Tuition Scholarship Program - Human Resources

PURPOSE

In order to encourage employees and their eligible family members to pursue a formal education, Northern Michigan University offers a tuition scholarship benefit.  The tuition scholarship benefit waives the tuition for eligible students, who complete the necessary procedure, on a space available basis.    

This benefit does not include individual charges such as the University Fee, Discretionary Activity Fee, Student Athletic Fee, TLC/iBook Fee, distance education fees, program specific fees, laboratory fees, books, supplies, and all other fees associated with the students enrollment and courses.  

ELIGIBILITY

• Faculty and staff that:
  • Have a full-time equivalent of .50 or greater
  • Are employed on the first day of the semester which benefits are being requested for
  • Are NOT on an unpaid leave of absence (except those receiving long term disability benefits) unless approved by the Director of Human Resources prior to commencement of such leave
• Retirees
• Spouses of eligible employees and retirees
  • Upon death of the Retiree, continuation of these privileges to the surviving spouse and dependents shall terminate
• IRS tax dependent, unmarried dependent children* of the eligible employee/retiree
  • *Dependent Children are defined as an employee’s son, step-son**, daughter, step-daughter** and a legally adopted child.
  • Biological and legally adopted children of divorced parents may be the IRS tax dependent of the employee’s divorced spouse.  A copy of the employee’s divorced spouses most recently filed Federal 1040 tax document must be provided to Human Resources. (see required documentation)
  • **Step-children must be the IRS tax dependent of the NMU employee in order to be eligible.  Proof of IRS tax dependent status must be provided to Human Resources via the most recently filed Federal 1040 tax document.  (see required documentation)
• Adjunct faculty
  • Adjunct faculty members are eligible to receive a tuition waiver equivalent to their teaching load for the semester in which they are requesting benefits.  Teaching credits may NOT be banked for future use.
• Contingent faculty, their spouses, and dependent children
  • Contingent faculty, as defined in the AAUP Master Agreement, are eligible to receive a tuition waiver equivalent to their teaching load for the semester in which they are requesting benefits.  Contingent faculty, who provide the necessary documentation (see required documentation), may pass their tuition scholarship benefit on to their eligible spouse/dependent.  The benefit will not exceed the teaching load of the employee for that semester.  Teaching credits may NOT be banked for future use. 
  • Continuing contingent faculty, as defined in the AAUP Master Agreement, are eligible to utilize the tuition benefit for themselves, their spouse, or dependent children, during the current semester or subsequent semesters within the calendar year. 

ADMISSION, ENROLLMENT, AND FINANCIAL AID

All student applicants must be admitted or readmitted to Northern Michigan University in accordance with the normal requirements for admission and readmission. 

Employees may enroll in courses up to a maximum of four (4) credit hours during regular working hours.  Arrangements for such time off must be made with the immediate supervisor.  All time so devoted will be made up within the same bi-weekly pay period through arrangements with the immediate supervisor and/or department head.  If the employer assigns a bargaining unit member to take a class offered only during the employee’s scheduled work time, the employee shall not be required to make up the time. 

Physical Education and/or Recreational courses may not be repeated.

The tuition scholarship benefit is considered financial aid and students who participate in this program are not eligible to receive additional University-funded* scholarships or grants (some exceptions apply as referred to in the AAUP Master Agreement).  However, employees may still apply for other Federal Student Aid by completing the FAFSA form.  Contact Financial Aid at 227-2327 for more information.

* University-funded means any funds deposited at the University where the University makes the decision concerning the recipient.

REQUIRED DOCUMENTATION:

In order for benefits to be applied to eligible students, the following appropriate information must be on file with Human Resources:

*The employee’s appropriate most recently filed Federal 1040 must be on file with Human Resources, if required (as indicated above), before the benefit will be applied for dependent children.  Biological and legally adopted dependent children of divorced parents may be claimed by the employee’s divorced spouse, provided that a copy of the divorced spouse’s Federal 1040 is provided to Human Resources. 

Step-children must be claimed by the employee in order to be eligible for tuition benefits. 

The following Federal 1040 will be accepted for the associated semester:

DEADLINES

Tuition waiver applications will be accepted electronically, and via paper (only if electronic application is not available) through the last day of the semester in which the benefit is being requested.  It is the employee’s responsibility to ensure that the tuition waiver has been completed and submitted on time. 

Any tuition scholarship program application that is received beyond the last day of the semester, will not be accepted and any amounts owed for tuition and fees will be the responsibility of the student party. 

TERMINATION OF THE TUITION SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAM BENEFIT

The tuition scholarship benefit will discontinue at the conclusion of the semester during which the employee or student becomes ineligible or employment is terminated. 

REFUNDS

If a student drops courses or withdraws from school during the refund period, any refund applicable will revert to the University.

PROCEDURES

An application must be submitted, by the deadline date, for each student each semester the student is enrolled and eligible, following the below procedures:  

TAXABILITY

NMU will abide by state and federal laws regarding the taxability of benefits.  Tuition benefits are considered taxable under certain conditions.  Graduate level tuition benefits are always considered taxable for spouses and dependents.  Graduate level tuition benefits for an employee in excess of $5,250 in a calendar year are taxable.  Undergraduate level tuition benefits are taxable for dependents ages 24 and above.  Undergraduate level tuition benefits become taxable for the calendar year in which the dependent turns age 24.  Additional Federal, State, Social Security and Medicare taxes will be deducted from your paycheck based on the value of the taxable benefit.  If the taxable benefit is more than $500, the deductions will be spread out over several paychecks to minimize the impact on your net pay.  Winter semester deductions will start in January, Summer semester deductions will start in June, and Fall semester deductions will start in September.