NSF's Academic Facilities Program

Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed the National Science Foundation's (NSF) Academic Research Infrastructure Program, focusing on whether the program restricts academic institutions from including indirect or overhead costs in their matching contributions. GAO noted that: (1) the NSF program generally requires academic institutions to provide between 30 and 50 percent of a project's costs in nonfederal matching contributions; (2) the program does not restrict academic institutions from including their matching contributions in their indirect costs for federally funded research and development projects; and (3) grant recipients that receive substantial federal funding could recover much of their matching contributions, effectively increasing federal funding for infrastructure projects.