POLICY TITLE: Carnegie Mellon University Policy on Undergraduate Tuition Benefits for Dependent Children (who were full-time benefits eligible after July 1, 1994)

DATE OF ISSUANCE: This policy was issued to campus on June 15, 1994. It was originally adopted by the Executive Committee of the Board of Trustees on December 13, 1993. This information is current for the 2003-04 academic year.

ACCOUNTABLE DEPARTMENT/UNIT: Benefits Office. Questions about policy content should be directed to Benefits, x8-4747. For information about other forms of financial aid for children attending Carnegie Mellon, contact the HUB at x8-8186.

ABSTRACT: The Undergraduate Tuition Benefit Program provides tuition benefits to an eligible staff member's dependent children enrolled in undergraduate courses at Carnegie Mellon or other accredited colleges and universities.

MISC: See also:

• Undergraduate Tuition Benefits for Children of Staff who were benefits eligible on July 1, 1994
• Undergraduate Tuition Benefits for Children of Faculty, for the faculty benefit

Policy on Undergraduate Tuition Benefits for Dependent Children of Staff Members

Purpose

The Undergraduate Tuition Benefit Program provides a variety of tuition benefits to staff members and their dependents. One feature of the Undergraduate Tuition Benefit Program is to provide tuition benefits to an eligible staff member's dependent children enrolled in undergraduate courses at Carnegie Mellon or other accredited colleges and universities.

Eligibility

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

1. Must have completed five (5) years of full-time service with Carnegie Mellon; and
2. Must be full-time with an appointment of four (4) months or longer at the time of application.

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

1. Must meet IRS dependency exemption criteria; and
2. Must be born to or legally adopted by the eligible staff member; and
3. Must be enrolled in an undergraduate degree program before the age of 30.

Service Requirement

One year of full-time service will be credited if, during a staff member's employment year, he or she worked full time for nine (9) months; they need not be consecutive months.

One month of service credit will be given as long as the staff member has a full-time, active appointment of four (4) months or longer on the first day of the month. For example, if you begin a full-time appointment on the first day of the month, that month will count as a credit month toward meeting the service requirement; if the appointment begins on the second through the last day of the month, you will not earn one credit month for that month.

Part-time Service does not apply toward the service requirement.

Service accumulates during approved university leaves of absence for full-time staff members as summarized below:

• Disability Leave of Absence - Applied toward full-time service requirement.
• Family and Medical Leave - Applied toward full-time service requirement if working full-time when the Family and Medical Leave began.
• Personal Leave of Absence - Service does not accumulate.

If a staff member terminates employment at Carnegie Mellon but returns to a full-time position within one year, prior full-time service will apply toward the service requirement. If the staff member is discharged for willful misconduct or does not return within one year from termination, prior full-time service will not be applied toward the service requirement.

Participation

Staff members must meet the eligibility and service 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 staff member whose employment terminates, benefits continue to the end of the current term.

• For a staff member who has a change in employment status (e.g., 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 staff 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.
  • Personal Leave of Absence - Benefits paid through current term only.

• For an eligible staff member who retires at age 62 or later with at least 15 years of service or for an eligible staff member who retires at age 65 or later with at least ten years of service, dependent children remain eligible during retirement.

• For an eligible staff member who dies after ten or more years of service, dependent children remain eligible.

Benefit Amount

Tuition Benefits at Carnegie Mellon

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

A fifty percent (50%) tuition benefit is provided for dependent children who enroll in Advanced Placement/Early Admission (APEA) summer courses. APEA courses do not count as a term toward the eight-term maximum. Pre-college courses are not covered.

Tuition Benefits at Other Institutions

The benefit level for full-time undergraduate study at other accredited colleges and universities will be awarded for tuition only, up to the Carnegie Mellon per term benefit amount. The current benefit amount is $2,450 per term.

Optional Form of Payment for Tuition Benefits at Other Institutions

Instead of electing to receive tuition benefits on a per term basis, staff members may elect to take the entire tuition benefit payment during the child's last academic year. This option is being made available to staff so that they can maximize the benefits received from Carnegie Mellon as well as any financial aid that may be available from the institution that their child is attending. Depending upon the individual institution that a child attends, some staff members may have their financial aid package from that institution reduced by the tuition benefit provided by Carnegie Mellon. As a result, a staff member may elect to receive tuition benefits in the final academic year, which could increase their net benefit from the institution's financial aid package and Carnegie Mellon's tuition benefit plan. Staff members must make a decision when they submit their initial application as to whether the university is to pay for tuition benefits each term or wait until the final academic year. Even if the staff member elects to have the Benefits Office hold payment until the final academic year, the initial Application for Tuition Benefits for Children and a copy of the tuition bill must be submitted to the Benefits Office for each term in which the student is enrolled. Election to have benefits paid in the final academic year is an irrevocable election.

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 under both plans.

Benefit Coverage

Tuition benefits cover:

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

Tuition benefits do not cover:

1. 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 staff 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 staff member whose child attends another institution is contingent upon acceptance, enrollment and attendance of the dependent child in a full-time undergraduate degree program at the accredited institution.

Tuition benefits are available for eight (8) 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 staff member may elect to pay for the part-time study themselves rather than using tuition benefits, since the part-time study counts as a term and would be applied toward the 8-term limit.

Tuition benefits at other accredited institutions are limited to two (2) children, even if one child did not exhaust his/her benefit entitlement. There are no limits on the number of children eligible for tuition benefits at Carnegie Mellon.

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 x8-8186 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.

Taxation of Benefit

Undergraduate tuition benefits for dependents of staff are not subject to federal income or Social Security taxes under the current Internal Revenue Code.

How to Apply for Tuition Benefits

Staff members whose eligible dependent children are enrolling in courses at Carnegie Mellon or other accredited colleges and universities should complete the Application for Tuition Benefits for Dependent Children and return it to the Benefits Office according to the following schedule:

• July 1 - for the Fall Term
• December 1 - for the Winter/Spring Term
• April 1 - for the Summer Term

Staff members will be notified of eligibility as soon as a determination is made. Students attending Carnegie Mellon will have tuition benefits awarded through the Financial Aid Office. Students attending other institutions will have tuition benefit checks made payable to the institution attended by the student and forwarded to the staff member for transmittal 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 or requests for an application should be addressed to the Benefits Office, Whitfield Hall, or by calling campus extension 8-4747.

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