Participant Support Costs

Participant Support Costs (PSC) are direct expenses incurred for items such as stipends, subsistence allowances, travel allowances, supplies, and/or registration fees paid to or on behalf of participants or trainees (excluding employees) in connection with meetings, conferences, symposia, or training projects.

PSC are a restricted budget category frequently proposed on National Science Foundation (NSF) awards. Other sponsors may vary slightly in their definitions and restrictions for PSC. PSC defined under this guidance should not be mistaken for costs associated with participants in a research project or clinical trial, such as incentive or human subject payments.

PSC are allowable with the prior approval of the awarding agency.

A participant is an individual involved in program activities under a Federal award, such as trainings or conferences, but not responsible for its implementation. Participants may include Union College students, students and scholars from other institutions, private sector representatives, K-12 teachers, or government personnel. However, a participant cannot be a Union College employee.

Unless otherwise restricted, participants may be U.S. citizens, permanent residents, or foreign nationals.

Participants may not include:

• Employees of Union College or the sponsor
• Advisory board members or conference/workshop organizing committee members
• Anyone who is assigned a deliverable or is primarily providing a service to the project, such as a consultant
• A Union College student or project staff member receiving compensation directly or indirectly from the grant
• A research subject receiving an incentive payment
• Anyone who performs work or services for the project or program other than for their own benefit. The participant is not required to deliver anything or provide any service to Union College in return for these support costs.
  

Participant Support Costs are typically incurred for projects that include an education, training, or outreach component. PSC are allowable with prior sponsor approval, per the Uniform Guidance. These types of costs are most commonly included in National Science Foundation (NSF) grants, such as the following programs:

• Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU)
• Conference and workshop grants
• Travel grants
• Research grants with an education, training, conference, or outreach component.

While NSF has historically allowed PSC, NIH only allows costs when they are explicitly identified in the Funding Opportunity Announcement. Other Federal and Non-Federal sponsors may allow PSC, as well. The funding opportunity or terms and conditions should be reviewed in consultation with the Office of College Grants & Sponsored Program to determine the allowability of PSC.

Participant Support Costs are direct costs for items such as stipends, supplies, travel expenses, and/or registration fees paid to or on behalf of a participant in connection with a meeting, workshop, conference, symposium or training project conducted under an award. Amounts must be reasonable and based on type and duration of the activity.

PSC may include the following expenses:

• Stipends
• Travel costs when the sole purpose of the trip is to participate in the project activity
• Meals and incidentals when on travel status
• Lodging
• Training materials
• Event registration fees
• Event support costs for lodging and food expenses paid directly to the event facility, only if the payment is made on behalf of, or reimbursed directly to, the participant
  

Examples of costs that are typically unallowable as Participant Support Costs are:

• Senior/key personnel, Union College staff, or collaborator expenses for attending a conference or workshop
• Honoraria or speaker fees
• Event support costs (e.g., facility and A/V rentals)
• Memorabilia, gifts, and entertainment for non-participants
  • Costs for incentives, gifts, souvenirs, t-shirts, and memorabilia for participants must be justified in the budget justification and such costs will be closely scrutinized.
• Trainer/facilitator fees
• Meal costs for non-participants
• Travel for PI, staff, or
• Travel unrelated to the project or any multi-purpose travel
• Human subject payments or incentives
• Subawards to a provider of multiple training events
• Administrative meeting expenses

NSF allows for a subsistence allowance to be paid to or on behalf of participants for meals as Participant Support. If a meal is provided to a participant at the conference or training, a participant is not eligible to receive additional reimbursement for that meal. For example, if a participant is eligible to request up to $60/day in reimbursement for meal costs incurred and the cost for lunch is $20/person, then the participant’s reimbursement for the day is reduced by $20.

The Uniform Guidance (2 CFR 200.456) requires prior approval by the Federal Sponsor to incur Participant Support Costs under federally sponsored awards. PSC must be incurred within the period of performance of the project and be specifically allowed by the Federal Sponsor. Most federal sponsors restrict rebudgeting of PSC.

NSF: Participant Support Costs are restricted and require approval of the cognizant NSF program officer to reallocate funds from the PSC budget category to another budget category. Rebudgeting costs into the PSC category does not require NSF approval unless funds are being transferred into the “Other” category of PSC.

Non-NSF Sponsors: Generally, recipients may not rebudget funds from Participant Support Costs to other categories without prior written approval of the sponsor. However, this is not the case for all sponsors. For guidance on rebudgeting PSC, information can be found in an award document or in the applicable terms and conditions or agency specific regulations.

Documentation must be retained when managing Participant Support Costs and may vary based on scope of work or revisions to the award.

Programmatic documentation may include:

• Sign-in sheets for participant attendance
• Documentation on supplies that are ordered or distributed to participants and how they support the participant in the project activity
  • List of participants the materials are for
• Support for allocating costs as “other” or “fees”

Programmatic documentation should be retained by the PI.

(Last Updated: 02/19/2025)