FY23 University Center NOFO Frequently Asked Questions

Table of Contents

Program Questions

  1. Is our university eligible to apply for this funding opportunity?

    Section C.1 of the Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) details eligibility.  Please refer to that section and reach out to your EDA regional representative with any additional questions.

  2. Can EDA expand on equity, workforce development, and climate change resiliency as certain specific investment priorities?

    For more information regarding EDA’s investment priorities, please visit our website at https://www.eda.gov/funding/investment-priorities.

  3. What are the critical areas of concern for the Austin and Denver areas around the recovery and resilience priority?

    Applicants to the FY23 UC NOFO should focus on aligning their proposed scope of work with EDA’s Investment Priorities, particularly Equity and Recovery & Resilience.  More information about these Investment Priorities, including definitions, can be found at https://www.eda.gov/funding/investment-priorities. With these Investment Priorities in mind, successful applicants are able to clearly articulate their primary service area, the communities or regions to be served, and the communities’ or region’s needs and opportunities and then describe how the proposed University Center will assist the proposed service area in filling economic ecosystem gaps towards achieving regional economic development goals.

  4. Is the award range of $80 to 200K an annual award or is the award over a five-year period?

    It is an annual funding amount range.

  5. To clarify on the budget, if the Total Project Costs are equal each year (for both the Federal and Match sides), can our organization have differences in the other categories, provided they still total the same? (e.g., COLA increases in salary and decreases in supplies that total up the same each year)

    Yes, annual budget line item categories may vary from year to year for many reasons – one of which might be salary increases or decreases.  Applicants should, however, plan for a consistent total federal amount and matching amount from year to year.

  6. The bottom of page 17 of the NOFO states: “the Applicant Capacity and Project Management document should not exceed 1 page.” Then, on page 18, the NOFO states applicants should provide "an additional two-page summary description of all personnel..."  To clarify, is it a one or three-page document before the staffing plan?

    Please consider the "additional two-page summary" as an addition to the one-page requirement noted at the top of that section.

  7. Can EDA share examples of staffing models presented in previous UC proposals?

    Staffing models vary widely across current EDA University Centers.  Please reach out to your EDA regional representative if you have specific questions about structuring your staffing plan. 

  8. Can a tri-institute center (where three universities share a campus) apply?

    Yes, please see EDA’s eligible applicants on page 10 of the NOFO.

  9. Our application includes three partners. Should we list all three as equal partners within the application and if so, does this rule apply to the budget as well? Thus, rather than breaking out the partners in the contractual section, should be include them within the in-line areas (e.g., personnel, benefits, etc.)?

    There needs to be a lead applicant that combines all the budget numbers for the three institutions.  The other two institutions can be co-applicants or subawards depending on their role in the project.  Co-applicants will still need to give all budget numbers to the lead applicant.  The lead applicant will also receive all the EDA funds and will then disperse the funds to the other partners/applicants.

  10. Does each subrecipient need to have a UEI prior to proposal submission?

    At a minimum the following information must be provided to EDA before the Recipient makes a subaward so NOT at the time of proposal:

    • Name, entity type, and UEI/SAM.gov registration of Subrecipient. Identify the name and entity type (e.g., city, county, non‑profit organization) of the Subrecipient and provide the Subrecipient’s UEI number.
    • Amount of proposed subaward. Provide the amount of EDA funds to be provided to the Subrecipient.
    • Summary of the scope of work. Briefly describe the specific services/tasks to be performed under the subaward and relate them to the accomplishment of State Tourism Grant objectives. Subaward deliverables should be clearly defined.

  11. Is only one University Center allowed in each state?

    No, there is no limit or quota of UCs from each state. Rather, EDA makes awards based on their competitive nature.

  12. Are Letters of Support from partner or supporting organizations allowed, and if so, where should they go in the application?

    Yes, Letters of Support are allowed and can be attached as supplemental information.

  13. Please expand on what EDA means by the development of a high-skilled regional workforce?

    The Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy (CEDS) contributes to effective economic development in America’s communities and regions through a place-based, regionally driven economic development planning process. EDA provides guidance on a number of economic development principles and concepts, including workforce development, in the CEDS Content Guidelines.  Economic Development Districts (EDDs) are designated by EDA and are required to maintain a CEDS every 5 years. You can learn more about EDDs here and find your EDD on this resource here.

  14. How will EDA evaluate applications from UC's that are closely located to each other?

    EDA evaluates all applications against the evaluation criteria outlined in the NOFO and will make award decisions based on the process described in Section E.2 of the NOFO.

  15. Are winning proposals from previous competitions available for review?

    You may visit the following link to learn more about the current grantees.

  16. Are graphics, charts, and links allowed in addition to the text of narrative?

    Applicants must provide a Project Narrative of no more than ten (10) total pages. Materials beyond the tenth page will not be read or considered (this includes links to other sites). Please see pages 13-19 regarding additional guidance.

  17. When will our region be open to apply again?

    The FY2028 NOFO will be open to the Austin and Denver Regions.

