Human Resources

The following categories of individuals associated with Indiana University are eligible for the Tuition Benefit and the IUHS tuition waiver: 

• Full Time* IU Academic and Staff Employees (including Residents) employed by the end of the first full week of classes for the semester or term.
• Full Time* IU Academic and Staff Employees (including 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* Academic and Staff Employees (including Residents) receiving long-term disability benefits from a University-sponsored plan, Social Security Administration, or PERF.
• Spouses and dependent children** of eligible employees

To be eligible, an employee or qualified former employee must have such status by the end of the first week of classes or at the time of registration for IUHS courses.

* Full-time is 75% FTE or greater. Employees in temporary positions or in positions less than full-time are not eligible for plan membership.

** Dependent children have additional eligibility requirements. See the Eligibility Section for more detail.

Contact the Human Resources Customer Care team at AskHR by calling (812) 856-1234 or by email at .

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 Tuition Benefit.

Yes, there are special rules for divorced or separated parents. Basically, if one or the other parent claims the child, both parents can claim that same child as a “dependent” for tuition benefit purposes.

No. The IRS says that “if a child is emancipated under state law, the child is treated as not living with either parent.”  This means the child would fail the residency portion of the IRS support test requirements in determining tax-dependency status, thus making them ineligible for the Tuition Benefit plan.

You can start by going to apply.iu.edu.

The IU Tuition Benefit for eligible dependent children is a subsidy of 50% of the billed tuition costs (associated with attending Indiana University classes) 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. The benefit does not apply to audit hours or graduate coursework but can be applied toward multiple campuses of attendance each semester/term. A separate IU Tuition Benefit application will need to be completed for each campus of attendance.

The rates may be found on the benefits amounts page.

The benefit is based on the campus where the student is enrolled.

The benefit is based on the employee's standing. For example, if an undergraduate student takes a graduate class he or she will be charged the undergraduate rate and tuition will be covered up to the undergraduate IU Tuition Benefit limit.

If a graduate student takes an undergraduate class he or she will be charged graduate tuition and receive up to the maximum amount for graduate IU Tuition Benefit.

• View current benefit amounts 

All recipients will receive either the same benefit or a slightly higher benefit depending upon if they are enrolled in a graduate program or professional program (such as Law, Optometry, Dentistry, etc.).

• View current benefit amounts

The Registrar’s office on the campus where you will be attending determines your residency status. Learn how IU determines your residency.

Applications can be found at the Tuition Benefit web page.

The quickest way to apply is online either through the link above or from One.IU.  You may also submit your application via the pdf form or you can print the paper application and send the completed form and any documentation, if applicable, via email to or by fax to (812) 855-3409 or mail to IU Human Resources – Attn: Tuition Benefit, 2709 E. 10th Street, Ste 321, Bloomington, IN 47408

In order for tuition for any semester/session to be covered by the Tuition Benefit, the employee or Retiree must 1) be eligible by the end of the first week of class and 2) submit an application by the semester deadline.

Deadlines for each semester are listed below. After these deadlines no subsidy will be applied and the student will be responsible for their entire bursar bill for that semester. Applications may, however, be submitted in advance for up to a full academic year.

Semester/Term	Deadline
Fall	October 30
Winter	January 30
Spring	March 30
Summer	July 30

In order to avoid being billed for the full tuition amount, employees are encouraged to submit this application for the academic year as soon as possible. If this application is processed after the student has been billed for tuition, the student must pay the full tuition bill by its due date.  Once the application is processed, the student will receive a refund through the Office of the Bursar.

Online is the simplest and fastest way to apply for tuition benefit. If you desire, you can still complete and submit the paper application form manually. In either case, a new application must be submitted for each academic year to IU Human Resources.  

In order for tuition for any semester/session to be covered by the Tuition Benefit, the employee or Retiree must 1) be eligible by the end of the first week of class and 2) submit an application by the semester deadline.

