EMS mandatory cost-share guidance | Penn State College of Earth and Mineral Sciences

College of Earth and Mineral Sciences | Office of the Associate Dean for Graduate Education & Research (ADGER)

Purpose and Scope

This guidance outlines the procedures for identifying, documenting, and managing mandatory cost sharing on externally sponsored research within the College of Earth and Mineral Sciences. It supplements—without superseding—University policies and procedures, ensuring compliance and audit readiness across the lifecycle of a proposal and award.

What is Cost Share?

Cost share (or matching) refers to the portion of project costs not covered by the sponsor and contributed by Penn State or third parties. Types include Mandatory (required by the sponsor), Voluntary Committed (offered in the proposal and becomes binding), and Voluntary Uncommitted (additional effort not quantified in the proposal and typically tracked locally).

Why Cost Share Matters

Mandatory cost share demonstrates institutional commitment, satisfies sponsor requirements, and carries compliance, reporting, and audit implications. Incorrectly offered or undocumented cost share can create financial risk and administrative burden.

Guiding Principles

Stewardship and consistency in cost share. EMS prioritizes cost sharing when explicitly required by the sponsor; voluntary cost sharing is not expected as standard practice but may be included when strategically justified or aligned with College priorities.
Proportionality in multi-unit proposals. EMS’ contribution to the total cost share should generally reflect its proportion of the proposed effort or budget share across participating units, recognizing that exact alignment may not always be feasible.
No over-matching graduate support. Graduate assistantship (GA) support in cost-share should not exceed sponsor-funded GA costs in the proposed budget. Exceptions require justification and approval from ADGER. Central (OSVPR) funds typically support up to 10% of sponsor-funded GA costs (without F&A) or up to 50% of sponsor-funded GA costs (with F&A).
Decision quality and timing. Cost-share requests should be made early enough to allow informed, collegial decision-making by contributing units.
Follow departmental policies on academic-year effort. This guidance defers to departmental policies and restrictions on academic-year effort on sponsored research.

Acceptable Cost-Share Expenses and Sources, and Required Documentation

Cost share must consist of allowable, allocable, and reasonable project costs that directly support the proposed scope of work and are verifiable in Penn State’s financial system. Cost share may be provided through a combination of internal and third-party resources, subject to sponsor and institutional requirements.

1. Allowable Cost-Share Expenses

The following types of project costs may be used as cost share, when otherwise allowable under sponsor and University policy:

Faculty effort (salary, fringe benefits, and applicable F&A)
Graduate Assistant support, including stipend, fringe benefits, tuition remission, and applicable F&A
Dedicated or specialized administrative or technical personnel time that is directly allocable to the project
Equipment acquired for the project, including new purchases or documented third-party donations¹ for the exclusive use of the project, including associated shipping and installation/setup costs. Requests for institutional matching on externally funded major research equipment proposals are governed separately under RAG51 Central Matching Funds Program for Research Equipment
Facility fees or charge-out rates, when based on allowable internal service center or recharge rates

2. Acceptable Sources of Cost Share

The following funding sources may be used to support allowable cost-shared expenses:

University non-sponsored funds, including start-up funds, discretionary general funds, and endowment or gift funds, when consistent with donor intent and restrictions
Documented state, industry, or foundation contributions
Documented third-party in-kind contributions, when the contribution directly benefits the project, and the valuation methodology is reasonable, documented, and auditable

3. Unallowable Sources and Costs

The following may not be used as cost share unless explicitly authorized by the sponsor:

Federal funds, including federal flow-through funds
Costs that are not allowable, allocable, or reasonable under sponsor or University policy
Costs that cannot be tracked or verified within Penn State’s financial systems

Pre-award research coordinators are responsible for securing approvals at the proposal stage (as required by department/OSP) and using the Cost Share Commitment Form. Third-party contributions must be documented via a Third-Party Cost Share Commitment Letter and a subsequent Confirmation. Ensure valuation methodology for in-kind contributions is documented and auditable. All cost share must be verifiable within Penn State’s financial system.

Budget Development and Communication Workflow

Budget development is iterative. The PI and pre-award research coordinator collaborate to refine the scope of work, budget, and cost share. Identify sources early: departmental support tied to personnel, graduate support (department, ADGER, central), and equipment (department, central).

PIs and Co-Is are expected to engage the appropriate administrator (Dept. Head, ADGER, Dean, etc.) as early as practicable. Cost-share requests should be initiated with sufficient lead time (>2 weeks) to allow time for review and approval. Requests made at or after the internal proposal deadline (five business days before sponsor submission) limit thoughtful evaluation and place undue pressure on contributing units. While expedited reviews may occasionally be necessary due to late sponsor clarifications or other exceptional circumstances, they should be the exception rather than the norm.

Cost-Share Request Email Template (for Rapid Review)

Cost-share requests should be accompanied by sufficient context to allow contributing units to understand key elements of the request and facilitate a timely and meaningful review. Pre-award research coordinators may use the following template for cost-share requests.

Subject: Cost-Share Request — [Project Title], [Sponsor], due [Due Date]

Total Project Budget	$[Total Costs] (Sponsor + Cost Share)
Sponsor Cost-Share Requirement	Mandatory cost share of [amount or %]. [Sponsor language excerpt — optional]
Total Cost Share Needed	$[Total required cost share]
Your Unit’s Requested Contribution	$[Total amount], with the following breakdown (as applicable): Graduate assistant support (number of GAs, term(s), and year(s)) Salary support (individuals, % effort, and year(s)) Equipment or facility fees (description and timing) Other committed costs (brief description)
Timeframe	[Year(s) or project duration]
Other Contributors (if applicable)	List other committed or pending cost-share sources, with brief details, and indicate whether commitments are confirmed or pending
Reason for Request	[1–2 sentence justification tied to sponsor requirement and proportionality]

Tracking and Reporting

At the award stage, cost share commitments are established in SIMS/SIMBA. For mandatory and voluntary committed cost share, 52 Internal Orders (IOs) are requested at account setup. Proposed cost share budgets (except for F&A, which is manually calculated) are uploaded to SIMBA and shared with departments/PIs. Each subunit should work with the Strategic Finance Partner (FPAC Team) to fund each cost share account in FM (Funds Management) annually, as long as the cost share account remains active. The Research Office provides cost-share details for Research Accounting (monthly/quarterly, depending on invoicing) for sponsor invoices. Voluntary uncommitted cost share is tracked by departments, which often use 80 or 15 IOs on the FM side. Submit final reports to sponsors when required.

References

RA50 – Cost Sharing (Penn State Policy)
RAG51 – Central Matching Funds Program for Research Equipment
RAG52 – Central Matching Funds for Graduate Assistantships/Traineeships
RAG53 – Coordination Process for Matching Funds and Other University Contributions to Multi-Unit Proposals
Cost Sharing FAQ – Research Support
Third-Party Cost Share Commitment Letter (Research Support Document Library)
Third-Party Cost Share Commitment Confirmation (Research Support Document Library)

Approved: EMS Executive Council, February 24, 2026

Footnotes:

The value of donated equipment must be determined in accordance with the accounting policies of the University. See RA50 Cost Sharing
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