  18. What is the deadline for submitting questions regarding the FY2023 NOFO?

    Applications are due at 11:59pm EST on July 10, 2023. We encourage applicants to submit questions in advance of this deadline.

  19. Page 13 of the NOFO indicates that project sustainability should be provided as additional documentation. There are no page limits or formatting context for this requirement. Should this be a separate document, and if so, what is the page limit – or should it be included in the project narrative?

    Project sustainability must be included as a separate document. Applicants should be reasonable with the length and the formatting should be consistent with the other formatting requirements throughout the NOFO.

  20. My application will include multiple references and citations. Can I include a references attachment as supplemental documentation or do references have to fit within the page limit space of the project narrative?

    References and citations can be supplemental material.

Indirect Costs and Matching Questions

  1. What are the matching requirements and indirect cost rates for the proposals?

    Refer to Section C.2 of the NOFO for Cost Sharing information and refer to Section D.2.b.ii.2 on page 21 of the NOFO for Indirect Cost Rate Agreement information.

  2. Can organizations use unrecovered indirect costs as part of the 50 percent match requirement?

    EDA is limiting the amount of unrecovered indirect costs that may be included as part of the matching share to 20 percent of the total project costs, less the amount charged to the Federal award. For example, if the total project costs are estimated to be $100,000 and the Federal award amount is $50,000 (50 percent grant rate), a maximum of $20,000 in F&A costs, allocated between the EDA share and the local share, may be included in the indirect cost line item of the proposed budget, and no more than $10,000 may be charged to the Federal award. Pursuant to 2 C.F.R. § 200.306(c), unrecovered indirect costs may be included as part of cost sharing or matching only with the prior approval of the Grants Officer. To calculate the amount of allowable unrecovered indirect costs under a University Center award, the following formula may be helpful: maximum unrecovered indirect costs = (total project costs x 20%) - indirect costs charged to the Federal award.

  3. Our proposed University Center will have subrecipients and they may request indirect costs at the de minimus rate. Would those indirect costs count toward the 20% limit of indirect costs chargeable to the Federal award, or does that apply only to the lead applicant's indirect costs?

    All Sub-recipient costs go under your Contractual line item.  Your subrecipient’s indirect cost rate applies to their own budget which is rolled up into your Contractual line item. The 20% cap in indirect costs applies to your Total Federal Funding which would include your Contractual line item.

  4. Our indirect cost rate is 35.4% of Modified Total Direct Costs (MTDC). One of our subawards will be in the amount of $50,000 each year, and the other will be $20,000 each year. Since we can request indirect costs on the first $25,000 of each subaward, this results in a substantially different indirect cost base in Year 1, in Year 2, and then Years 3-5 are equal for our budget. This gets a bit tricky when combined with the requirement to request the same amount each year. What would you recommend? 

    You can decide how you allocate your expenses across the budget line items from year to year based on your project needs.  The only amount that has to say the same is total amount each year, the line items can vary.

Application Questions

  1. When you register on EDGE, how long will it take before you are approved once submitted?

    If you are the first person from your organization to register, confirmation will occur within minutes. If you are not the first person or if you are invited, it may take up to 24 hours to receive EDGE credentials as it requires secondary EDA approval. Please get your entire application team registered as early as possible ahead of the July 10th application deadline.

  2. Can more than one person have access to EDGE? Our grants office has experienced issues accessing EDGE.

    Once one person has set up their organization’s account in EDGE, they can invite others to collaborate on the application.  Please review the Resources and Support tabs on sfgrants.eda.gov for assistance with EDGE and be sure to join the live Ask Me Anything session on June 27th at 1pm ET to learn more about the application process!

  3. If I self-register in EDGE, but am not the lead applicant, can you add and then change someone else to be the Lead Team member?

    The lead applicant is the person who selects "Apply Now". If you have already started an application and would like to update the lead applicant, you should be able to change it to another team member you have already added to your Project Team in the EDGE Portal. If you have questions about this, please submit a helpdesk inquiry.

  4. Is there a way to preview documents that were uploaded?

    Yes, all documents uploaded to the EDGE Portal by the applicant are available for viewing by the applicant along with their application team and by EDA team members using EDGE Internal as the Draft is In Progress. Upon login, from the Funding Request record, click the Application Documents tab and click the Download button. All of the documents associated with the application can be downloaded and viewed separately. Currently, there is no function to download all documents with one click.

  5. Is there a form that I can use as a guide so that I can have all my questions available from SF424A and ED900 ahead of time before we get onto the portal?

    Yes. You can download and view all forms on the NOFO listing on Grants.gov under the Resources tab.

  6. Does the new EDGE Portal allow us to enter all five years of our UC budget estimates into the SF-424A?

    Yes, the new EDGE Portal has an online version of the SF-424A that mirrors the SF-424A Form that allows you to enter all five years of your UC budget estimates. The first year (Quarters 1-4) is entered in Section D 13-15, followed by 4 “future years” in Section E 16-20.