Annual Operating Budget Report

The objective of the UB Annual Operating Budget Report is to provide the University at Buffalo (UB) community with a comprehensive summary of the university’s financial plans for the current fiscal year.

For 2025-26, UB continues to hold a strong financial position. We have significant cash reserves due to forward-looking financial stewardship, long-range planning, and the strength of UB’s enrollment. Additionally, after more than a decade of declining or flat tax support, New York State has for the second year in a row committed additional funding to campuses across the SUNY system including to UB. 

Building on the existing strong foundation of academic excellence, knowledge and understanding, UB’s vision is to rank in the nation's top 25 public research universities, thereby expanding the scope of our reach and strengthening our world-wide impact. We will achieve this by accomplishing the following strategic goals:

• Achieve greater societal impact locally and globally by enhancing faculty productivity, research funding and recognition; encouraging innovation and interdisciplinary collaboration; and enhancing research environments and faculty support structures.
• Provide our students with transformative, innovative, and research-grounded educational experiences while elevating students’ academic profile, improving retention and graduation rates, enhancing academic and career support structures, enhancing educational environments, and expanding UB’s leadership in international education.
• Promote a university-wide culture of equity and inclusion by integrating inclusive excellence into all aspects of our university, further enhancing faculty and student diversity, and implementing best practices in recruitment and retention.
• Deepen our engagement in the regional community by continuing to build partnerships in the local community, improving regional health care outcomes, and making Buffalo a destination for health sciences research, education and care.

On October 16, 2020, President Tripathi outlined the university’s commitment to becoming one of the top 25 public research universities in the U.S. in the next decade.

Building on UB’s strong foundation of academic excellence, knowledge and understanding, the University at Buffalo will advance into the nation's top 25 public research universities, thereby expanding the scope of our reach and strengthening UB's world-wide impact.

Through the Annual Resource Planning Process (ARPP), we set out to align the following characteristics of a top 25 public research university with our strategic goals:

• Academic programs recognized among the best in the nation. 
• Faculty that compete at the highest levels for research funds and fellowships and are recognized for their excellence.
• A faculty, staff and student body that is increasingly diverse.
• Strong academic and student support at the undergraduate and graduate levels.
• A campus environment that is welcoming, inclusive and meets the needs of a modern campus. 
• The cultivation and promotion of faculty impact, institutional success, and alumni/friend engagement. 
• Resources marshalled through philanthropy, research funding, enrollment, and state aid. 

Learn about UB’s top 25 goals

On January 5, 2022, Governor Kathy Hochul announced the formal designation of the University at Buffalo and Stony Brook University as New York State’s flagship universities. The official recognition of these premier centers of higher education as joint flagships of the State University of New York (SUNY) system reflects the preeminent role that the University at Buffalo (UB) and Stony Brook University (SBU) play statewide, nationally and internationally as models of research and academic excellence. This designation acknowledges the excellence and reputation of our universities, and it will further enhance our ability to continue to recruit the world’s most accomplished faculty and attract outstanding students — regardless of their income or socioeconomic background — and attract even more highly competitive federal research funding.

Across the country, flagship universities are those that provide vital leadership in advancing their home state’s public higher education mission. These universities, most of which, like UB and SBU, are invited members of the Association of American Universities (AAU), are the preeminent centers for research and graduate education in their respective states. They also provide a comprehensive array of professional schools and degree programs and are proven economic catalysts. Flagships attract the world’s best and brightest faculty and students and are nationally and internationally recognized for the quality and impact of their research and academic innovation and rigor.

UB’s see this formal designation as further advancing our Top 25 goal.

All-funds 2025-26 budget

Projected at $1.001 billion.

Tuition revenue

Projected at $373 million or 37% of the overall budget. Tuition revenue represents the largest portion of the university’s operating budget.

Direct state tax support

Projected at more than $208 million or 21% of the overall budget. Direct state tax support represents the second largest portion of the university’s operating budget and includes a $16.8 million increase over the prior year.

Fee revenue

Projected at $117 million or 12% of the overall budget. Fee revenue includes the Comprehensive Fee, Academic Excellence Fee, Course Fees, and other student fees.

