Fringe Benefit Rates

Northwestern University applies distinct employee benefit rates in the compensation of its personnel. These rates are charged to sponsored projects from which Northwestern personnel are paid. For questions related to eligibility under any of the rate categories, see HR Benefit Eligibility.

Current Fringe Rates

Fringe benefit rates change annually on September 1. Rates along with a description of the components of the fringe benefit rates can be found within the current F&A and Fringe Rate Agreement (dated 07/17/2024). All new proposals should utilize the new fringe benefit rates effective immediately and until further notice. Note: The current rate agreement does not provide provisional rates for FY2026 and beyond that are different from the fixed rates from FY2025. Therefore, use the current fringe benefit rate for all years of the budget. Although the Office of Budget and Planning provides proposed and forecasted rates for future years, proposed and forecasted rates should be used for informational purposes only. If you need to provide a line item breakdown (Health & Dental, FICA, etc.) of the composite fringe rate, reference the FY2025 Benefits Rates by Program [Note: requires a NetID to access].

Fringe benefit rates from the rate agreement dated 07/17/2024
Description	Covers	FY2025 (09/01/2024 – 08/31/2025)
Full Federal	Benefits-eligible employees paid from Federal funds (direct federal and federal flow-through funds*.)	28.1%
Full Non-Federal	Benefits-eligible paid from non-Federal funds	30.0%
Statutory	Temporary employees, supplemental pay to regular employees	6.1%
The Graduate School (TGS) student	TGS teaching assistants, research assistants, graduate assistants	2.6%
Other Student	Hourly wages to student workers, non-Graduate School graduate students	0.0%
Exempt	Federal Work Study salaries & wages, KSM consulting	0.0%

* Federal flow-through funds are funds that originate from the federal government, but whose granting entity is not necessarily the federal government.

Budget justification statement for proposal budgets

Add the following statement to all Federal proposal budget justifications:

Employee benefits have been calculated based on the following DHHS-approved rates:

09/01/24 – 08/31/25…. 28.1%
09/01/25 – 08/31/26 and thereafter…. 28.1% (provisional)

Add the following statement to all non-Federal proposal budget justifications:

Employee benefits have been calculated based on the following rates:

09/01/24 – 08/31/25…. 30.0%
09/01/25 – 08/31/26 and thereafter…. 30.0% (provisional)