Select Page

Cost Sharing Process

Graduate students are strongly encouraged to seek funding from sources external to the University of Michigan. In the graduate school context, cost sharing is the use of institutional funds to supplement graduate student support (stipend, tuition, GradCare, dental insurance, and/or summer support) that is covered by an external sponsor. Cost share requests are submitted to Rackham two ways, either via a Proposal Approval Form (PAF), if needed, or via the Rackham Cost Sharing Request Form. For questions regarding whether a proposal should be submitted via a PAF please contact the Office of Research and Sponsored Projects (ORSP) at 734.764.5500 or [email protected]. The Rackham Finance and Fellowships office is not equipped with the appropriate expertise to advise programs on that matter. All cost share requests MUST be approved before expenses are incurred.

All awards (regardless of cost share group) approved via PAF, with the exception of NSF GRFP, are fully administered by programs and a request for reimbursement should be submitted to [email protected] at the end of each project/fellowship award year.

In most cases, Group 3 cost shares are administered by Rackham and Group 1 and Group 2 are administered by the graduate program/department or on rare occasions, a central U-M unit (for example, International Institute). For awards not administered by Rackham, all costs are incurred by the graduate program/department/central unit and a reimbursement request should be submitted at the end of each project/fellowship award year.

Training Grants

  • Training grant cost share inquiries are handled differently from all other cost share asks. Training grant cost share requests need to be approved by the Rackham Dean. Please submit the following information to Assistant Dean Emily Swafford:

If approved, Dean Swafford will finalize a Letter of Support (LOS) as well as a budget showing the estimated shortfall, which will need to be attached to the Proposal Approval Form (PAF).

  • For programs within the Medical School, the Office of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies (OGPS) maintains a template letter. Please contact the associate dean of graduate and postdoctoral studies, Zaneta Nikolovska-Coleska, for assistance in drafting the letter. Additional resources may be located on the OGPS training grant website.
  • For programs outside of the Medical School, the OGPS template letter is also a good model to begin drafting an institutional LOS.

When routing a training grant PAF to Rackham for approval, please ensure that a budget provided by Dean Swafford (in Excel format) and the LOS are attached to the PAF. The Rackham Finance and Fellowships team will be unable to approve any PAF for a training grant that does not include those two attachments.

Rackham PAF Approvals

  • Rackham cost share language should be entered in section 3.7 – Internal U-M Agreements. The department ID to use is 493000. Referencing this department ID will automatically route the PAF to Rackham for approval.
  • Our standard processing time for approving PAFs is three business days. However, if you have a PAF that urgently needs approval, please reach out to [email protected] and we will do our best to accommodate your request.
  • Please also ensure that there is a budget (in Excel format) attached to the PAF. We just need something simple that shows estimated award, estimated expenses, and estimated shortfall. Below is a sample shortfall budget. You can also utilize the Estimated Shortfall Budget Tool.

Please refer to the Approved Cost Share list to determine which below script to enter into the PAF.

Group 1

Rackham will cover 100% of a funding shortfall between the awarded amount and the actual cost of tuition, health insurance, and dental insurance (Option 1). If needed, Rackham will also provide a supplement to the stipend provided by the award and any departmental/program contribution, to ensure that the student receives the established stipend level for that academic year over a 12-month period or until they have defended their dissertation. Students in combined programs (e.g., Medical Science Training Program) are only eligible for cost sharing support during the terms that they are registered as a Rackham student. If an allowance is provided to defray a student’s tuition, fees, health insurance, and/or other educational expense, a portion of the allowance is to be applied towards tuition, fees, and health insurance costs when calculating the shortfall.

NIH Group 1

Rackham will cover 100% of a funding shortfall between the awarded amount and the actual cost of tuition, health insurance, and dental insurance (Option 1). If needed, Rackham will also provide a supplement to the stipend provided by the award and any departmental/program contribution, to ensure that the student receives the established stipend level for that academic year over a 12-month period or until they have defended their dissertation. Students in combined programs (e.g., Medical Science Training Program) are only eligible for cost sharing support during the terms that they are registered as a Rackham student. Of the allowance provided to defray training-related expenses the maximum that may be budgeted for the program-related expenses is $2,200. The balance of the allowance is to be used for health insurance costs.

Group 2

Rackham will provide a 50% shortfall between the award allowance and the costs of actual tuition, health insurance, and dental (Option 1) for this award during terms that they are registered as a Rackham student. If an allowance is provided to defray a student’s tuition, fees, health insurance, and/or other educational expense, a portion of the allowance is to be applied towards tuition, fees, and health insurance costs when calculating the shortfall.

NIH Group 2

Rackham will provide a 50% shortfall between the award allowance and the costs of actual tuition, health insurance, and dental (Option 1) for this award during terms that they are registered as a Rackham student. When an allowance is provided to defray a student’s tuition, fees, health insurance, and/or other educational expense, a portion of the allowance is to be applied towards tuition, fees, and health insurance costs when calculating the shortfall. Of the allowance provided to defray training-related expenses the maximum that may be budgeted for the program-related expenses is $2,200. The balance of the allowance is to be used for health insurance costs.

Rackham Cost Sharing Approvals for Awards not Requiring a PAF

Rackham does not provide retro-active cost sharing. All cost sharing requests must be approved before actual costs are incurred. For cost sharing requests on awards that do not require a PAF, please submit a request using this Google Form. With your submission, please include an Excel version of the sample shortfall budget listed above and the award letter along with any other pertinent fellowship award information you may have.

Submitting a Cost Share Reimbursement Request

  • All the expenses should be charged to the sponsored project grant and a request should be submitted to Rackham for cost share reimbursement at the end of each project/fellowship award year. Departments should fill out the Rackham shortfall request form and email the form to [email protected]. Please note this is a reimbursement request therefore all expenses need to be incurred, no encumbrances will be allowed. Do not submit the shortfall reimbursement until all activity for the project/fellowship award year has posted.
  • Rackham will validate the tuition, Gradcare, dental, and stipend (if applicable) costs along with the grant allowance. Once the form has been approved, we will transfer funds to the shortcode provided on the shortfall form. The standard processing time for shortfall reimbursements is one to two weeks.
  • If you prepare an MReports or Business Objects query to obtain the data needed to complete the Shortfall Reimbursement template, please feel free to include the query results with your email submission. This may help us process your request more efficiently.
  • Group 1 Shortfall Reimbursement Form
  • Group 2 Shortfall Reimbursement Form
  • Training Grant Shortfall Reimbursement Form