Auxiliary revenues

Projected at $96 million or 10% of the overall budget. Auxiliary revenues come primarily from student housing. It also includes athletics, parking, and other rent revenues. This money is collected and spent within collecting units and cannot be used for other purposes.

Highlights from New York State’s 2025-26 budget:

$114 million in ongoing support for SUNY campuses and statutory colleges

→ UB will receive $16.8 million annually from this new allocation.

Continued Support from Previous Budgets:

$277 million in ongoing funding from the past two years

 → UB receives $42.5 million annually from these funds.

TAP Gap elimination (since 2022-23)

→ Saves UB over $10 million each year by covering the full cost of Tuition Assistance Program awards.

Excelsior Scholarship tuition reset (since 2022-23)

→ Aligns scholarship rates with current in-state tuition, saving UB over $1 million annually.

$53 million for hiring new full-time faculty across SUNY

→ UB’s share is $12.1 million, with full funding achieved in 2023-24 after meeting hiring goals.

Why This Matters

These historic investments by NYS into higher education the past few years are welcome as UB remains committed to keeping education affordable and accessible.  As the university grows with enrollment now exceeding 30,000 students, so do the costs of supporting students with high-quality resources, faculty, and facilities.

UB continues to take strategic steps to manage rising expenses, but the need for ongoing state support and rationale tuition and fee structures remains critical. These efforts ensure UB can maintain excellence and stay competitive with peer institutions nationwide.

Over time, UB has become more reliant on tuition revenue as the primary source of funding. As new state funds are committed to UB and enrollments remain relatively flat with increases primarily to non-resident tuition rates, we anticipate that the ratio of state funds to tuition revenue will increase.

Note: the decrease in 2020-21 revenues is pandemic related, specifically, the state reduced funding by 5% and tuition revenue decreased significantly due to the decline in international enrollment.

In addition to providing direct state tax support, New York State also covers debt service and fringe benefit cost for UB. The chart below (in millions) shows annual state support trends and sources to UB.

While UB remains strong financially, the university continues to face several challenges. Among them uncertainty with the current federal research landscape and the impact of how other federal budget cuts impact New York States budget and potential downstream impact to UB. Additional challenges include decreased international enrollments, unfunded mandates, critical maintenance needs, limited availability of resources, and the evolving role public universities are asked to play in the community and in the lives of its students and faculty who make our work possible.

Unfunded negotiated salary increases continue to be the university’s most pressing long-term financial concern. A long-term strategy will need to be reached to address this issue.

• The United University Professions (UUP) current contract ends this fiscal year and UB waits for the state to negotiate the next contract.
• While UB was encouraged by the state funding provided over the past three years that helped offset the cost of the negotiated salary increases in those years, a long-term strategy of how future salary increases will be funded still needs to be implemented.

For every 3% annual salary increase for employees is about a $15 million increase in cost to UB annually

State budget approval allowing the SUNY board to consider applying differential non-resident tuition rates was a critical first step toward aligning UB’s rates with those of our peers.  UB’s tuition and fee rates remain low compared to peer public research institutions. While this means great value for UB students and families, it can make it challenging for the university to fulfill its mission.

The chart below shows UB has maintained strong enrollment. As enrollment grows, this puts pressure on UB’s overtaxed infrastructure and increases costs for academic support services such as student academic advising, university libraries and student services.

*Through our Integrated Resource Planning process, UB makes a concerted effort to use data to identify trends and forecast enrollment. Our current forecast for 2025 is:

• Undergraduate enrollment is over 20,000; primarily driven by a record incoming class of approximately 5,000 students.
• Graduate/Professional enrollment at the same time is decreasing to approximately 10,000 students. This is driven by international enrollment decreasing due to delays in processing visas and a softening technology job market.

The graph below (normalized at current year rates for all years to remove the impact of tuition rate increases) illustrates the average tuition revenue per student.

The fall 2021 – 2024 revenue demonstrates the impact of a rebound in graduate enrollment (primarily international students who were most impacted by COVID). We saw tuition per student recover post pandemic as graduate programs grew in relation to undergraduate enrollment, but now for fall 2025 we anticipate tuition revenue per student to decrease as international graduate student enrollment decreases, and resident undergraduate student enrollment increases.

