2.17 Tuition Remission Program

(Effective 2/19/2020)

Scripps College offers a tuition benefit program for employees and/or their dependent children to complete one undergraduate degree.

Background

Scripps College offers a tuition benefit program for full time faculty and staff and qualifying part time staff (part time staff members who are regularly scheduled to work 20 hours or more per week for at least 9 months per year). Employees become eligible for this program after one year of regular employment based on the employee’s original date of hire at Scripps College. The program has two tuition remission programs, one for employees and one for dependent children of employees.

Definitions

Eligible college or university: An accredited institution offering post-secondary education and recognized by the IRS as an eligible educational institution. In the case of any dispute over eligibility of any specific institution, the AVP of Human Capital will make a decision if it meets the definition.

Eligible part time staff: An employee who is regularly scheduled to work at least 20 hours per week at least 9 months during a calendar year. Pro rata benefit for part time employees will be based upon the employee’s annualized FTE. ¹

Tuition remission benefit: This benefit will include any tuition and required fees owed to the institution after the subtraction of scholarships and grants. This does not include additional charges for the education such as the cost of books, optional fees, supplies, room, board, etc. The benefit will be limited to the units needed to complete the approved degree.

Dependent children: is defined as those who meet the qualifications as defined by Internal Revenue Code (e.g. son, stepson, daughter or stepdaughter of the taxpayer who is a dependent of the employee, who has not attained the age of 26, and who is claimed as a dependent on the employee’s tax return).

Policy

The Scripps College tuition benefit program is for eligible faculty and staff and their dependent children.

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_{¹ For purposes of illustration, if an eligible part-time employee has an annualized FTE of 75%, such employee’s pro rata tution remission benefit would be 75% of the tuition remission benefit available for full-time employees.}

Senior Staff Approved 2.19.2020

Tuition Benefit Plan for Employees

Undergraduate Study

Full tuition payment is made for enrollment in courses offered at the Claremont Colleges or at other eligible colleges and universities. This benefit will be limited to units needed to complete either an Associate’s degree or a Bachelor’s degree. The employee will be required to sign an agreement in which the employee commits, in the event of a voluntary separation within a specified period of time following receipt of the tuition remission benefit, to pay back a portion of the tuition remission benefit based upon a schedule. Eligible employees will be eligible to receive tuition remission benefits for only one undergraduate degree.

Master’s Degree

The College will provide employee full tuition payment for a master’s degree at an accredited institution for courses leading to the graduate degree that is substantially related to the employee’s duties at Scripps College. If the employee currently has a master’s degree, the employee will be not be eligible for tuition remission toward another master’s degree. In order to be considered for a master’s degree, the employee must submit a proposal to their respective Vice President. The Vice President will review the application to assess whether the degree requested is primarily related to the employee’s duties. The Vice President must write a proposal supporting tuition remission for the degree. The AVP of Human Capital and Risk Management must approve the proposal. The employee will be required to sign an agreement in which the employee commits, in the event of a voluntary separation within a specified period of time following receipt of the tuition remission benefit, to pay back a portion of the tuition payment based upon a schedule.

Employee on Short-term or Long-term Disability

Continuation of eligibility for tuition remission benefit for employee study will continue as long as the employee qualifies for a leave under the Family Medical Leave Act. The College agrees to continue payments through the exhaustion of the employee’s FMLA leave.

Tuition Benefit Plan for Dependent Children

For dependent children of full-time faculty and staff, the available tuition remission benefit is payment for half of tuition and half of required fees for enrollment in an undergraduate degree program in the aggregate up to, but not to exceed, one half of the current tuition charge at Scripps. The available tuition remission benefit for dependent children of eligible part time employees is calculated on a pro rata basis. The maximum benefit for each dependent child is equivalent to the units needed to graduate from the respective institution.

Employee on Short-term or Long-term Disability

If an eligible staff or faculty member becomes disabled, any dependent child of the employee will remain eligible for a maximum of five (5) years to complete the undergraduate degree program in which the dependent child was enrolled at the time the employee commenced short- term or long-term disability.

Death of an Eligible Employee

If an eligible staff or faculty member dies, whether tuition remission benefits continue for the surviving dependent children shall be determined based upon the employee’s length of service with the College.

If the deceased staff or faculty member has not completed five (5) years of continuous employment, any dependent child of the employee will remain eligible for a maximum of five (5) years from the date of death to complete the undergraduate degree program in which the dependent child was enrolled at the time of death.

If the deceased staff or faculty member has completed five (5) or more years of continuous service, any dependent child of the employee will remain eligible for a maximum of five (5) years from the date of death to complete the undergraduate degree program in which the dependent child was enrolled at the time of death. In addition, other eligible dependent children of the deceased staff or faculty member will remain eligible for the tuition remission benefit for not more than five (5) years from the employee’s date of death. Although this extension will provide the benefit for children not yet enrolled in college at the time of the staff or faculty member’s death, the tuition remission benefit will not continue beyond the maximum five (5) year period from the date of death.

Payments

All tuition remission payments will be paid directly to the institution. No payments will be made to individuals.

In order to apply for the benefit, applications for tuition remission must be submitted in writing to the Office of Human Resources accompanied by all of the following: ²

1. The billing statement reflecting tuition, required fees, and any scholarships or grants applicable to that statement;
2. A document or report including the number of units for which the employee or eligible dependent is registered;
3. The number of units needed to graduate; and
4. Any other data supporting the request for payment.

All documentation must clearly state either the employee or dependent’s name and be from the institution where the employee or dependent child is enrolled. There will be no payments made retroactively past one (1) semester.

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_{² Applications for tuition remission benefits should be submitted to Human Resources at least two (2) weeks before the payment to the institution is due.}

Senior Staff Approved 2.19.2020