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Northern Illinois University

Sponsored Projects

Cost Sharing

Cost sharing is a portion of the costs of a project that is not borne by the sponsoring agency. Some grant programs require that a portion of the total project cost be contributed by the university or other sources. Cost-sharing must be approved, via the STEP form, by the source of the funds (i.e., department chair or college dean) prior to submission of the proposal.

These contributions must:

  • be allowable and follow University and sponsor regulations
  • occur within the project time period
  • be easily tracked in an audit by the funding agency

For federal sponsored projects, the cost sharing must come from non-federal sources unless approval is obtained from the sponsor. Cost share may not be used for more than one federally sponsored project.

OSP recognizes three different types of cost share:

Mandatory: Cost sharing required by the sponsor as a condition for proposal submission. This commitment is quantified within the proposal budget, budget justification, or stated in award documents.  Grants Fiscal Administration must track and document mandatory cost share to ensure that obligations are met.

Voluntary Committed: Cost sharing that is not required by the sponsor but is committed, by the University, and quantified within the proposal budget, budget justification, or stated in award documents. Grants Fiscal Administration must track and document voluntary committed cost share to ensure that obligations are met.

Voluntary Uncommitted: Cost sharing that is not required by the sponsor, but is committed internally by the University.  There is no commitment made in the proposal or award documents. This term is used to recognize internal project commitments.