* Tuition revenue is expressed in 2025/2026 dollars.

We were pleased with the capital allotment in this past year’s budget; however, the amount of capital funding does not meet the needs of our aging campus.

UB’s deferred maintenance needs have grown exponentially and have risen above $660 million. Recent investments have led to a sizeable increase in faculty, the need for additional office and research space is also stressing our infrastructure. Continued enrollment growth will be highly dependent upon our ability to expand our physical capacity to accommodate additional students and faculty.

While deferred maintenance needs grow, recent one-time investments have helped as UB will be investing over $1.64 billion in our built environment over the next decade, embarking on one of the most significant periods of campus growth and modernization in UB’s history. 

Learn more about UB’s capital projects

Expectations surrounding UB’s ability to address capital issues in a comprehensive manner also remain an area of concern. 

Though the university is pursuing efficiency measures to defray these costs, without consistent and adequate funding that is in alignment with our deferred maintenance needs; academic quality, faculty recruitment and retention, and the student experience will be negatively impacted.

While the university continues to support efforts to diversify and grow our student body while also providing a safe and inclusive campus, these efforts come at a cost. 

We consider these costs to be a sound investment in our future and the future of our students, however, resources allocated to these initiatives require shifting resources away from other areas of investment.

We continue to grow our research enterprise and support scholarly excellence, and like most universities, UB bears a greater share of the associated costs. However, we consider these costs to be an investment in the university’s future, and we continue to invest our resources in support of research. Last year saw an all-time high for research expenditures for the sixth straight year; however, budget cuts to federal agencies that are some of the largest supporters of funding for research will make it challenging to continue this trend in the short-term. UB will continue to monitor the impact over the course of the year.

Related to our investments in research, the graph below represents UB’s research expenditures in millions.

To address and prepare for fiscal challenges, we evaluate operations to identify efficiencies, maximize our current resources, review and adjust our financial projections, and advocate for addition support from the State. Our Annual Resource Planning Process (ARPP) continuously evolves to ensure resources are allocated in a manner that most aligns with university priorities.

Below is an overview of some of the steps we have taken to maintain our fiscal strength and prepare for inevitable change, challenge, and opportunity.

• In 2021-22, we revised the academic-year budget model. With SUNY revising their Pooled Off-Set overhead charge policy, it allows us to streamline the summer and winter models in 2025/26.  These model updates provide additional funding to academic units that grow their revenue. Conversely, for units with declining revenue, we are able to quickly adjust revenue to those units and chart a path for future success. The models are outlined later in this document.
• We have implemented UPlan, a new budgeting, planning and forecasting system that will improve accuracy and efficiency and will support scenario planning. In 2024 UPlan integrated budget development for workforce, commitment management, revenue and non-personal operating budgets all in one platform. Budgets were initially set with drivers for university budget models and other global drivers allowing all units to begin their planning with a pre-seeded preliminary budget.
• Our data analytics function provides both central administration and units with department and program-level data. This data is integrated with UPlan and is used to forecast enrollment, tuition, and for resource planning.
• We implemented multi-year utilities planning to achieve energy savings.
• We developed a multi-phased approach to achieve our Capital Master Plan aspirations. 

UB has embraced a number of technological and business process solutions to reduce costs and better manage our resources, as part of our university-wide Operational Excellence initiative. 

Learn more about UB’s Operational Excellence initiative

The university continues to advocate for state support and tuition and fee rates that, together, keep UB’s resources on par with peer institutions.

Capital funding will remain a priority during this year’s budget. Capital funding advocacy must include funds for critical maintenance and strategic priority projects including major building renovations and new buildings.

UB is experiencing an increase in demand for STEM programs. STEM programs require modern laboratories and facilities. Both classroom and laboratories spaces have high utilization rates, and more of these types of spaces is needed. 

The Annual Resource Planning Process (ARPP) provides a framework for the university to review our financial capacity, align our current resources to support our priorities, and assess potential areas for new investment.

