Skip to main content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Official websites use .gov
A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.

Secure .gov websites use HTTPS
A lock ( ) or https:// means you’ve safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.

Beta This is a new resource

Audit of National Institutes of Health Grant Closeout Process

Announced on  | Last Modified on  | Project Number: A-04-23-08097
Status
Completed
Agency
National Institutes of Health

OBJECTIVE

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) invests approximately $41.7 billion annually in medical research and is the largest Federal funding source for health research and development. Prior OIG work identified issues regarding NIH's grant post-award closeout processes. A closeout of an award is the process by which NIH determines that all applicable administrative actions and all required work under an award have been completed by the recipient and NIH (45 CFR § 75.381). We will determine whether NIH closed its grants in accordance with Federal requirements and departmental guidance. We will also determine which actions NIH took to address noncompliance with closeout requirements.

TIMELINE

REPORT PUBLISHED

The National Institutes of Health Has Made Progress But Could Further Improve Its Closeout Process for Grants and Similar Awards (A-04-23-08097)

24-A-04-084.01 to NIH - Open Unimplemented
Update expected on 07/02/2025
We recommend that the National Institutes of Health formalize the recently implemented FRPPR monitoring control into NIH policy.

24-A-04-084.02 to NIH - Open Unimplemented
Update expected on 07/02/2025
We recommend that the National Institutes of Health facilitate timely unilateral closeout within 1 year of the PPE date by implementing a policy that requires the unilateral closeout process be completed early enough to allow for final closeout within 1 year of the PPE date; and providing additional training to staff involved in the closeout process to increase staff awareness (i.e., sending monitoring reports to ICs for awards eligible for unilateral closeout).

24-A-04-084.03 to NIH - Open Unimplemented
Update expected on 07/02/2025
We recommend that the National Institutes of Health create policies and procedures for reporting award recipients in SAM.gov that do not submit the required final reports within 1 year of the award PPE date.

24-A-04-084.04 to NIH - Closed Implemented
Closed on 01/02/2025
We recommend that the National Institutes of Health retroactively report all recipients with unilateral closeout actions in calendar year 2023 in SAM.gov.

View in Recommendation Tracker
Work Plan Type
Office of Audit Services
HHS Agencies
National Institutes of Health
Issue Areas
Departmental Operational Issues Financial Stewardship
Target Groups
-
Financial Groups
Grants