Fellowships and Benefits

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Tuition Benefit Program Guidelines

  1. Categories of Supported Graduate Students
  2. Registration Requirements
  3. Financial Support Requirements
  4. Service Requirements
  5. Residency and Meritorious Status
  6. Restrictions
  7. Administration
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Categories of Supported Graduate Students

The four eligible classifications qualifying a student for TBP participation are:

  • Graduate Teaching Assistant (TA), (PAN job code 9416, Exempt): A graduate student with instructional responsibilities as instructor of record, assistant to the instructor of record or tutor. Duties may include lecturing, holding discussion or problem sessions, conducting laboratory sections, conducting studio or performance work, online instruction, grading, tutoring and holding office hours. International students must be cleared through the International Teaching Assistant Program before being placed in jobs coded 9416.
  • Graduate Research Assistant (RA), (PAN job code 9314, Exempt): A graduate student assigned directly to an externally funded research grant (5000 fund only) and doing research for that project.
  • Graduate Assistant (GA), (PAN job code 9330, Exempt; 9331, Hourly): A graduate student assigned work related to his/her degree program and not covered in the previous two categories. A GA must be funded by his/her department and not supported by external 5000 funding. Exceptions, if a student wishes to work as a GA outside his/her home department, prior approval must be granted by the Dean of the Graduate School.
  • Graduate Fellow (GF): A graduate student on a fellowship receiving a monthly stipend and whose tuition is not paid by the award. No employer-employee relationship exists in a fellowship. The University administers the award and a service expectation may or may not accompany it. The five-digit account 66900 must be entered in the chartfield on the stipend form. TBP has right of first reversal if other sources of tuition funding are available.

These four specific job codes satisfy current federal policies and regulations for graduate students working toward post-baccalaureate degrees at the University of Utah. Graduate students should be classified as exempt whenever feasible and not hourly. Students on stipends should receive prorated monthly payments. Non-matriculated students, part-time students, and students on probationary status are ineligible for the TBP.

PeopleSoft fund codes 1000, 2000, 5000 and 6000 satisfying TBP payroll eligibility. Note: Graduate RAs (9314) must be paid from research grants with a 5000 fund and 8-digit project number. To be eligible for TBP participation, no other job code than 9314 (RA) can be used on a PAN with a 5000 fund.

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Registration Requirements

Students participating in the TBP must be full-time, matriculated graduate students in good standing, cumulative GPA 3.0 (Law School, 2.0). Students on academic probation are not eligible for a Graduate School tuition benefit. TBP full-time student status means registration of at least 9 credit hours throughout the semester. This provision does not affect full-time definitions or requirements currently employed for the purpose of loan repayment, student insurance, or other reporting requirements. TBP covers 9 graduate credit hours to a maximum of 12 credit hours, except for RAs whose tuition benefit is a minimum of 9 and a maximum of 11 credit hours in Fall and Spring semesters and 3 credit hours in Summer semester. For RAs who have exceeded 84 accumulated credit hours resident (in-state) tuition only is included in the TBP. This condition will be implemented in the semester that cumulative registration exceeds 84 credit hours as a University of Utah graduate student. Undergraduate, contract and/or audited courses count toward the required minimum 9 credit hours but do not qualify for a tuition benefit. A student registered for fewer than 9 credit hours may make up the difference by registering for 6970, 6980, 7970, 7980, or other appropriate graduate credit. Students may register for a maximum 16 semester hours but are responsible for tuition for hours exceeding 12 credits. Students adding and/or dropping courses after the semester's published add/drop deadlines are responsible for any and all charges incurred. If registration falls below 9 credit hours at any time during the semester, a student becomes ineligible for TBP participation and will be billed the full tuition for that semester.

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Financial Support Requirements for a Tuition Benefit

All students receiving a tuition benefit must meet minimum financial support requirements paid through the University of Utah for each semester that a benefit is received. Minimum support levels for the 2009-2010 academic year are:

  1. $5,750 per semester: 100% tuition benefit
  2. $4,313 per semester: 75% tuition benefit
  3. $2,875 per semester: 50% tuition benefit

No tuition benefit is granted to students receiving less than $2,750 for the semester. Required minimum support level is annually indexed to general salary increases to prevent gradual erosion of established graduate student salaries and stipends.

