Cooperative Agreement

How It Works

Cooperative agreements sit between contracts and grants on the federal assistance spectrum, authorized by the Federal Grant and Cooperative Agreement Act of 1977 (31 U.S.C. 6305). Like grants, they provide federal funding for a public purpose rather than purchasing something for the government's own use. Unlike grants, the government actively participates in the project, providing technical direction, sharing facilities or data, reviewing deliverables at decision gates, embedding federal scientists on project teams, or contributing staff time and specialized equipment. The statutory test codified in 31 U.S.C. 6305 is whether "substantial involvement" by a federal agency is expected during performance, a deliberately flexible standard that program officers apply case-by-case. Cooperative agreements are common in research partnerships where federal labs and universities co-develop technology, at the National Institutes of Health, National Science Foundation, Department of Energy national laboratories, the NOAA fisheries programs, and NASA. BARDA (the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority) used cooperative agreements extensively for Operation Warp Speed vaccine development in 2020, contracting with Pfizer, Moderna, Johnson & Johnson, and Novavax under hybrid vehicles that gave HHS scientists direct involvement in clinical trial design and manufacturing scale-up. Cooperative agreements are tracked on USASpending.gov under the same assistance award reporting requirements as grants, with the award type code "B" distinguishing them from grants (type "04"), direct payments, loans, and insurance. They use the Uniform Guidance (2 CFR 200) cost principles and audit requirements, including Single Audit thresholds and allowable-cost rules. Total cooperative agreement obligations typically run $30-50 billion per year, concentrated at HHS (NIH intramural partnerships), DOE (national laboratory collaborations), USDA (agricultural research), and Commerce (NOAA and NIST).

Related Terms

• Federal Grant, Government funding awarded to state/local governments, nonprofits, or institutions for a specific public purpose, unlike contracts, grants are not purchases of goods or services.
• Federal Contract, A legally binding agreement between the U.S. government and a private company to provide goods or services, from fighter jets to IT consulting.
• Obligation, A legally binding commitment by the government to spend money, the point at which funds are formally committed to a contract, grant, or other agreement.