Tuition Benefit Program

Eligibility is determined on the first official day classes begin for the semester requested. Specific employee eligibility is outlined in the employee group Benefit in Brief and union agreement or handbook. Tuition benefit credit hours for part-time employees with appointments of at least half time (50%) will be prorated based on the FTE of the appointment.

Credits unused by the eligible employee may be shared with a spouse or OEI and children who are IRS eligible dependents.

CMU Retirees and CMU Emeritus Retirees are eligible for the Tuition Benefit program for personal use only.

Following the students admission and registration for classes, the employee can submit the request. Two (2) to four (4) weeks before the start date of the semester, the Benefits & Wellness office will begin auditing tuition benefit requests for eligibility and forward to Student Account Services and University Billing, those passing the initial review, to be applied to the student account. At each stage the employee will receive an email informing the employee of the outcome of the review. PLEASE REVIEW THESE EMAILS CAREFULLY FOR CHANGES TO THE ORIGINAL TUITION BENEFIT REQUEST.

The student will be responsible for any tuition charges that are not covered by the tuition benefit and any applicable fees. All billing statements are sent electronically to the CMU student's global e-mail address.

Additional audits take place throughout and following the semester. The University reserves the right to revoke a Tuition Benefit due to misrepresentation of eligibility.

The Internal Revenue Service has issued regulations regarding the taxability of tuition-related benefits. These regulations determine whether or not courses taken by employees, spouses, Other Eligible Individual and/or dependent child(ren) are taxable income to the employee. Sometimes the taxability of the benefit will vary from employee to employee or between undergraduate and graduate courses. Examples of how taxation of tuition benefit impacts an employee's paycheck can be viewed on Payroll's website here​.

Taxation is applied to the employee's pay statement over the course of the semester. It is strongly encouraged that tuition benefit forms are submitted as soon as possible after registering for the course to lessen the impact of the taxes.