Faculty

No cost or discounted tuition is available for eligible Oakland University employees and their families. Benefit eligibility varies based on employee group. A student must also be admitted into a degree-seeking program or certificate-granting credit program to be eligible.

Check out your faculty contract for more information.

In order for the student to receive tuition benefits from an employee, the student MUST be an IRS tax dependent.

A qualifying child is an IRS tax dependent under 24 years of age the year the tuition benefit is received. IRS criteria for a qualifying child is below. The student must meet all five criteria.

A qualifying relative is an IRS tax dependent 24 years of age or older the year the tuition benefit is received. IRS criteria for a qualifying relative is below. The student must meet all four criteria.

In general, the IRS requires that a “qualifying child” meet five tests:

1. The student must be your son, daughter or stepchild
2. The student must be
   1. under age 19 at the end of the year,
   2. under age 24 at the end of the year and a full-time student, or
   3. any age if permanently and totally disabled.
3. The student must have lived with you for more than half of the year
4. The student must not have provided more than half of his/her own support for the year
5. If the student meets the rules to be a qualifying child of more than one person, you must be the person entitled to claim the student as a qualifying child.

In general, the IRS requires that a "qualifying relative" meet four tests:

1. The student does not meet the "qualifying child" tests (see above);
2. The student either (a) must be related to you in one of the ways listed under “Relatives who do not have to live with you (see below)”, or (b) must live with you all year as a member of your household (and your relationship must not violate local law).
3. The student’s gross income must be less than the “Standard Personal Tax Exemption” (currently $4,200 for 2021).
   
   However, under Internal Revenue Service Notice 2004-79, this gross income limit does not apply for purposes of determining tax dependent status when you are covering the person on your health insurance policy.
4. You must provide more than half of the person's support for the year.

A dependent may include a child or step-child of an eligible staff member.

A student receiving Tuition Reduction who becomes ineligible due to the death of a faculty or staff member will be able to continue to receive the reduction until they complete their undergraduate degree; up to an additional 4 academic years.

NOTE: At any time, OU may require proof that your Spouse/OQA or Child meets requirements for program eligibility. NOTE: At any time, OU may require proof that your Spouse/OQA or Child meets requirements for program eligibility.

In order for the student to receive tuition benefits from an employee, the student MUST be an IRS tax dependent.

A qualifying relative is an IRS tax dependent 24 years of age or older the year the tuition benefit is received. IRS criteria for a qualifying relative is below. The student must meet all four criteria.

In general, the IRS requires that a "qualifying relative" meet four tests:

1. The student does not meet the "qualifying child" tests (see above);
2. The student either (a) must be related to you in one of the ways listed under “Relatives who do not have to live with you (see below)”, or (b) must live with you all year as a member of your household (and your relationship must not violate local law).
3. You must provide more than half of the student’s support for the year.
4. The student’s gross income must be less than $4,200 for the year.

A dependent may include a child or step-child of an eligible staff member.

NOTE: At any time, OU may require proof that your Spouse/OQA or Child meets requirements for program eligibility.

No. Due to IRS regulations, Professional and Continuing Education (PACE)  non credit certificates do not qualify for the employee tuition assistance benefit. Please check with your department/unit to see if professional development funding is available to cover the costs of your chosen PACE program or explore the private aid options listed under continuing education.

Visit the PACE website to learn more about non-credit certificate programs through Professional and Continuing Education (PACE) or contact [email protected] with questions or for more information.

Yes, students may attend OU as a guest student under the tuition assistance program. They must first be admitted to the university as a guest student and register for classes prior to completing the tuition assistance application.

No. The tuition assistance benefit only covers classes at Oakland University. Please refer to the faculty contract for more information on eligibility.

No. Your program of study does not have to relate to your position at OU. However, you must be admitted into a degree-seeking program or certificate-granting program to be eligible, per IRS guidelines.

Please refer to the faculty contract for more information on eligibility.

Faculty may apply for the tuition benefit prior to the semester you wish to attend.

Tuition applications are processed beginning April 1 for the summer semesters, beginning July 1 for the fall semester and beginning November 1 for the winter semester.

Step 1: Apply for Admission to Oakland University. DO NOT complete the online application until you have been admitted to the University. NOTE: It is the responsibility of the student to be aware of and understand University Regulations and policies as published. All courses taken are subject to tuition payment deadlines.

Step 2: Register for classes via online registration during the registration period. Please contact Registrar Services if you have questions about registration, errors or the schedule of classes. DO NOT complete the online application until you have registered for classes.