During our Annual Resource Planning Process, we make collaborative and thoughtful decisions about the degree to which a program helps us achieve our strategic goals. We consider how it serves our students’ changing needs. How it supports our neighboring communities. How it supports our faculty’s groundbreaking research. And how far it can get us toward our next goal: being recognized among the top 25 public research universities in the U.S.

Each funding request herein is critically reviewed and, combined with our ongoing programs to find efficiencies and other cost-savings, will allow UB to continue to make valuable contributions locally, nationally, and globally.

UB utilizes the ARPP to plan for its financial needs.  Guided by five principles, our planning process takes a holistic approach to identifying university needs and allocating available funds to support both individual unit needs and the strategic priorities of the university a whole.

1. Strategic — The plan aligns incentives with our mission and strategic behaviors.
2. Predictable — The plan builds models that provide a reliable foundation for planning.
3. Flexibility — The plan builds models that anticipate and are responsive to changes in the economic environment as well as incorporating appropriate risk management strategies.
4. Integration — The plan considers the university as a whole and make intentional connections between organizational needs and priorities.
5. Stewardship — The plan exercises prudence in managing university resources, diversifies revenue streams to promote resilience, maintains appropriate reserves and rewards efficiency and effectiveness.

Tightly woven into our ARPP are UB’s four strategic goals that will help us achieve our vision of advancing into the nation's top 25 public research universities.

During the ARPP, UB’s Provost and Office of the Vice President for Finance and Administration (VPFA) collaborate with units to plan for future years. The process encompasses the review of many different factors including enrollment, tuition revenue, staffing, research expenditures and proposals, endowments, unit spending plans, capital/space, risks and contingencies, and investment proposals. The budget planning process looks at funding priorities through these lenses:

• Comprehensive asset/liability management
• Integrated, single-institutional point of view
• Long-term in nature
• Analyze returns on investments
• Proactive
• Dynamic and scenario-based
• Transparency

Also, during the ARPP, the VPFA’s Resource Planning team collaborates with UB’s Student Life Educational Affairs units to set student fees for specific services and ensure that the university is accommodating their needs. The outcomes of the ARPP are submitted to SUNY for approval before implementation.

The ARPP consists of three phases:

Phase 1 (September – Mid-January): Three-Year Plan information collection

• Key Outcome: Communicate guidance to VP/Deans and unit business officers based on the university’s financial position to assist units in providing their input and needs through the Three-Year Plan workbook.

Phase 2 (Mid-January-March): Analysis, Discussion & Decision-Making

• Key Outcome: VP/Deans present the unit’s position to senior leadership to gain a shared understanding of needs and to inform resource planning decisions.

Phase 3 (April-August): Closure of Annual Resource Planning Process

• Key Outcome: Communicate unit expectations and outcomes to VP/Deans to finalize Three-Year Plans and implement resource planning decisions.

The Division of Finance and Administration loads new fiscal year budgets into the financial system for July 1 implementation.

UB’s financial health is a result of thoughtful planning and committed financial stewardship. It is this foundation that allows us to maintain a long-term strategic plan and to manage through periods of volatility. For 2025/26, some important factors influenced our beginning fund balances:

• Our five-year rolling financial planning process anticipates and considers major economic opportunities and challenges.
• Our multi-year planning effort for addressing unfunded negotiated salary increases means that decanal and divisional units have plans to absorb these costs in the short term.
• We continue to maintain contingency reserves which helps create confidence that we can maintain our strategic focus and meet our long-term goals.

The graph below represents projected centrally managed Internal Financial Plan (IFP) balances in millions over the next five years. Beginning IFP balances are strategic reserves set aside to fund investments committed through the ARPP.

The graph excludes the university’s $40 million emergency reserve intended to manage unforeseen events and can only be used if the President, Provost, and Vice President for Finance and Administration agree it is necessary. The graph also excludes $70M the university has established to support ongoing and future capital projects.

The overall decline reflects commitments made during the 2025/26 ARPP as well as ongoing investments from prior ARPP cycles. In addition to investments made this scenario also makes the following major scenario planning assumptions:

• International Enrollment settles at Fall 2019 levels beyond 2026/27
• Indirect revenue drops by 50%
• Other major revenue sources remain relatively flat

This scenario helps to illustrate the potential headwinds UB may face as it relates to some major sources of revenue in the short-term but is just one of many planning scenarios utilized to help inform decisions to best align with strategic priorities and financial capacity throughout the ARPP cycle.

