Tuition Waiver Summary

Summer 2007 - Spring 2008

The tuition waiver program is designed to enable benefited employees, their spouses, and/or their dependent children, to enroll in courses at the University of Denver with reduced or no tuition charges. Please note that the tuition waiver is only applicable to "for credit" classes.

Required Forms:

Employee Tuition Waiver Request Form (.pdf)

Certification of Job Relatedness Form (.pdf)

Dependent Tuition Waiver Request Form (.pdf)

Employee Eligibility:

Employee eligibility begins on the first day of the academic term (quarter or semester) following the employee's completion of 6 months of benefited service.

*Employees are also subject to a general limit of 2 courses per term. Tuition waiver benefits for employees shall be limited in any term by whichever of these per term or annual limits first applies.

The Bursar's Office will review each employee's/dependent's tuition account each term. The maximum amount of allowable tuition waiver hours will be applied to the employee's/dependent's tuition account based upon waiver eligibility each term. Waivers cannot be deferred to a later term. Tuition waivers will be applied to tuition accounts before other types of aid are awarded.

Spouse Eligibility:

Spouse eligibility begins on the first day of the academic term (quarter or semester) following the employee's completion of 6 months of benefited service.

Dependent Child Eligibility:

Eligibility for a dependent child begins on the first day of the academic term (quarter or semester) following the employee's completion of 1 year of benefited service.

Undergraduate Dependent Child

• Employee has less than 5 years of service
  

• Employee has tenure or 5 years of service

Graduate Dependent Child

Additional Conditions for Use of the Tuition Waiver

• Because of the potential negative impact of coursework and time off for class attendance upon the employee's performance and the work needs of the employing department, the needs of the employing department must be given priority.  The prior approval of the employee's supervisor is, therefore, required for the employee's own enrollment in courses covered by the tuition waiver.
• Time off from work for class attendance should be made up within the same work week (Mon.-Sun.) by those employees subject to the overtime provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act, or taken as vacation or unpaid leave.
• If an employee is terminated through a staffing reduction (layoff), the University will extend the same tuition waiver privilege for two consecutive quarters or one semester following the last day worked.  Persons terminated spring quarter have the option of omitting summer session, and may use their waiver for the fall and winter quarters instead.
• If an employee terminates from the University prior to the end of the quarter or semester for which the tuition waiver is granted,the proportionate share of unearned tuition will be billed to the terminated employee.
  

Double Eligibility

In the event of double eligibility for a tuition waiver (e.g. both as an employee and as a dependent), only the higher level of eligibility will apply, except that a dependent who is a graduate or teaching assistant may not also use the tuition waiver benefit. Examples include, but are not limited to:

• Employee is a graduate assistant as well as an appointed employee of the University
• Both parents of an eligible dependent child are employed at the University
• Both spouses are employed at the University (in this case each may use only his own tuition waiver).

Activation of the Tuition Waiver

In order to activate a tuition waiver, the employee must complete and return a Tuition Waiver Request Form (on behalf of each person using the waiver) to the DU Benefits office. The Employee Tuition Waiver Request Form and the Spouse/Dependent Tuition Waiver Request Form are available in the DU Benefits Office,or you can print them directly from the HR website at http://www.du.edu/hr/forms/index.html#benefits.

Before the Tuition Waiver Request form can be processed the waiver recipient must have been admitted to the University of Denver and have been issued a DU ID Number.  This number is not the student's social security number. Please note:  an eligible recipient does not need to be admitted to a degree program in order to use the waiver.  Unless degree-seeking status is part of the criteria for admission into the course or program, the waiver recipient can be admitted as a Special Status (non-degree seeking) student.

For information on the admissions process, please contact the admissions office for the college through which you, your spouse, or dependent child plan on taking courses.

Taxation Rules for Graduate Education

As of January 1, 2002, Congress has extended the $5,250.00 yearly income tax exclusion for graduate tuition based on the calendar year January to December.  What this action means is that if employees use the DU tuition waiver for their own graduate education that is not job related, taxes will not be assessed until the yearly exclusion is exhausted.

Please note that job related graduate education, taken by the employee, would continue to be non-taxable, regardless of the amount, as long as the appropriate documentation is submitted to the DU Benefits Office by the deadline. Tax exemption forms (Certification of Job Relatedness forms) are available in the DU Benefits Office, or you can print them directly from the HR website at http://www.du.edu/hr/benefits/benefits_TuitionWaiverForms.html These forms should be submitted to the DU Benefits Office by the first day of the term in which the tuition waiver is being applied.

Taxation and Your Pay

The graduate taxation incurred is withheld from the employee's pay. Biweekly employees will have the tax taken out in four installments per term while monthly employees will have the tax taken out in two installments per term.

Other Important Information

• The tuition waiver is applied in the order of the student's registration for a term.
• If a student is taking courses assessed at two different tuition rates, the tuition waiver benefit will be applied first to the course(s) that match the admitted status of the student.
• The student activity fee is waived under the same proportion as tuition is waived for the student.
• Room, board and other fees or expenses are NOT waived under the tuition waiver policy.  If you have questions on fees please contact the DU Financial Aid Office at (303) 871-4020.

• Interterm sessions are considered part of the academic term and are held prior to the regular quarter.  An employee or spouse may spread the tuition waiver benefit between the interterm session and its following regular quarter. The waiver will then credit in the order of registration. 
• The tuition waiver benefit may also be used for courses at the Iliff School of Theology and The English Language Center.  Please note:  The length of service requirements (i.e. six months, 1 year) are waived for benefited employees, their spouses, and their dependents wanting to use the tuition waiver towards courses offered through The English Language Center.

Please note that this information is only a summary of the Tuition WaiverPolicy.  If you have any questions or need additional assistance, please call 303-871-7420.