Plan Provisions

Your eligibility for the tuition benefit

For you or any qualifying family members to be eligible for the tuition benefit, your status must be one of the following by the end of the first week of classes (or at the time of registration for IUHS courses):

  • Full-time (75% FTE or greater) appointed academic and staff employees (including IU residents)
  • Full-time (75% FTE or greater) appointed academic and staff employees (including IU residents) on an approved leave of absence, other than a leave without pay prior to active employment
  • Former employees with IU retiree status
  • Disabled former full-time (75% FTE or greater) appointed academic and staff employees (including IU Residents) receiving long-term disability benefits from a university-sponsored plan, Social Security Administration, or PERF

Criteria for spousal eligibility

The definition of spouse means one by marriage—either opposite-sex or same-sex—legally entered into in one of the 50 states, the District of Columbia, or a U.S. territory or a foreign country.

A copy of your marriage certificate is required at the time of initial enrollment and periodically thereafter. Failure to provide this proof within 30 days of the university’s written request may result in the termination your IU tuition benefit award.

By the first day of the semester or term, a spouse must meet the above definition of a spouse of an eligible employee or retiree, or of a deceased employee or retiree who was eligible at the time of their death.

You cannot receive the IU tuition benefit as both an employee and as a spouse of another employee.

Criteria for dependent eligibility

A dependent child is defined as the biological or adopted child, stepchild, or child whose legal guardian is an eligible individual.

The child must also:

  • Be unmarried
  • Be 23 years of age or under
  • Meet the IRS Support Test requirements as a qualifying child of the employee or spouse

Proof that your learner is a qualified dependent (birth certificate, guardianship orders, as applicable) is required at the time of initial enrollment and periodically thereafter. Failure to provide proof of dependent eligibility within 30 days of the university’s written request may result in the termination of the IU tuition benefit award.

To be eligible for the IU tuition benefit, by the first day of the semester or term, the dependent child must meet the definition of a dependent child, as defined by the plan, of an eligible employee or retiree, or of a deceased employee or retiree who was eligible at the time of their death.

The fine print

Find out about costs that are excluded from this plan, taking courses on more than one campus, what happens when a class is dropped, and other circumstances that may affect your tuition benefit:

Covered tuition includes the per-credit-hour tuition rate charged to a student.

This excludes special fees, such as those for music performance studies, student teaching, laboratories, early education experience, advanced dissertation research (B798, G831, G901, or equivalent), testing out of courses, rental of special equipment or facilities, and fees for non-credit courses.

Mandatory student fees, such as student technology, activity, or athletic fees are not considered tuition and are not covered under this plan. Covered individuals are responsible for all tuition costs over the benefit maximum and excluded fees.

The IU tuition benefit will be discontinued at the conclusion of the semester/term in which:

  • The student ceases to meet the definition of a dependent child as specified in this plan
  • The child’s parent is no longer an employee of the university for reasons other than disability, death, or termination with IU retiree status
  • The child receives a bachelor’s degree, or the child accumulates 140 credit hours of IU tuition benefit awards*, whichever comes first.

* Hours that accumulate toward the 140-credit hour limit include any earned hours, failed or incomplete course hours, and withdrawn courses that received a “W” after the 100 percent tuition refund period that have been subsidized by the IU tuition benefit. This includes hours from another campus or program, such as ACP or IUHS, that also received the tuition benefit subsidy.

Covered Individuals who are registered for classes on multiple campuses must complete a separate IU tuition benefit application for each campus of enrollment.

Dependent children: For each campus that the dependent child is registered for classes and has completed the IU tuition benefit application, they will receive the tuition benefit subsidy of 50 percent of tuition costs at the Indiana resident undergraduate rate, up to the completion of a bachelor’s degree or up to a maximum of 140 credit hours of IU tuition benefit awards, whichever occurs first.

Employees/retirees and spouses:Only one IU tuition benefit subsidy will be applied each semester/term. The subsidy amount, however, can be split over multiple campuses. Since the IU tuition benefit is a subsidy of covered tuition up to a benefit dollar maximum per semester/term, the highest maximum between the campuses of enrollment is used as the maximum subsidy amount for that semester/term. (Example: Campus A has a maximum benefit of $1,500; Campus B has a maximum benefit of $1,200. Between the two campuses the $1,500 maximum is the highest maximum and is the amount that can be split between the campuses.)

Find the maximum benefit amounts for each campus on the subsidy amounts page.

Award amounts may not be adjusted on the bursar accounts until after the final deadline for dropping/adding of courses. The adjustments may result in less subsidy being provided at one or more campuses. Students are responsible for all costs not covered by the IU tuition benefit.

Employees who wish to enroll in university classes scheduled during normal work hours must obtain advance approval from the associated department head.

See the applicable Training and Education policy for staff employees for policies related to time away from work.

Employees, retirees, and spouses may use the IU tuition benefit toward audit hours.

The tuition benefit for eligible dependent children is limited to credit hours only—it does not apply to audit hours.

If your student drops courses or withdraws from school during the refund period, any refund applicable to the IU tuition benefit will revert back to the university. If the student drops courses or withdraws from school after the refund period, the IU tuition benefit award amount will stay applied to the student’s bursar account, the credit hours for the dropped courses will still apply toward your dependent child’s 140 credit hour maximum (if applicable), and you will continue to be responsible for any applicable taxes.

Individuals are not eligible to receive benefits as both an employee and as a dependent of another employee or as a dependent of more than one employee. For example, when both parents of a dependent child are employed by the university, one of the parents, but not both, may enroll the child in the IU tuition benefit.