MTDC (2 CFR 200.1), thus F&A is not assessed on participant support costs (unless the budget is being calculated on a TDC or Total Cost basis.) There are specific GL accounts associated with participant support costs, since such costs can be associated with travel, stipends, registration fees, etc. Procedures regarding the use of the Participant Support GL Accounts are outlined in RAG22 - Guidelines for Participant Support Costs.
The federal government also expects participant support costs to be accounted for separately. According to the Uniform Guidance, grantees must request the Federal awarding agency's prior approval before transferring funds budgeted for participant support costs to other categories of expense (2 CFR 200.308(f)(5)). As a result, unused participant support costs are generally returned to the sponsor rather than spent on other categories of cost.
Historically, participant support costs have been associated most commonly with the National Science Foundation (especially Research Experience for Undergraduates grants (REUs) and Research Experiences for Teachers grants (RETs)). Please refer to NSF's Grants Proposal Guide for NSF-specific guidance.
Certain types of grants are for research training opportunities to further one's career, such as NIH Training or Fellowship awards. These types of grants are not always for participant support costs, though they may support an individual in training. Solicitations (e.g., Notice of Funding Opportunities and Requests for Proposals) must be reviewed to avoid budgeting and spending in incorrect categories for training grants. if there is uncertainty, reach out to the administrative contacts listed in the solicitation for clarification.
FURTHER INFORMATION:
For questions, additional detail, or to request changes to this policy, please contact the Office of the Senior Vice President for Research or the Office of Budget and Finance.
CROSS REFERENCES:
RAG22 - Guidelines for Participant Support Costs
RP03 - The Use of Human Participants in Research
Revision History:
- July 1, 2026 - Transitioning to a new model for accounting of Participant Support Costs (PSCs). Instead of budgeting these to a separate IO, PSCs will be charged to dedicated GLs which will accumulate under a PSC Sponsored Class.
- October 9, 2024 - Updated to reflect revision to UG
- November 28, 2020 - Updated to reflect revision to UG
- September 17, 2019 - Changed Vice President for Research to Senior Vice President for Research
- March 10, 2017 - Edits have been made to the POLICY section to better define what participant support costs are, and for what/whom they may be expended.
- February 26, 2016 - This new policy has been created as part of the policy reorganization brought about by the implementation of the Uniform Guidance (2 CFR 200).