Your Benefits: Tuition Assistance

EMPLOYEE 4:6-100

The University encourages you to develop your work abilities in a skill or profession. Through on-the-job instruction and part-time schooling, you may achieve real personal and/or professional growth while employed at Andrews University.

Eligibility
A full-time regular faculty/salaried employee may apply for admission to a school within the University. If you qualify for this benefit and wish to take a class, you will need both the approval of your supervisor and acceptance into the school of your choice. You may take up to four credits each semester without tuition cost to you. This does not include independent study, tours, internship, directed reading, private lessons, practicum, clinical experiences or any instruction outside of the normal classroom setting. Online classes may be included if they meet the other criteria for the class. You will be admitted to a class with limited enrollment only after tuition-paying students have been accommodated. A course will not be offered unless there are enough tuition-paying students to justify it.

You will be expected to pay the application, late registration, general, or any other applicable fees. Continuing education courses offered by the University's lifelong learning program may be taken in lieu of courses in one of the colleges. You will be responsible for course fees that are in excess of normal tuition charges in order to provide special materials and trips.

You must apply for the tuition assistance each semester for the course(s) you are taking. Your free class(es) should be taken outside of regular scheduled work hours. Exceptions may be made with the approval of the department head, when it can be accommodated without disruption of the work routine, particularly where the class work taken is directly applicable to the work of the department. Normally, an hourly rated worker will not be paid for the time spent in class.

Benefits under this policy are concurrent with your employment. The entitlement from semesters when no class work was taken does not accrue for future semesters. The tuition for class work begun before or continued after you are entitled to this benefit will be prorated from or to the date of entitlement. This program is a waiver of tuition and has no cash value.

To accomodate summer class schedules, the tuition waiver under the free class policy will be determined by the employee's hire or termination date in relation to the official class schedule (begin and end date). Tuition waiver will be applied fully to classes that are scheduled within the employment period of the employee, and prorated for classes that fall outside of the employment period. Class schedule is based on the official class dates and not completion of the coursework.

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) considers employer-provided graduate tuition assistance as part of your wage package and the assistance is subject to tax withholding. In 2007, the University elected to apply IRS code section 127 which excludes from taxation graduate-level courses to employees (excludes free tuition to spouses) up to a maximum of $5,250 per calendar year.

This tuition assistance policy does not apply when financial assistance is received for payment of the tuition costs from sources outside the University. You are encouraged to avail yourself of financial assistance for which you may qualify.

SPOUSE 4:6-101

Eligibility
A regular full-time employee's spouse may apply for admission to a school within the University for non-doctoral study. A spouse who qualifies for admission is eligible for up to 4 (four) credits free plus 50% discount for the remainder of credits taken each semester (not applicable to discounted classes, doctoral work, and classes excluded in the employee benefit in section 4:6-100). He/she may be admitted to a course to which enrollment is limited only if there is room after tuition paying students have been first accommodated. A course shall not be offered for an employee’s spouse when the number of tuition-paying students does not justify offering the course. Spouses admitted to courses on this basis shall pay the regular application fee, general, or late registration fee.

The tuition waiver is a forgiveness of tuition that is available to qualified employee's spouses who occupy available positions in a regularly scheduled class and thus does not include independent study, directed reading, private music lessons, practicums, clinical experiences, or any instruction outside of the normal classroom setting. (Online classes may be included if they meet the other criteria for the class)

All graduate level tuition assistance for employee's spouses provided by the University must be included as taxable income by the employee, as required by the IRS.

DEPENDENT CHILDREN 4:6-105

Eligibility
If you are a full-time regular employee and have unmarried, dependent children (born to, legally adopted by, appointed legal guardian/custody of employee/spouse, or stepchild by marriage) who are less than twenty-four years of age attending school, educational assistance in the form of tuition waivers is available upon application. (Exceptions may be made to the age requirement if education has been interrupted due to compulsory military service, volunteer service for the church, or a documented medical condition). Dependent children enrolled in the Adventist Colleges Abroad are eligible for 60% AU-based tuition assistance benefit. Employees eligible for dependent tuition assistance whose spouse is denominationally employed and also eligible for tuition benefits will receive half (or an appropriate cost sharing portion) of the computed benefits. Tuition assistance are computed as follows:

For hourly employees: 35% of basic tuition costs for the child(ren) attending a Lake Union Conference SDA elementary or day academy, or in an undergraduate program of Andrews University as a day/village student.
For approved salaried employees: 35% of basic tuition costs for the child(ren) attending a Lake Union Conference SDA elementary or day academy, or in an undergraduate program of Andrews University as a day student, or in an undergraduate program at other North American Division SDA schools.
For all employees: 60% of basic tuition costs for child(ren) enrolled as boarding student(s) at a Lake Union Conference SDA academy or in an undergraduate program at Andrews University.
Tuition assistance shall be provided for credits that are earned through the College Level Examination Program (CLEP). The assistance is 35% whether or not the student is residing in a school dormitory.
The amount of the tuition assistance will be based on the actual tuition costs and fees. All fees, excluding general fees, will be covered at a limited amount (see Benefits Office for amount).
Assistance may continue for a maximum of ten semesters of undergraduate or graduate study; graduate study must occur at Andrews University in order to be eligible. The number of semesters eligible for assistance is prorated, based on prior university enrollment, when eligibility begins. Enrollment in summer semesters count against the ten semester total.
Assistance may be available for the child(ren) who enters a professional program in medicine or dentistry prior to completing undergraduate degree requirements. The assistance will not be available for a period longer than that which would have been required to complete the undergraduate degree nor for more dollars than would have been allowed as a full-time undergraduate student at Andrews University.
Grants shall be available for the child(ren) of the employee who is employed at the beginning of the child(rens') school year and will be prorated if the individual is employed after the beginning of the school year. It is understood that the child(ren) must be in school at the time for which the tuition assistance is paid. The assistance shall be credited to the student's account each semester when bills are presented.
The payment of the assistance will be made directly to the school involved.

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