NIH Graduate Student Compensation
The maximum amount the NIH will award for the support of a graduate student on a research grant or cooperative agreement is tied to the National Research Service Award (NRSA) zero-level stipend for postdoctoral fellows in effect at the time the grant award is issued on the Federal award date. (Reference NIH Grants Policy Statement 2.3.7.9 Graduate Student Compensation).
Pre award Management
For all new and competing grant and cooperative agreement awards, the NIH will provide reasonable amounts for graduate compensation, consistent with the requested budget for the position(s) and up to the currently effective NRSA zero postdoctoral stipend level. NIH staff will review the compensation requested for graduate students on competing and cooperative agreement applications for which a detailed budget is submitted.
The ORA Budget Template provides assistance in managing this policy for proposal budgets. Selecting Yes for the "Student Compensation Cap" will automatically limit graduate student support (salary, fringe, and tuition) in the budget to the NRSA zero postdoctoral stipend level.
Note, the NIH student total compensation limit assumes a graduate student is a full-time graduate student RA which is defined as an RA appointed to a 50% RAship for four (4) quarters in a year. If a student will be appointed at a percentage lower than 50% and/or for fewer than 4 quarters in a year, their total compensation amount should be prorated accordingly. That is to say, an RA appointed to 2 quarters of 50% RAships in a year would be equivalent to a 50% postdoc, and thus subject to a limit of 50% of the NIH zero postdoctoral stipend level.
Post award Management
After an award is made, under normally allowed NIH rebudgeting, the NIH allows Principal Investigators (PIs) to rebudget project funds in order to charge more than the zero-level amount for the actual cost of a graduate student. The NIH allows its project funds to be used to compensate a graduate student up to the "amount paid to a first-year postdoctoral scientist at the same institution performing comparable work."
Compensation for both graduate students and postdocs is defined to include salaries or wages, fringe benefits and tuition remission. Particularly for graduate students who have not reached TGR status, the combination of wages, benefits and tuition may move the Research Assistant's (RA's) compensation above the level that the NIH defines as allowable, i.e., above the cost for a first-year postdoc doing comparable work. In no case may a graduate student working as an RA on an NIH project receive more in total compensation (i.e., salaries, fringe benefits, and tuition remission) from that project's funds than what an entry-level postdoc in the same lab or group would receive in total compensation. Also, as noted above, the total compensation limit assumes the graduate student is a full-time graduate student RA which is defined as an RA appointed to a 50% RAship for four (4) quarters in a year. If a student will be/is appointed at a percentage lower than 50% and/or for fewer than 4 quarters in a year, their total compensation amount should be prorated accordingly. That is to say, an RA appointed to 2 quarters of 50% RAships in a year would be equivalent to a 50% postdoc, and thus subject to a limit of 50% of the NIH zero postdoctoral stipend level.
EXAMPLE (using 2025-2026 Stanford compensation levels)
- Fiscal Year 2025 NIH Zero postdoctoral stipend level - $62,232 per year (Reference NOT-OD-25-105)
- Maximum amount NIH will award a grad student's support - $62,232 per year (stipend level set annually by the NIH for a "zero-year" NRSA Postdoctoral Fellow).
- FY 26 Minimum total compensation for a first-year postdoc at Stanford - $97,812 per year ($76,383 per year, plus 27.4% fringe benefits @ FY26 rate, plus $125 per quarter registration fees).
Thus, while the NIH will only award a maximum of $62,232 per year for a full-time graduate student RA, they will allow the post award rebudgeting of their project funds so that a higher level may be charged for graduate student support. Using FY26 rates, the NIH will allow a Stanford PI to charge up to the $97,812 amount per year (including salary, benefits and tuition) for a full-time graduate student RA working on an NIH project. However, in labs or groups where the minimum for a first-year postdoc is ABOVE the University minimum, that higher amount (including benefits and registration fee) becomes the compensation limit for a graduate student working as an RA on an NIH project in that department.
The combination of a graduate student RA's salary, benefits, and the chargeable portion of tuition allowance is defined as "grad student compensation." Where this amount exceeds the minimum compensation (salary, benefits and registration fees) for a first-year postdoc in the same lab or group, the overage may NOT be charged to the NIH and rather must be borne by the PI's or department's unrestricted non-sponsored funds.
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