>The University of Arizona is considering implementing a plan to charge
>grants and contracts for in-state registration fees and out-of-state
>tuition for graduate research assistants.
>
>Is anyone currently doing this?
>Are there any problems?  audit pitfalls?
>Do sponsoring agencies normally fund the fees and tuition?
>What do you do in cases where the sponsor will not fund the fees and
>   tuition?   How often does this occur?
>Do you charge overhead on the fees and tuition?
>
>xxxxxx@ccit.arizona.edu
>Janet Hornung, Director
>Sponsored Projects Services
>University of Arizona
>2030 E. Speedway
>Tucson, AZ  85719

We regularly charge graduate student tuition, registration fees and health
fees to grants, including NIH and NSF.  Most agencies who fund us include
education and/or professional development for new researchers in their
institutional missions, and therefore recognize the benefit of having
graduate students participate in research projects.  From a practical
standpoint, they also recognize that it is generally more cost-efficient to
pay for a graduate student (including salary and fees) than to pay salary
and benefits for a research assistant or a postdoc.

Some private agencies (e.g., American Heart Association) specifically
exclude tuition as an allowable cost on research grants.  Tuition for
students participating in such projects is paid by the student, a training
grant, a financial aid source, or sometimes by the Principal Investigator
from incentive funds or a gift account.

Every agency I can think of prohibits recovery of indirect costs on these
items.

**************************************************
Thomas C. Richardson
Acting Director
Bio Med Research Administration
Brown University Box G-A322
Providence, Rhode Island  02912

phone number: (401) 863-1631
fax number: (401) 863-3378
e-mail address: xxxxxx@brown.edu