Undergraduate Tuition Benefits for Dependent Children of Faculty Members

Purpose

The Undergraduate Tuition Benefit Program provides tuition benefits to an eligible faculty member's dependent children enrolled in an undergraduate or trade school certificate program at Carnegie Mellon or other accredited institutions.

Eligibility

In order to be eligible for undergraduate tuition benefits, faculty members must satisfy the following eligibility requirements:

• Must be full-time, in the tenure track, and hold the academic rank of assistant professor or higher or full-time assistant research professor, associate research professor, research professor (as defined by the Policy on Research Faculty Appointments), or in the full-time teaching track (assistant teaching professor, associate teaching professor, teaching professor) or librarian/archivist, senior librarian/archivist, principle librarian/archivist, assistant university librarian, associate university librarian, university librarian.
• Those who report directly to the president, are an officer of the university or have the title of vice president, associate vice president, assistant vice president, vice provost, associate vice provost, assistant vice provost, or director of the Office of the Provost, are also covered by the faculty policy on Undergraduate Tuition Benefits for Dependent Children.

In order to be eligible for undergraduate tuition benefits, children of faculty members must satisfy the following eligibility requirements:

• Must meet IRS dependency exemption criteria; and
• Must be born to, legally adopted by, or a stepchild of the eligible faculty member, or the child of the employee’s domestic partner; and
• Must be enrolled in an undergraduate (bachelor or associate) degree program, trade school certification program, or community college before the age of 30.

Participation

Faculty members may participate provided they meet the eligibility requirements set forth above by the following dates:

• October 1 to be eligible for the Fall term
• February 1 to be eligible for the Winter/Spring term
• June 1 to be eligible for the Summer term

Eligibility may be continued under the following circumstances:

• For a faculty member who separates from employment, benefits continue to the end of the current term.
• For a faculty member who has a change in employment status (i.e., full-time to part-time status) which would make them ineligible for this benefit during a term, the benefit will cease at the end of the current term in which the employment status change occurs.
• For a faculty member on an approved university leave of absence, eligibility continues (subject to the applicable leave policy) as summarized below:
  • Disability Leave of Absence — Benefits paid while on Disability Leave.
  • Family and Medical Leave — Benefits paid while on Family and Medical Leave if working full-time when the Family and Medical Leave began.
  • Faculty Parental Leave — Benefits paid while on Faculty Parental Leave.
  • Faculty Professional Leaves and Faculty Public Service Leaves — Benefits paid if receiving Carnegie Mellon benefits.
  • Personal Leave of Absence — Benefits paid through current term only.
  • Faculty Family Leave — Benefits paid through current term only.
• For an eligible faculty member who retires at age 62 or later with at least 15 years of service or for an eligible faculty member who retires at age 65 or later with at least ten years of service, dependent children remain eligible during retirement.
• For an eligible faculty member who dies after ten or more years of service, dependent children remain eligible.

Benefit Amount

Tuition Benefits at Carnegie Mellon

A 100% tuition benefit is provided for dependent children enrolled in courses at Carnegie Mellon for a maximum of eight terms.

A 50% tuition benefit is provided for dependent children who enroll in the Pre-College Summer Session program. Summer Session courses do not count as a term toward the eight-term maximum for undergraduate students. All other pre-college non-credit programs are not covered.

There are no limits on the number of children eligible for tuition benefits at Carnegie Mellon.

Tuition Benefits at Other Institutions

The benefit level for full-time undergraduate study at other accredited institutions will be awarded for a maximum of eight terms for tuition only, up to the following amounts:

• For eligible faculty members employed and eligible before 1971, tuition benefits will be awarded for up to a maximum of 100% of the current undergraduate tuition at Carnegie Mellon for a full-time undergraduate course of study. There is no limit on the number of children eligible for this benefit.
• For eligible faculty members employed and eligible after 1970, tuition benefits will be awarded for up to a maximum of 60% of the current undergraduate tuition at Carnegie Mellon for a full-time undergraduate course of study. Benefits are limited to two children, even if one child did not exhaust their eight-term benefit maximum.

Note: Any tuition benefits received at Carnegie Mellon offset the benefits for which a dependent child is eligible at another institution and vice versa. For example, a child who received tuition benefits at Carnegie Mellon for three terms would be eligible for tuition benefits at another institution for only five terms, since there is an eight-term limit per child under both plans.

Benefit Coverage

• Credit-bearing courses only.
• Tuition only and are based on the actual tuition charged to the student.

Tuition benefits do not cover:

• Room and board, mandatory fees, lab fees, transportation costs or similar fees for credit-bearing courses.

Conditions and Limitations

The award of tuition benefits to an eligible faculty member whose child attends Carnegie Mellon is contingent upon acceptance, enrollment and attendance of the dependent child in a course(s)/degree program at Carnegie Mellon. An application for tuition benefits is not an application for admission to any course or program nor does it constitute approval for any student to continue in any course or program. Each of these requirements is separate from and is additional to an application for tuition benefits.

The award of tuition benefits to an eligible faculty member whose child attends another institution is contingent upon acceptance, enrollment and attendance of the dependent child in a full-time undergraduate (bachelor or associate) degree program, trade school certification program, or community college.

Tuition benefits are available for eight terms, whether provided for courses at Carnegie Mellon or at another institution. They need not be consecutive terms.

Summer study (whether full time or part time) at Carnegie Mellon or another institution will count as a term.

Part-time study during the academic year (permitted at Carnegie Mellon only) will also count as a term. If a student is attending Carnegie Mellon on a part-time basis, the faculty member may elect to pay for the part-time study themselves rather than use tuition benefits, since the part-time study counts as a term and would be applied toward the eight-term limit.

Full-time undergraduate students attending Carnegie Mellon are encouraged to apply for federal grant assistance through the Pennsylvania Higher Education Assistance Agency (PHEAA) by May 1 annually. If you are interested in being considered for any form of financial aid, please contact the HUB at 412-268-8186 for additional information.

All financial aid resources regardless of source(s), including undergraduate tuition benefits, cannot exceed the cost of attendance for the academic year. If tuition benefits result in a student receiving more assistance than the total budgeted cost of education, tuition benefits will be reduced by the amount of the excess.

State and Local Income Tax Implications

The tuition benefit paid to other institutions outside of Carnegie Mellon are subject to Pennsylvania state and local taxation. Taxes will be withheld from salary, not from the benefit, in the same quarter in which the benefit is paid.

How to Apply for Tuition Benefits

Faculty members whose eligible dependent children are enrolling in courses at Carnegie Mellon or other accredited institutions should submit an application through Workday. To ensure timely processing, it is recommended that applications are submitted as soon as all required documentation is gathered.

Faculty members will be notified of eligibility as soon as a determination is made. Students attending Carnegie Mellon will have tuition benefits awarded through The HUB. Students attending other institutions will have tuition benefits remitted directly to the institution. Since some institutions require payment of tuition and fees at the time of registration, parents should be prepared to pre-pay tuition and fees. If this occurs, parents should make arrangements to obtain reimbursement from the institution that the student attends.

Questions should be addressed to HR Services / 412-268-4600.