UCCS introduced a benefit in 2008 allowing employees’ dependents to take classes tuition free. Now, the other campuses will follow suit.
Governance groups across CU are reviewing a draft of a new Administrative Policy Statement outlining tuition benefits for CU employees and their dependents.
CU employees may receive a tuition waiver for as many as nine credit hours per year. Certain restrictions apply. For example, class space must be available, registration must happen on the first day of classes, and credits may not be used for Continuing Education, Executive MBA, Extended Studies or the 11-month MBA program. Although tuition is waived, other student fees apply.
If the CU Board of Regents approves the APS, the tuition benefit may be adopted as early as April 1.
Payroll & Benefit Services will determine dependent eligibility. The monetary value of the tuition benefit will be subject to income taxation for relationships that include same gender domestic partners, a dependent child of a same gender domestic partner, and an employee’s dependent child not eligible to be claimed as a dependent on the employee’s Federal Form 1040 tax return.
An employee may use the credits at any CU campus. For a dependent, credits must be taken on the campus where the employee works and only for undergraduate courses.
Circumstances on the different campuses influence how the dependent may use the tuition benefit. For example, dependents of an employee of the CU System Offices may use the tuition benefit at any campus. Dependents of CU Denver employees can utilize credits at either the Denver or Anschutz campus. A CU Boulder employee’s dependent who is also a full-time student on the Boulder campus cannot utilize the tuition benefit during the fall or spring semesters.
The nine credit hour total is the maximum an employee or dependent may use in a year. If both members of a married or partnered couple work for CU, each has nine credit hours to use but the employees cannot add the credits to total more than nine for their dependents’ or their own use.
An employee or dependent may use all nine credits in one semester or divide them between semesters during the same year.
Each dependent registering as an undergraduate student must apply for College Opportunity Fund to receive the tuition benefit.
More complete tuition benefit information may be found at http://www.uccs.edu/~hr/tuition-benefit.html
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