Published: Jan. 9, 2013

The tuition benefit continues to cover 9 credits per year at any CU campus for our employees. Recent changes allow for the benefit to be transferred from our faculty and staff to their eligible dependents for use only on the employee's campus of employment. Details on the tuition benefit are available at the CU Employee Tuition Benefit website: https://www.cu.edu/pbs/tuition-benefit/. More information about using the benefit at the Boulder campus can be found at: http://bursar.colorado.edu/resources/tuition-benefit/.

If you or an eligible dependent are interested in taking classes this spring, be sure to start the process soon. In order to qualify for the tuition benefit program for spring 2013 a completed Tuition Benefit Form needs to be submitted to Payroll and Benefits for processing by January 11 (priority deadline) or by February 1 at the latest. No forms will be accepted after February 1.

The Tuition Benefit Form is available online at: (https://www.cu.edu/pbs/tuition-benefit/documents/TuitionBenefitApplicationForm.doc)

Eligibility:

The employee must be in a non-temporary, retirement-plan eligible faculty or staff position with an appointment of 50% or greater. Though supervisor approval is not required to use the tuition benefit, supervisor approval is required for class attendance during normal work hours (as for any absence).  Approval does not need to be documented in HRMS or ISIS.

For more information on who qualifies as a dependent for tuition benefit purposes please refer to the Tuition Benefit Policy (https://www.cu.edu/policies/aps/hr/5024.pdf) or contact Payroll and Benefit Services (https://www.cu.edu/pbs/index.html).

Important Changes for this semester:

  • Internal Revenue Code Section 127 is set to expire on December 31, 2012 unless extended by Congress. This section provides tax exclusion for graduate tuition assistance provided to employees. If this is not extended, graduate tuition benefits to employees and their dependents will become taxable as wages, and reportable, unless they are considered “job-related.” This will apply to any graduate student regardless of whether they are degree-seeking or non-degree and regardless of the course level of the course(s) taken. If you indicate on your non-degree admission application that you intend to only take undergraduate courses, you will be classified as an undergraduate. If you have already been admitted to a graduate non-degree program and are only taking undergraduate courses, you can contact the Office of the Registrar to have your status changed.
  • Updates will be made to our website at http://bursar.colorado.edu/resources/tuition-benefit/ as additional information is available.
  • The tuition benefit year for the Boulder campus starts with the fall semester and ends with the summer semester. Previously the year began with the summer semester and ended with the spring semester. This change takes effect for the fall 2012 semester, so each employee has 9 credits to use between the start of the fall 2012 semester and the end of the summer 2013 semester.

Restrictions:

  • At this time, a full-time student on the Boulder campus is not permitted to utilize the tuition benefit during the fall or spring terms, only during the summer term. Part-time students may use the benefit throughout the year. Full-time is considered to be more than eleven credit hours.
  • Faculty, staff, and their eligible dependents must wait to register for the class you are using the benefit for until the first day of the term to qualify for the benefit. If registration occurs prior to this date you or your dependent will be responsible for paying full tuition. Spring 2013 classes begin January 14 at the Boulder campus.
  • Dependents of Boulder employees may use the waiver only on the Boulder campus, and only for undergraduate courses (1000-4000 level). Dependents cannot use the benefit for graduate level courses.
  • Credits may not be used for Continuing Education, Executive MBA, Extended Studies or the 11-month MBA program.
  • Each registering undergraduate student must apply for and authorize the College Opportunity Fund (COF) or pay an additional $62 per credit hour.
  • The maximum tuition benefit a dependent can receive in one year is nine credit hours.

For answers to frequently asked questions, please visit our website: http://bursar.colorado.edu/resources/tuition-benefit/common-questions-faculty-staff-dependent-tuition-benefit/