If you are approved for access to BEA data at an FSRDC, you will be charged a flat fee for each year of FSRDC access. The purpose of this fee is to help offset BEA's costs of participating in the FSRDC program. Because the fee will be assessed by project, it can be shared by the team members on projects involving more than one researcher.
The fee for projects that are approved in fiscal year 2024 (i.e. before September 30, 2024) is $7,529. The fees are assessed annually per project—not per researcher—with modest changes each fiscal year. Here is the expected fee structure for the next few years, which is subject to change:
| FY24 | FY25 | FY26 | FY27 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| First year of project | $7,529 | $7,546 | $7,644 | $7,744 |
| Subsequent years | $1,915 | $1,953 | $1,992 | $2,032 |
There is a different annual fee charged depending on whether the project is new to the FSRDC system, or if it is a continuing project. The fee is higher in the first year to cover various contracting costs and the background investigations required to obtain clearance.
The initial fee will be charged at the time a research project is approved—prior to a background check, which can take several months—but will cover a one-year period from the time that all access requirements are met. A smaller annual fee will be charged for the duration of the project.
Payment can be made by credit/debit card or bank transfer. Once a project is approved, BEA will send researchers a unique link to the Pay.gov website for payment processing.