Review of Graduate Student Compensation Costs Charged to National Institutes of Health Research Grants

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY:

Our objectives were to (1) determine whether universities and colleges limited the graduate student compensation charged to National Institutes of Health ( NIH) research grants to the amount paid to a first-year, postdoctoral scientist performing comparable work at the same institution and to the National Research Service Award stipend in effect when NIH awarded the grants and (2) provide statistical estimates of the number of grants with graduate student compensation costs charged; the number of researchers who received graduate student compensation, including tuition remission, from NIH grants; and the costs of such compensation.

For all sampled grants with graduate student compensation charges, we found that universities and colleges appropriately limited graduate student compensation charges to the amount paid to a first-year, postdoctoral scientist performing comparable work at the same institution and to the National Research Service Award stipend in effect when NIH awarded the grants.  This report also provides statistical estimates related to graduate student compensation costs charged to NIH grants.  The report contains no recommendations.

We will provide the report to the two Members of Congress who requested the review.