Graduate School: Shortfall Funding for Pre-Doctoral External Institutional Training Grants

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Policy Number:
UW-4007
Responsible Office:
Graduate School

University Policy

Rationale/​Purpose:

This policy establishes standards for supplemental funding to cover budget shortfalls for external training grants.

Definitions:
Fringe benefits
Benefits provided by an employer to an employee such as health and life insurance. Fringe benefits are included in sponsored project budgets using a fringe benefit rate calculated annually.
Office of the Registrar Document Fee
Mandatory one-time fee that covers the cost of official university documents (such as transcripts).
Segregated fees
Charges assessed to all students for student services, activities, programs, and facilities that support the mission of University of Wisconsin System institutions.
Shorfall
For purposes of this policy, the difference between the total costs of a fellowship or traineeship (e.g., stipend, tuition, and health benefits, etc.) and the amount covered by the award funds.
Trainee
A title used for a graduate student holding a traineeship.
Traineeship
A financial award to support a student in the pursuit of a particular course of study. Traineeships are ordinarily sponsored through an extramural training grant and are designated as traineeships under the terms of the grant. Taxes are not withheld from these stipends, and appointees may be required to pay estimated taxes on a quarterly basis. Except in rare cases, appointees are required to pay taxes on the amount of stipend that exceeds the cost of tuition, fees, books, supplies and equipment.
Training grant
Per the National Institutes of Health (NIH), an award that provides funding to support research training and career development for early career scientists and trainees.
Scope:

Pre-doctoral trainees in academic programs under the purview of the Graduate School and those who administer traineeships. 

Policy:

  1. Graduate School Funding

    1. The Graduate School will provide funding to cover the shortfall for tuition (resident and non-resident), the Office of the Registrar document fee, segregated fees, and fringe benefits not paid by the funding agency for the following training grant programs:
      1. National Institutes of Health (NIH)
        1. National Research Services Awards (T32, TL1)
        2. Continuing Education Training Grants (T15)
        3. Departments are required to cover $2,000 of fringe for each pre-doc from the Training Related Expenses category.
      2. National Science Foundation (NSF)
        1. Research Training Groups in the Mathematical Sciences (RTG)
        2. National Science Foundation Research Traineeship (NRT) programs will not receive shortfall funding from the Graduate School to cover tuition and required fees and fringe benefits as these budgeted costs can be requested from NSF in the proposal.
    2. Pre-doctoral graduate students supported on training grants must be appointed as Trainees (Job Code: SA013) in the human resource system.
    3. It is the responsibility of the administrative home of the grant to ensure budget estimates for tuition costs accurately reflect the graduate student’s academic status (dissertator vs non-dissertator) at the time of the proposal submission and thereafter. Because NIH trainees do not qualify for tuition remission through the standard tuition remission process, both the resident and nonresident tuition must be included in the budget proposal to NIH. Supplemental funding cannot be used to cover budget deficits resulting from incorrect tuition estimates.

  2. Other Funding

    1. Shortfalls not covered by the Graduate School under this policy are the responsibility of the graduate program or administrative home of the traineeship.
    2. The Graduate School Office of Engagement & Funding must be contacted during the proposal generate process to discuss supplementation requests for other external training grants not listed in this policy.
Related UW-Madison Policies:
Related UW–Madison Documents, Web Pages, or Other Resources:

Policy Administration

Approval Authority:
Dean of the Graduate School
Policy Manager:
Dean of the Graduate School
Contact:
Assistant Dean, Access, Engagement & Funding -- Abbey Thompson, abbey.thompson@wisc.edu, (608) 263-5517
Effective Date:
06-16-2009
Revised Dates:

06-01-2021, 08-05-2021, 12-09-2024

Retrieved:
05-21-2025 07:59:29