Faculty and Staff Tuition Benefits

Tuition Remission

Bradley’s Tuition Remission program provides reductions in the tuition prices charged to employees, their qualified dependent children, and the employees’ spouses or partners. The program is administered by the Office of Financial Assistance on behalf of the Faculty Senate's Contractual Arrangements Committee.

• Tuition Remission Policy (from Faculty Handbook)

How to Apply

Upon receipt of a Bradley Employee Remission Application, the Office of Financial Assistance will determine the appropriate level of remission credit and communicate the eligibility amount directly to the Billing Office. Although tuition remission may cover all or most of a student's costs, students still must claim their classes for each respective academic period. Non-covered tuition balances, fees*, and residence hall charges may be paid in full or through Bradley's deferred payment plan.

*Non-covered fees include: student activity fee, student health fee, course fees, and course surcharges.

Documenting Eligibility

The Office of Financial Assistance monitors and verifies eligibility for tuition remission. Listed below are the categories of eligibility and the associated verification requirements:

Employees: The Provost Office certifies the employment status of exempt employees. The Human Resource Department certifies the employment status of non-exempt employees. Employees must have completed one year of service prior to the first day of the academic term for which the benefit is requested.

Employees' Spouses: An eligible spouse must be married to the otherwise eligible employee on the first day of the academic term for which the benefit is being requested. The Office of Financial Assistance may request a marriage license to verify marital status.

Employees' Dependents: Dependent(s) of employees are natural children, adopted children, stepchildren, or legal wards of eligible employees claimed as dependents on the employees' most recent federal tax return. To verify eligibility, employees must provide the Office of Financial Assistance with a copy of that portion of the employee's federal tax returns that shows that the dependents were claimed. Alternatively, employees may submit a Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA).

Otherwise eligible children of eligible employees not claimed on the employee's most recent federal tax return due to divorce or legal separation agreements are considered eligible dependents, and the verification requirement will be waived. However, dependents in these situations are still required to meet the "qualifying child test" established in IRS Publication 501.

Excluded Programs

Price reductions through the Tuition Remission program (including senior citizen benefits and hall staff) are not applicable to:

• Accelerated BSN
• Dietetics MS
• Doctor of Physical Therapy (DPT)
• Executive MBA
• Fall/Spring Study Abroad
• Hollywood Semester
• Nutrition and Dietetics MS
• Online EdD
• Online BS in Speech Language Hearing Science
• Online BSN to DNP
• Online BSN to DNP-FNP
• Online MSN to DNP-Leadership
• Online BSN to MSN
• Online BSN to MSN-FNP
• Online DNP-FNP Psych
• Online MSN to DNP
• Online MSN to FNP
• Online MSN-FNP Psych
• Online PNP-Certificate
• Online RN to MSN
• Online RN-MSN-FNP Psych
• Online Master of Arts in Counseling
• Online Master of Computer Science
• Online UG Degree Completion
• Post Master Certificate in Neurocounseling
• All Bundled Programs (includes programs billed based on flat program rate)

Price reductions for programs offered through Bradley’s Study Abroad Office are limited to the tuition component of Bradley programs offered during January Interim, May Interim or summer sessions. Tuition remission is not applicable to any costs associated with any other study abroad offerings or other off-campus programs that do not charge Bradley tuition and/or fees.

Educational Assistance Plan

Bradley University recognizes that the skills and knowledge of its employees are critical to the success of the organization. The educational assistance program encourages personal development through formal education so employees can maintain and improve job-related skills or enhance their ability to compete for reasonably attainable positions within Bradley University .

Bradley University will provide educational assistance to all eligible employees who have completed 365 calendar days of service in an eligible employment classification. To maintain eligibility, employees must remain on the active payroll and be performing their position satisfactorily through completion of each course. Employees in the following classifications(s) are eligible for educational assistance:

Regular full-time employees defined as employees who work a minimum of nine (9) months per year and 30 hours per week.

While educational assistance is expected to enhance employees' performance and professional abilities, Bradley University cannot guarantee that participation in formal education will entitle the employee to automatic advancement, a different assignment, or pay increases.

The Bradley University Educational Assistance Plan is intended to comply with the tax provisions of IRC Sections 127 and 117(d). Under Section 117(d), undergraduate tuition reduction provided to the employee, the employee's spouse, or dependents as defined under IRC Section 132(h) is excluded in full from gross income. Under Section 127, payments received by an employee for tuition for coursework beginning January 1, 2002 is excludable from gross income up to $5250. This includes graduate tuition remission, but only to the maximum of $5250. These exclusions apply as long as the benefit does not discriminate in favor of highly compensated employees. Graduate tuition remission for the spouse or dependents remains taxable, as no exclusion is provided under either Section 117(d) or Section 127.

Those eligible for tuition remission include:

• The employee
• The spouse of the employee who is married to the employee on the first day of the academic term for which the benefit is being requested.
• The dependent(s) of the employee who qualifies for admission to Bradley University. Dependent is a natural child, adopted child, stepchild, or legal ward of an eligible employee who was claimed as a dependent on the employee's most recent federal tax return. Otherwise eligible children of eligible employees not claimed on the employee's most recent federal tax return due to divorce or legal separation agreements are considered eligible dependents. However, dependents in these situations are still required to meet the "qualifying child test" established in IRS Publication 501.