For the 2025-26 ARPP, commitments were made to invest $103 million over three years. This includes over $20.5M in recurring dollars to support base budgets across all units as well as $41.5M in non-recurring funds to support university wide initiatives. The graph below shows the breakout by funding priority.

The following is a list of all investments made during the 2025-26 ARPP by priority.

In addition to the direct investment outlined above the following budget policy changes will provide additional financial support to units:

• Policy changes related to the summer session will generate an estimated $4M of additional summer tuition revenue directly to Academic Units in 2025/26.
• The reduction of the IFR overhead charge on salaries to 40% is estimated to generate $6M in savings across all units is 2025/26 when compared to 2023/24

The direct benefit from each policy change will be dependent on actual activity in 2025-26.

A unit’s base budget comprises the following:

• a combination of historical agreements between current and former Provosts and Deans.
• tuition revenue to support base enrollment.
• shares from tuition increases.
• investments to support unit and university special initiatives.

For July 1 budget implementation, the base budget is delivered to the unit in recurring state operating funds at the beginning of the fiscal year.

Headcount targets for the next fiscal year are discussed in the fall through meetings with academic units led by the Vice Provost for Enrollment Management (EM), in collaboration with the Assistant Vice President for Resource Planning (RP) and the Associate Vice President and Director of Institutional Research (IR). 

Increased headcount can have a widespread effect on the university by increasing demand for campus housing, dining, classroom space, required classes, and more. Units are therefore required to work closely with the provost to implement plans for enrollment growth.

If an academic unit receives additional funding to support enrollment growth, funds are delivered in non-recurring state operating dollars the following year by August 15.

• Overall enrollment growth mix; university tuition revenue
• Impact on campus housing, dining, classroom space, College of Arts and Sciences classes, and UB Curriculum offerings
• Status of the university multi-year financial plan; overall financial health of the university

The current budget model aligns unit targets with recent enrollment trends, distributes revenue to growing units, and calculates targets for all units in a consistent manner.

• Targets are reset annually based on a weighted three-year rolling average versus target in prior model based on a static single year.
  • 50% weight for the most recent year
  • 30% weight for the next year
  • 20% weight for the third year
• Targets differentiate graduate/professional tuition revenue from undergraduate tuition revenue. This is to offset the impact of Excelsior and international student enrollment for undergraduates not controlled by the various schools. 
  • Grad/Professional (G/P) – uses gross tuition revenue as a metric to calculate G/P targets.
  • Undergraduate (UG) – uses university-wide UG credit hour average values and UG credit hours to calculate UG targets.
• Tuition revenue shares are standardized at 70% for growth above target.
  • If a unit exceeds its tuition revenue target in a given year, the unit will receive their share the following year in non-recurring state operating funds. Units that do not meet their target in a given year continue to be subject to the Tuition Revenue Shortfall Assessment (TRSA) outlined below.

In order to continue to receive the same base budget each year, each unit need to meet its tuition revenue target. Base budgets will be adjusted at the beginning of the fiscal year in alignment with updated tuition revenue target. The change to base budget will be 70% of the change to the tuition revenue target.

The primary metric that determines the academic base budget is the tuition revenue target; however, total headcount (new and continuing) and total credit hours are important inputs that affect the tuition revenue outcome and therefore need to be managed. For example, a decrease in out-of-state headcount may lead to a decrease in tuition revenue.

If a unit does not meet its tuition revenue target in a given year, the unit will return money to the university the following year in non-recurring state operating funds. The amount returned to the university is determined by the extent the unit fell short of its tuition revenue target.

In a year in which there is a tuition rate increase, the additional revenue not directly shared with academic units is distributed through the ARPP. The university focuses distribution of these funds to academic units meeting established metrics or other criteria or in response to requests made through an investment proposal. Through the ARPP, these funds can also support special initiatives and academic infrastructure. Academic support units do not receive tuition revenue share, although these units continue to have an opportunity to discuss budget needs as part of the ARPP.

