Employee Tuition Waiver

TUITION WAIVER REGULATION 8.2.6 HRR
Visit the EKU Policies page to read the Employee Tuition Waiver Regulation. It is the employee’s responsibility to read and understand the regulation.

Visiting Faculty are not eligible for the Employee Tuition Waiver Program; however, they are eligible for a tuition discount. The Visiting Faculty Tuition Discount Request Form is located here.

Tuition Waiver Deadlines

Waiver forms must be submitted prior to the full-term add/drop deadline for each semester, this includes all terms/sessions within the semester. For example: If taking a course in Spring/Fall B or Second Session, the waiver is still due on the same deadline date as classes taken full term. It is the employee’s responsibility to submit the waiver. THERE IS ONE DEADLINE EACH SEMESTER FOR WAIVER SUBMISSION. LATE WAIVERS WILL NOT BE ACCEPTED.

FAFSA

Tuition waiver program applicants using the waiver for undergraduate degree programs must complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) every academic year to receive the tuition waiver benefit. A FAFSA must be completed prior to the first day of classes and must be on file with EKU for the tuition waiver to be processed. If the FAFSA is not completed and on file, the waiver will be denied.

Financial awards to student accounts are applied in the following order: Federal awards applied first, state awards applied second, external awards applied third, and institutional (EKU) awards applied last. Federal and state aid received by eligible employees and dependents helps fund the waiver program and allows EKU to continue to offer the most generous waiver program among Kentucky institutions.

A FAFSA is not required for graduate, doctoral, dual credit, or non-degree courses.

Taxability

Tuition waivers received by EKU employees for graduate level courses are a taxable benefit under IRS regulations when they exceed $5,250 per calendar year. As the provider of educational assistance to eligible employees and/or their dependents EKU is responsible for taxing use of this employee fringe benefit when used for graduate level or higher educational expenses. Reference IRS Publication 970, Section 11 for Employer Provided Education Assistance. Currently, the allowance for educational assistance is $5,250 in tax free benefit, before EKU must tax the portion in excess of this amount. However, this is only applicable to the employee using the waiver. If the waiver is shared with a spouse or dependent, the full cost of tuition is taxable to the employee with no allowance for a tax-free portion.

Taxation of this benefit occurs through EKU Payroll. EKU Payroll will add the taxable portion to employee’s earnings as non-cash earnings, which will result in additional taxes being withheld and will reduce the employee’s net pay. The tuition waiver is reported as taxable wages on Box 1 of the employee’s W-2 as outlined in IRS Publication 970.

Tuition waivers for undergraduate courses are not taxable.

For more information on taxation of this benefit contact EKU’s payroll office.

Repayment

For graduate degrees, the Eligible Employee agrees to repay 100% of tuition waived pursuant to this benefit on behalf of the Eligible Employee if the Eligible Employee is separated from EKU within one (1) year of tuition waiver; and, the Eligible Employee agrees to repay 75% of tuition expenses if separated within two (2) years of tuition waiver.

Waiver Processing

Tuition waivers are not processed until after the full term add/drop deadline each semester. The following eligibility requirements will be checked:

Tuition is charged to students’ accounts prior to the waiver process. Issues with waiver processing will be communicated to the enrolled student via their STUDENT email.

It is important that the Eligible Employee read and understand the Financial Implications of Tuition Waiver on page 2, Section IV of the regulation (8.2.6HRR).

Tuition Waiver Form

Falsification of any information may result in denial of your waiver benefit as well as possible employee disciplinary action pursuant to Human Resources Regulation: 8.3.3 HRR, Employee Conduct.

By signing waiver, the eligible employee acknowledges reading and understanding the Employee Tuition Waiver Regulation: 8.2.6 HRR.

The employee tuition waiver form is completed via DocuSign. To begin, student must be registered for courses. The DocuSign routing order is set to automatically send to each appropriate signee, including Department Head, Vice President, and Human Resources Coordinator. Click the link below to start waiver application.