No application fees shall be required for those who are eligible for tuition remission.

Any and all exceptions to these regulations must have the recommendation of the appropriate Vice President and approval of the President. In order that registration may be processed promptly, any request for exception should be made in ample time for consideration to be given before the applicant appears for registration.

A Bradley Employee Remission Application must be completed at the Office of Financial Assistance by each participant in tuition remission so that the appropriate credit is posted to the student's registration form. The Bradley Employee Remission Application will be available during the registration period. The Office of Financial Assistance may request the participant to present the employee's ID card in order to verify eligibility.

The above procedure is applicable each session of school and applies only to courses offered on-campus.

The Division of Continuing Education and Professional Development may permit Bradley employees, spouses, and dependents to attend non-credit community service courses, institutions, seminars, or extension courses at reduced rates.

Applicants will be asked to certify compliance with the above eligibility requirements.

Employees should contact their supervisor or the Financial Assistance Director for more information or questions about education assistance.

Tuition Remission and Federal/State Financial Assistance

Employees using tuition remission benefits are strongly encouraged to complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). The FAFSA results are used to determine eligibility for all types of federal assistance including student loans and the Pell Grant program. It is commonly assumed that the receipt of tuition remission precludes eligibility for other assistance. On the contrary, the federal Pell Grant and student and parent borrowing opportunities are available to assist with any costs beyond those covered by tuition remission.

Tuition Remission and other Assistance Programs

When institutionally-funded assistance such as Tuition Remission is combined with other tuition-restricted financial assistance, the total of all programs may not exceed a student's annual tuition cost. The following types/sources or programs, alone or in combination, fall within the scope of this policy:

• ISAC Monetary Award Program Grant
• Keystone Employee Dependents Scholarship
• Leadership Scholarship
• Legacy Scholarship
• National Merit Scholarship
• Neighbor State Scholarships
• Presidential Scholarship
• Transfer Scholarship (all programs)
• Tuition Exchange Scholarship
• Tuition Remission Program
• University Scholarship

Institutionally funded assistance combined with the following types/sources or programs of assistance may exceed a student's annual tuition cost:

• Athletic Grants (Subject to NCAA restrictions)
• Federal Pell Grant
• Residence Hall Staff Remission

The Tuition Exchange

Bradley University participates in The Tuition Exchange, a reciprocal scholarship program that finances college tuition for dependents of employees at more than six hundred participating institutions. The program is for dependent children of full-time Bradley employees who are enrolled in a first undergraduate program. This program is administered by the Office of Financial Assistance on behalf of the Faculty Senate's Contractual Arrangements Committee. A limited number of new scholarships (typically two to four) are available in a given year so there is no guarantee that all employees will have the opportunity to participate. Eligibility for participation is determined by years of full time service.

For additional information about Tuition Exchange please see our Tuition Exchange Import and Tuition Exchange Export FAQ's.

Selection Process

• Applicants are ranked based on the eligible employee's years of continuous service at Bradley University.
• The three (3) highest ranking applications received by October 1 will be offered the opportunity to designate ten (10) Exchange schools where they have applied or will apply for admission. The next 3 highest-ranking applications received by October 1 will be designated alternates.
• If a top-3 family relinquishes a slot, it will be made available to the next highest-ranking alternate.

If at any time an employee decides to decline his position in the program, please notify Mhairi Doty in the Office of Financial Assistance to ensure the next person in line has the opportunity to use this benefit.

Bradley Guidelines for The Tuition Exchange

Each faculty and staff member will earn one unit of credit for each academic or calendar year of full-time service as a faculty or staff member at Bradley University. Each faculty and staff member will be debited at the rate of 2½ units for each academic year that his or her child participates in the tuition exchange program.

Preference for participation of a student in the program will be given to those faculty and staff children whose parent has the highest number of net (credits less debits) units. In the event that two or more faculty and staff members have an equal number of net units, preference will be given to the prospective student participant having the highest composite ACT score.

Once a student has entered the Tuition Exchange Program, he or she is eligible to complete his or her entire academic program, up to a maximum of four consecutive academic years. Upon entrance of the student into the program, the parent is automatically debited for the number of years that the student applied for, times 2½ units / year. (For example, assume a student enters the Exchange Program as a first-year student working toward a B.S. degree. Further assume that the faculty or staff parent has 24 net units of credit. Ten units will be debited immediately when the student enters that program leaving the faculty or staff parent with 14 net units of credit.)

In cases where both parents are full-time faculty or staff members, credit will be earned by the parent having the longest full-time service as a faculty or staff member at the university.

This procedure will be applied on a year-to-year basis. That is, only people applying in a particular year will be considered, and if a spot is not available in the first year of application, the student may continue to apply each subsequent year with the hope of a spot opening up. In no case will priorities of spots be assigned on the basis of application dates.

In order to be considered under these provisions, applications for The Tuition Exchange must be made to the Financial Assistance Office by October 1st in the year prior to the expected date of matriculation.