Deadlines for each semester are listed below. After these deadlines no subsidy will be applied and the student will be responsible for their entire bursar bill for that semester. Applications may, however, be submitted in advance for up to a full academic year.

Semester/Term	Deadline
Fall	October 30
Winter	January 30
Spring	March 30
Summer	July 30

Applications can be submitted per term/semester or once for an entire academic year.  You will need to submit a new application each academic year or if you change the campus where you’ll be attending classes.

If you are attending multiple campuses during the same term, you will need to complete an application for each campus of attendance.

If you are an employee/IU Retiree or spouse, be sure to review the multiple campus plan provisions.

Once you have applied for the IU Tuition Benefit you will automatically receive an email confirmation of your submission.  Please check that this reflects your terms, campus and program correctly.  Once your application has been approved by our office you will receive another email confirming that your application has been approved.  You will usually see the benefit applied to your bursar account either with the first bill of the term or within 1-2 weeks after approval of the benefit.

If you have questions or concerns regarding your application, please contact IU Human Resources at or call (812) 856-1234 for more information.

The Registrar’s office on the campus where you will be attending determines your residency status. Learn how IU determines your residency.

If your tuition benefit does not get applied to your bursar bill you should contact IU Human Resources at or call (812) 856-1234.

If your application has been processed you should then contact the Office of the Bursar on the campus of enrollment to discuss your bill.

No. The benefit applies only to tuition charges. It does not apply to special fees such as:

• Music performance studies
• Student teaching
• Laboratories
• Early education experience
• Advanced dissertation research (G901, B798, G831, or equivalent)
• Testing out of courses
• Rental of special equipment or facilities
• Fees for non-credit courses
• Mandatory student fees, such as student technology, activity, athletic, or transportation fees

Covered individuals are responsible for all tuition costs over the benefit maximum and excluded fees.

Please contact your campus bursar office.

• Bloomington: Student Central on Union at , (812) 855-6500, or 408 North Union.
• IUPUI/Columbus: Office of the Bursar at , (317) 274-2451, or Campus Center 250
• Northwest: Office of Student Accounts at , (219) 980-6622, or Hawthorn Hall, Room 109
• East: Office of Student Accounts at , (765) 973-8345, or Whitewater Hall, Room 102
• Kokomo: Office of the Bursar at , (765) 455-9352 or Kelley Student Center, Room 205
• South Bend: Office of the Bursar at , (574) 520-4253 or Administration Bldg, Room 100
• Southeast: Office of the Bursar at , (812) 941-2335 or University Center South, Room 103
• Fort Wayne: Student Central at , (833) 384-8784 or Neff Hall, Room 110

During the refund period:

If the student drops courses or withdraws from school during the 100% refund period, any refund applicable to the IU Tuition Benefit will revert back to the university, and the employee/retiree is not taxed on any IU Tuition Benefit. For dependent children, the credit hours for the dropped courses will not apply toward the 140 hour maximum for the IU Tuition Benefit.

If the student drops courses or withdraws from school during the 25-75% refund period, any refund applicable to the IU Tuition Benefit will revert back to the university, and the employee/retiree will continue to be responsible for any applicable taxes on the IU Tuition Benefit award amount that remains applied to the bursar account. See the Benefit Taxation section. For dependent children, the IU Tuition Benefit award amount that remains on the bursar account for the credit hours for the dropped courses will still apply toward the 140 hour maximum for the IU Tuition Benefit.

After the refund period:

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, and the employee/retiree will continue to be responsible for any applicable taxes. See the Benefit Taxation section. For dependent children, the credit hours for the dropped courses will still apply toward the 140 hour maximum for the IU Tuition Benefit.

If the student fails courses, the IU Tuition Benefit award amount will stay applied to the student’s bursar account, the credit hours for the failed courses will still apply toward the dependent child’s 140 hour maximum (if applicable), and the employee will continue to be responsible for any applicable taxes. See the Benefit Taxation section.

