The cost components embedded within the F&A rate result from shared services. F&A costs are divided into eight "cost pool" components. They are:
- General administration
- Collegiate & departmental administration
- Sponsored program administration
- Building use allowance or depreciation on buildings and campus improvements
- Equipment depreciation
- Interest
- Operations & maintenance (buildings and grounds)
- Libraries
General administration components included in the F&A rate are Office of the President, Finance and Operations, Occupational Health, Academic Administration, and University Relations. Finance and Operations is the largest general administration component and includes Purchasing, Human Resources, Travel, Accounts Payable and Purchasing, Accounting and Financial Reporting, Risk Management, Internal and External Audit (costs only), Campus Mail, Surplus Property, Printing Services, and the Office of Finance & Operations.
The collegiate and departmental administration component, it includes separate cost pools for each of the dean's offices, and a separate departmental administration cost pool for each academic department. The collegiate administration cost pools are derived from actual expenditures whereas departmental administration is calculated separately for each department using a prescribed federal formula process.