The summer budget model has been revised and simplified beginning in 2025-26. Units no longer have a target and receive 60% of the tuition revenue they generate and 40% remains centrally for investment. Additionally SUNY no longer places an overhead assessment on summer tuition revenue.

The costs of offering summer session courses are expected by SUNY to be funded from tuition revenues earned in those courses or from other institutional revenues. 

Units do not have winter tuition revenue targets. Effective winter 2022-23, the revenue share was updated to 70% to unit and 30% to central for investment.

The costs of offering winter session courses are expected by SUNY to be funded from tuition revenues earned in those courses or from other institutional revenues. New beginning in 2025-26 SUNY no longer assess an overhead assessment on winter tuition revenue.

GUSF of 13% remains in effect and is charged on external revenue deposited into Income Fund Reimbursable (IFR), University at Buffalo Foundation (UBF), Research Foundation (RF), or Faculty Student Association (Campus Dining and Shops) accounts as outlined in the Disclosure of All Funds Policy.

University Fees represent all non-service center fees on campus. There are three distinct categories based on the level of approval required.

1. SUNY Board of Trustee Approved Fees - University-wide fees paid by students as a condition of attendance. Examples include comprehensive fee, admission deposits, etc.
2. SUNY Chancellor Approved Fees - Mandatory student fees with set amounts assessed by all campuses due to a student's action or inaction, campus-specific fees for special services or campus-specific user fees. Examples include undergraduate application fees, music instrument rental, library fees and fines, etc.  
3. Campus Approved Fees - Customer fees for services.  Examples include non-credit-bearing course fees, residence hall charges, etc. 

Service centers provide services that support the internal operations of the university or can provide services to external users. Service center fees recover the cost of operations of the service center.

Broad-based fees are generally charged to all enrolled students to finance discrete activities that benefit the student body, excluding those activities that are part of the core instructional program. During the ARPP, units have the opportunity to share five-year fee requests as well as information on the planned utilization of funds between mandates and strategic investments. The information provided will be considered during the preparation of the university’s final request to SUNY for broad-based fee rate increases.

The current fee policies state that “Annual Broad-Based Fee increases should be no greater than the Higher Education Price Index (HEPI) unless there is a compelling case.” For 2025/2026, assume the maximum annual broad-based fee weighted average HEPI percentage to be 3.7%. 

Campus dining rates and campus housing rates are evaluated on an annual basis and may be subject to adjustments. Senior leadership works with the Vice President for Student Life to review these rates amongst a student’s total cost of attendance.

The university continues to advocate for New York State to fund state salary increases; however, there are currently no plans for state funding. Therefore, units are advised to assume salary increases will be unit-funded and factor these costs into their budgets. Units are advised to use Salary Increase Projections resources, provided to them as part of their resource planning process.

Fringe benefits are part of a regular employee's remuneration package that is not pay (expressed as a percentage) which may or may not be charged directly to an account. This includes payroll taxes, health insurance, retirement and other benefits. For State Operating accounts, these benefits are paid directly through the Office of the State Controller and are not charged to campus accounts. Learn more about Fringe Rates.

The Salary Recovery Fee is a flat fee, charged at a rate of 20% on Salary Recovery funds deposited into Income Fund Reimbursable (IFR) Accounts. These funds help to preserve research infrastructures, services, and faculty compensation. Salary recovery funds are considered core state support reimbursing the state for faculty member time spent conducting research. Learn more about the Salary Recovery Fee.

Each year, a percentage of indirect costs recovered from sponsored projects is distributed to university entities based upon the affiliation and relative contributions of key personnel to project objectives. At the discretion of the Provost, ICR distribution may occur to other (non-academic) university entities. The current ICR distribution rate is 12%. Delivery of the 12% ICR distribution for the prior year occurs in August.

Central university funding for Royalty and Patent Income is part of the University Internal Financial Plan and committed based on the recommendation and approval of the Provost, VPFA and President as part of the ARPP.

In the 2025-26 academic year, total uses exceed sources by $34.5 million across 10 academic support units. Unit carryforward balances are currently covering overages in 2025-26.

