Apr. 17—Academic associations that represent University of Maine System schools and several other public and private universities are challenging a recent Department of Energy directive that will limit the amount of grant money that can be used by colleges and universities for administrative purposes.
The department announced Friday that it would limit “indirect support” for department-funded education costs to 15%, an action that it said would save $405 million. The agency said it provides $2.5 billion annually to colleges and universities for research, some of which goes toward indirect costs for things like facilities and administration. This limit will be imposed on any future department grants to universities.
It’s unclear exactly how much this policy would impact Maine’s public universities, although the University of Maine does receive grant money through the agency. A spokesperson for the system said she could not provide exact numbers Thursday.
In a statement posted Friday on its “federal transition” update page, UMaine said it was “analyzing the impact of this announcement on its DOE-funded activity.” The university is part of the Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research, a Department of Energy program that helps states conduct “sustainable and nationally competitive energy-related research” and has received grants to conduct clean energy and energy storage research in the past.
“The purpose of Department of Energy funding to colleges and universities is to support scientific research — not foot the bill for administrative costs and facility upgrades,” Secretary of Energy Chris Wright said in a written statement. “With President Trump’s leadership, we are ensuring every dollar of taxpayer funding is being used efficiently to support research and innovation — saving millions for the American people.”
The university is being indirectly represented in a lawsuit that seeks to at least temporarily stop the policy. The lawsuit was filed in federal court in Massachusetts Monday by a group of public and private colleges and universities.
The plaintiffs include Cornell, Princeton, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the University of Illinois, the University of Michigan, the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities, of which UMaine is a member, and two other university associations under which all UMS schools are represented.
In the complaint, the plaintiffs call this action a “carbon copy” of a National Institutes of Health policy that was quickly met with a lawsuit from 22 states. A federal judge temporary halted that directive in February.
“If DOE’s policy is allowed to stand, it will devastate scientific research at America’s universities and badly undermine our Nation’s enviable status as a global leader in scientific research and innovation,” it said.
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