For employees/IU Retirees and spouses, audit hours are eligible for the tuition benefit.  The tuition benefit for the eligible dependent child is limited to credit hours only and does not apply to audit hours.

Any online course or certificate that earns credit hours and is billed through IU’s Office of the Bursar is covered by the IU Tuition Benefit. EdX courses are not eligible for the IU Tuition Benefit as they are billed through the EdX program and not IU’s Office of the Bursar.

No, the Tuition Benefit is a subsidy toward the tuition cost associated with attending Indiana University classes.  The benefit is applied directly to the student’s bursar bill.

The IU Tuition Benefit only applies to the tuition costs associated with Indiana University and billed through our bursar offices. Overseas partnering schools may have additional tuition and fees that will be charged. These are not eligible for the IU Tuition Benefit.

Maybe. The IU Tuition Benefit only applies to the tuition costs associated with Indiana University.  The certification program needs to be through IU, billed through IU’s Office of the Bursar, and earn credit hours that are transferrable as college credit.

No. Courses such as G901, B798, G831, or equivalent are not eligible for the IU Tuition Benefit.

• Advanced Dissertation Research courses such as G901, B798, G831, or equivalent
• Business Essentials Program through the Kelley School of Business
• EdCert program through UITS
• EdX MicroMasters courses as they are billed through the EdX program and not IU’s Office of the Bursar
• Intensive English Program (IEP)
• Fees for testing out of courses as they are billed as special credit fees and not tuition costs

This is only a partial list of ineligible courses & programs and is subject to change at any time.

IRS Section 127 (as described in the IU Section 127 Plan document) allows the preferential tax treatment of up to $5,250 annually for employee subsidies paid toward graduate level tuition, but only for those described in the Eligible Employees and Retirees section.

Graduate level tuition subsidies for courses taken by a spouse are treated as taxable income to the associated employee or Re­tiree, as well as subsidies for graduate-level tuition for an employee above the $5,250 IRS annual limit.

For tax purposes, it does not matter which family member took the graduate-level course, the Tuition Benefit is an employee/retiree benefit. Therefore, the employee or retiree is responsible for applicable taxes. Such taxes will be deducted from the employee’s pay, and in the case of a retiree, the value of the graduate-level Tuition Benefit, in excess of $5,250 annually, will be given as taxable gross income.

The Tuition Benefit for graduate-level courses will be added to the employee’s taxable income beginning with the payroll cycle following the end of the full refund period for dropping courses. A letter reflecting the amount of additional income and the payroll periods affected will be sent from the Office of the University Controller.

Yes, if an undergraduate employee/retiree enrolls in graduate course work and receives tuition benefit in excess of $5,250 annually, it will be considered taxable.

If a spouse is an undergraduate but enrolls in graduate coursework, their tuition benefit will be considered taxable.

For tax purposes, it does not matter which family member took the graduate-level course, the Tuition Benefit is an employee/retiree benefit. Therefore, the employee or retiree is responsible for applicable taxes.

If an employee/retiree or spouse is a graduate student but enrolls in an undergraduate course, the tuition benefit received for that course will not be considered taxable.

The value of the IU Tuition Benefit award for the taxable course work will be reported as taxable income on a W-2 form and will be mailed to the Retiree. 

Yes. Regardless of whether you receive financial aid, scholarships, grants, etc., the IU tuition benefit will be the first award applied against your bursar account. 

Contact your campus Office of Financial Aid.

Contact your campus Office of Financial Aid.

If your student is a recipient of the 21st Century Scholar award from the Indiana Commission of Higher Education (ICHE), you will not need to apply for the IU Tuition Benefit for the academic year. The 21st Century Scholar award pays full tuition and mandatory fees. However, if your student chooses to enroll in the summer term and is not receiving the 21st Century Scholar award, you would want to apply for the IU Tuition Benefit for the summer term.

Contact or (812) 855-0375.