Step 3: Complete the online Tuition Assistance Application.

If both you and your spouse/OQA work for the university, your dependent will receive both tuition assistance benefits for 100% tuition coverage. Please note that the staff tuition waiver benefit includes a minimal grade requirement that must be met by the student.

Tuition applications are processed beginning April 1 for the summer semesters, beginning July 1 for the fall semester and beginning November 1 for the winter semester.

Tuition applications should be submitted to Human Resources at [email protected] prior to the cancellation periods for each semester. This is to ensure the waiver is applied in a timely manner and to ensure students are not cancelled from classes.

Ebills must be run before the faculty tuition waiver can be applied to a student's account. This is due to manual processing of the waivers. You will initially see a balance on your student's account. If you have submitted the student's tuition waiver application form and you do not see this reflected on the student account within 2-3 days after the ebill is generated, please contact HR at [email protected]. Do not wait and chance the student being cancelled from their courses. These applications are processed manually and unfortunately there are times errors may occur.

No. There are no credit limits per semester.

No, students do not need to resubmit the form if their student schedule changes. However, the faculty tuition waiver does not adjust automatically to schedule changes, please email [email protected] if your student has a schedule change. If you do not see the waiver updated on the student account within 2-3 days please contact HR at [email protected].

Tuition assistance applications are processed and submitted to Student Business Services (SBS). SBS applies the waiver to the registered student’s account after the first ebill is generated each semester and adjustments are made. Students must be registered to classes for the waiver to adjust tuition. This is a manual process and is not automatic so if a student registers, the student will not automatically see a $0 balance.

No cost or discounted tuition is available for eligible Oakland University employees and their families. Benefit eligibility varies based on employee group. A student must also be admitted into a degree-seeking program or certificate-granting credit program to be eligible. Please refer to the faculty contract for more information.

Due to IRS regulations, Professional and Continuing Education (PACE)  non credit certificates do not qualify for the employee tuition assistance benefit. Please check with your department/unit to see if professional development funding is available to cover the costs of your chosen PACE program or explore the private aid options listed by clicking here.

To learn more about non-credit certificate programs through Professional and Continuing Education (PACE), please click here or contact [email protected] with questions or for more information.

Faculty may take classes for professional development, per the faculty contract. However, you must be admitted into OU as a student prior to registering for classes. Spouses and dependents of faculty must be admitted into a degree-seeking program or certificate-granting credit program to be eligible for the tuition benefit due to IRS limitations.

Due to IRS regulations, Professional and Continuing Education (PACE)  non credit certificates do not qualify for the employee tuition assistance benefit. Please check with your department/unit to see if professional development funding is available to cover the costs of your chosen PACE program or explore the private aid options listed on the continuing education site.

To learn more about non-credit certificate programs through Professional and Continuing Education (PACE), contact [email protected] with questions or for more information.

Yes. If the class(es) is a prerequisite for a graduate program, please let HR know this. Prerequisite classes will be covered under the tuition benefit.

Undergraduate-level tuition waiver benefits are not subject to taxation.

All graduate level tuition waiver benefits are subject to taxation on graduate level tuition waiver and/or reimbursements received in excess of $5,250 in a calendar year.

The University administers the federal tax provisions regarding educational assistance (i.e., tuition benefits). In general, IRS regulations consider anything of value provided to an employee by an employer to be a form of compensation. All compensation must be reported as taxable wages and is subject to income and employment tax withholding, unless specifically excluded by the Internal Revenue Code (IRC).

Three (3) groups are subject to income and employment tax withholding as follows:

• An employee who is a graduate level student is subject to tax withholding for tuition benefits paid which exceed the IRS limit of $5,250 per calendar year.
• A spouse/child who is a graduate level student is subject to tax withholding for tuition benefits paid beginning with the first dollar of benefits.
• A spouse/child who is an Other Qualified Adult or child of an Other Qualified Adult who is a graduate level student is subject to tax withholding for tuition benefits paid beginning with the first dollar of benefits.

Taxable benefits described above will be added to your taxable income three times a year, following each semester’s drop/add date. You will be notified each semester via email of the exact date and amount taxable. If you prefer the taxes withheld in one lump sum each semester, please notify HR at [email protected] as soon as you receive the email notification.

Each term, the OU payroll office will administer the payroll tax withholding based on the taxable amount of employer-paid benefits paid during that term. The taxable amount will be withheld from the employee’s paycheck each of three (3) terms. Taxes can be reconciled when the employee files their individual tax return for that year.

Employees should discuss any questions regarding personal income tax issues with their tax advisor or preparer.