• Academic support units are necessary for the academic and research mission of the university. Some of the revenue is generated directly by these units and restricted to their use.

Campus Financial Plan includes funding made available for investment through the ARPP. Central University includes funding for centrally managed areas including but not limited to the Merit Scholarship, University Utilities, and centrally managed Instructional Facilities budgets. Overages in 2025/26 are a planned spend down of university strategic reserves.

Academic support units include the following areas:

The tables below note the common funding sources comprising campus unit budgets and the utilization of those funds. Each unit is required to align their costs to the appropriate sources. 

State Operating accounts are funded from state tax dollars and campus revenues from tuition and certain other sources. Units receive a state operating allocation as part of their base budget. Changes to unit state budget allocations are commonly the result of budget model implementation and strategic investments awarded through the annual resource planning process. 

IFR accounts are self-supporting accounts that track cash collections and matching expenditures associated with educational and related activities provided to students and other customers. An IFR account differs from a State Operating account in that it is supported by cash receipts. The source of the revenue determines whether the General University Service Fee will be assessed. The primary sources of revenue for IFR accounts include:

• Salary recovery (payment from Research Foundation grants for the salary and fringe benefits of individuals on the state payroll who work on sponsored programs)
• Fees, fines, deposits and rentals (course fees, parking, photocopying, rental of campus facilities, library fines, etc.)
• State grants and awards
• Continuing education programs. 

State University Tuition Reimbursable Accounts funding is generated from self-supporting overseas programs, contract courses, summer and winter session tuition.  Units receive summer session base budget and tuition revenue share via commitments solidified through the ARPP process. SUTRA accounts operate similar to Income Fund Reimbursable (IFR) accounts.

Dormitory Income Fund Reimbursable is a group of accounts that are self-supporting and used to administer residence hall room rental fees and charges. DIFR accounts operate similar to IFR accounts.

Research Foundation accounts record research, instruction, training and economic development activities conducted under the direction of university faculty and staff and funded by organizations both external and internal to the university. There are two distinct types of RF accounts: Sponsored accounts and Non-Sponsored accounts. 

Sponsored accounts are funded by sponsors external to the university and are used for programs of research, scholarly and creative activities, education and training, and public service.

Non-sponsored accounts are funded by indirect cost dollars.  The university receives Indirect Cost funds as reimbursement for overhead costs associated with sponsored research.  Indirect Costs, also known as Facilities and Administrative (F&A) costs or overhead costs, are real costs related to sponsored projects that are not easily attributable to individual projects. Examples include maintenance, security, heating, cooling, lighting, space, disposal of hazardous waste, secretarial support, the library, and cost of compliance with government regulations.

UB recovers the total direct costs and indirect (facilities and administrative (F&A)) costs for each sponsored award unless specifically prohibited or limited by the funding agency. Because indirect (F&A) costs cannot be readily assigned to a particular sponsored project or activity, they must be recovered from funding agencies through the application of the federally approved indirect (F&A) cost rates. When allowed by the sponsor, all proposals for external funding must include a budget request for indirect (F&A) costs using the appropriate federal rate.

Royalty Income*: Royalty income is realized from the commercialization of UB intellectual property.  When UB intellectual property is licensed and generates royalty for UB, that royalty is shared with those who made the innovation, in accordance with the Royalty Distribution Policy.  After paying the inventors’ share of royalty income, the remaining portion is shared across departments and schools of the inventors, as well as with the university.  The department, school and university share of Research Foundation non-sponsored funds must be used to support scientific research or education.

*All royalty income designated to a campus-allocated account MUST be utilized for the support of scientific research or education per the Bayh-Dole Act which governs intellectual property arising from federal government-funded research.  Since the majority (if not all) of UB intellectual property (IP) arises from federal-funded research, all IP is managed by Bayh-Dole Act.

Patent Income: Patent reimbursement funds support the UB Technology Transfer Office (TT), through the Vice President of Research and Economic Development (VPRED) in the Internal Financial Plan and are recouped by the university through patent reimbursements.

Funds managed by UBF support and promote UB activities and programs. UBF accounts are funded primarily from gifts, endowed funds, grants and fee revenues. Learn more about UB Foundation funding sources.