Participant Support Costs

Participant support costs are defined by Uniform Guidance 2 CFR 200.1 as direct costs that support participants (see definition for Participant in § 200.1) and their involvement in a Federal award, such as stipends, subsistence allowances, travel allowances, registration fees, temporary dependent care, and per diem paid directly to or on behalf of participants. Participant support costs are paid in connection with conferences or trainings. UF employees, including UF faculty, staff, postdocs, student assistants, graduate assistants and interns, are not considered participants.

Definition of a Participant

A participant is an individual participating in or attending program activities under an award, such as trainings, conferences, workshops, seminars, or other short-term informational activities. Participants are not responsible for implementation of the award. Individuals committing effort to the development or delivery of program activities, such as consultants, project personnel, or staff members of a recipient or subrecipient, are not participants. Participants do not provide deliverables, perform work, or provide the training or workshop. Participants may not be UF employees. Since participants are not employees of the university, they are not subject to UF human resources policies.

Participants may include community members participating in a community outreach program, members of the public whose perspectives or input are sought as part of a program, students, or conference attendees. Participants may be teachers, national scholars, scientists, state or local government agency personnel, or representatives of private sector companies.

Budgeting for Participant Support Costs

All of the following criteria are required in order for a participant support cost to be allowable:

The costs are included in the budget and the budget is approved by the Federal awarding agency or prior written approval is received from the Federal awarding agency;
The cost is a direct cost on the project; and
The costs are justified programmatically.

Note: some sponsors, such as National Science Foundation, have special conditions applicable to participant support costs which may differ from the normal treatment of the costs at UF. Sponsor conditions should be considered when budgeting for participant support. National Institutes of Health only allows participant support costs to be included if they were approved in the original Funding Opportunity Announcement.

Participant support costs are excluded from Facilities & Administrative Costs (F&A) calculation when using an MTDC base. However, when using a TDC or TFFA base, participant support should incur F&A just as tuition, equipment or any other modifier would be in those situations.

Examples of Allowable Participant Support Costs:

Stipend. A stipend is a set amount paid to the participant to be used in connection with training.

Subsistence allowance. A subsistence allowance is a predetermined amount to be used to help offset housing or subsistence expenses during the period of the training. The cost of a participant’s housing and per diem expenses must be necessary and reasonable for the individual to participate in the training. Participants who live in the area local to the training are not entitled to subsistence payments. They can, however, participate in the meals and snacks provided at the meeting or conference.

Travel. Travel includes the actual costs of transportation, lodging, meals and associated expenses to and from the training location. These costs must follow sponsor guidelines as well as UF’s travel policies and guidelines. The sole purpose of the trip must be to participate in the training.

Fees. The fees paid by a participant or on behalf of a participant in connection with training. These fees could include event registration fees, laboratory fees related to participant training, and passport or visa fees for foreign participants.

Other. Other costs not listed above must be specifically allowable per the funding solicitation and identified in the approved sponsor budget. These costs are paid to or on behalf of the participant and should be required for their involvement in the training.