Budgeted (standard) fringe benefit rates
Fringe Benefit Allocation: Fringe benefits are the university’s contributions to the benefit program for faculty, staff, and student staff. Visit the Human Resources Benefits Web page for a description of Puget Sound benefits, including eligibility.
Puget Sound pools all benefit costs and uses standard fringe benefit rates to allocate the costs to applicable cost centers (departments, designated and restricted carryover funds, grants, self-supporting programs, etc.). Fringe benefit rates are a percentage of applicable payroll costs (salaries, wages, awards, overtime, etc.) and they are applied to payroll throughout the fiscal year based on budgeted benefit costs. For standard fringe benefit rates, an adjustment is made at fiscal year end to reflect actual pooled benefits costs incurred. The year-end adjustment may be either up or down, depending on actual expense. The budgeted rates are subject to change each year as the budget changes.
| Payroll/Fringe Benefit Category | Budget/Fiscal Year | |
| 2023–24 | 2024–25 | |
| Faculty pay at full benefit rate | 32.60% | 32.44% |
| Faculty pay without full benefits (adjunct) | 9.00% | 9.00% |
| Regular and temporary staff pay at full benefit rate | 36.65% | 34.34% |
| Temporary staff without full benefits | 9.00% | 9.00% |
| Student staff | 3.05% | 3.05% |
Note: Special rates are used for federal grants based on mandated federal methodology. See explanations and rates below.
Approved federal grant fringe benefit rates
Fringe Benefits Allocation to Federal Grants: Benefit rates used for federal grants are established via federal methodology and differ from Puget Sound’s standard fringe benefit rates primarily because the federal government does not permit certain benefits to be charged to federal grants. Puget Sound’s federal fringe benefit rates are: calculated annually, codified in a written agreement with the federal government, and are effective each July 1.
| Payroll/Fringe Benefit Category | Fiscal Year | |
| 2023–24 | 2024–25 | |
| Faculty pay at full benefit rate | 25.9% | 33.2% |
| Faculty pay without full benefits | 8.5% | 8.6% |
| Regular and temporary staff pay at full benefit rate | 31.3% | 29.2% |
| Temporary staff without full benefits | 13.2% | 7.4% |
| Student staff | 6.5% | 1.1% |