Northeastern will pay back $600,000 to NSF

Northeastern University has agreed to repay $616,695 of grant money to the National Science Foundation after a federal audit found evidence of financial mismanagement on several of the institution’s research projects, The Boston Globe reported.

The NSF Office of the Inspector General audited $1.7 million of approximately $12.1 million in grant costs for research projects carried out between 2019 and 2023. In its report, the OIG found $936,125 in unallowable expenses, $104,092 of inadequately supported expenses and $8,865 of indirect cost rates not appropriately applied. 

The auditors also identified inappropriately allocated salary expenses, fringe benefit rates not appropriately applied, noncompliance with federal financial management requirements, noncompliance with institutional policies and noncompliance with subaward terms and conditions. 

Northeastern only agreed to reimburse $616,695 of the questioned costs and to the NSF’s recommendation to create a subrecipient support tool kit that provides guidance on how to calculate and allocate salary expenses in line with the grant awarded.

In a Jan. 6 letter responding to the audit, Alexandria Hui, executive director for research finance operations at the institution, said, “Northeastern University takes its obligation to steward and administer NSF awards seriously. While the University will work diligently to resolve these findings, we look to our collaborators to also review their policies and procedures and through their audits, find ways to strengthen their controls as well.”