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Service Requirements

Graduate students receiving a tuition benefit are expected to fulfill the responsibilities appropriate to their specific assignment. No student is required to work more than 20 hours a week (0.50 FTE) in order to receive a tuition benefit. Faculty may expect up to 20 hours of work a week (0.50 FTE) from students receiving a 100% tuition benefit, 15 hours a week (0.375 FTE) from students receiving a 75% tuition benefit, and 10 hours a week (0.25 FTE) from students receiving a 50% tuition benefit. Students working one or more on-campus jobs with a combined FTE greater than a 0.74 FTE are ineligible to participate in the Graduate Tuition Benefit Program.

NOTE: In order to participate in the TBP, student information, including combined salaries, stipends, and FTEs (from university departments) using job codes (9330, 9331, 9314, and 9416), must be entered on the TBP Web page by the "home" department (department in which the student is pursuing a graduate degree). These data must be entered on the Web before the 'state registration census' is taken, e.g., 15th day of classes.

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Residency and Meritorious Status

As approved by the University of Utah President and according to Utah law and the Board of Regents' policy, out-of-state TBP students are exempt from paying non-resident tuition. Their graduate tuition benefit is at the in-state rate for the appropriate TBP level (100%, 75%, or 50%). Tuition and fees not covered by the TBP are the student's responsibility. Out-of-state, non-international graduate students receiving a tuition benefit must apply for Utah residency upon fulfilling sixty (60) semester credit hours at a regionally accredited Utah institution of higher education. Comprehensive and aggressive action should be taken by departments to ensure that U.S. citizens apply for Utah residency once 40 graduate credit hours are reached. Credit hours for graduate-level courses 6000 and above shall be multiplied by 1.5 in calculating the required 60 semester credit hours. A student's ability to establish residency will not affect receipt of a tuition benefit. (For complete Code on Utah residency, revised 2002, go to: http://www.sa.utah.edu/admiss/appdownload/Resident.pdf ).

Graduate meritorious status is established by:

  • Admission to the University of Utah as a matriculated graduate student;
  • Selection on the basis of merit, determined by written policy in each department, as a supported graduate student receiving a salary or stipend from the University of Utah under the provisions and subject to the minimum levels of support provided in the Graduate Council guidelines;
  • Recommendation of the department chair;
  • A candidate for a graduate degree maintaining a 3.0 GPA or higher (except where otherwise approved, such as a 2.0 GPA in the Law School). GPAs are verified at the end of each academic year. A grade below C- is not accepted for credit toward a graduate degree; some departments further restrict C grades.
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Restrictions

A graduate tuition benefit is available only to graduate students compensated through the University of Utah. The TBP covers general graduate tuition and mandatory fees. Differential tuition charged by various university graduate and professional programs is the responsibility of the graduate student, department and/or college. Students may participate in the TBP for a limited number of semesters, which need not be sequential. Time limits for participation in the TBP are as follows:

  1. Students in a Master's program are limited to two years (4 semesters) of tuition benefit support.
  2. Students in a doctoral program who entered with a Bachelor's degree are limited to five years (10 semesters) of tuition benefit support.
  3. Students in a doctoral program who also received a Master's degree at the University of Utah are limited to five years of tuition benefit support (2 years for a Master's + 3 additional years for a doctorate).
  4. Students entering a doctoral program with a Master's degree from another university are eligible for four years (8 semesters) of tuition benefit support.

Doctoral students who fall under categories 2 and 3 above and who have served a minimum of four semesters as full-time TAs (0.50 FTE or 20 hrs/ week), may receive an additional year (2 semesters) of tuition benefit support beyond the limits described above. In order to receive this time extension, students must be nominated by the department chair and/or the director of graduate studies in a letter to the dean of the Graduate School. These restrictions do not limit the number of years or semesters a program, department, or college may choose to support a student in addition to the TBP. Established time limits for completion of graduate programs still apply.

The student and department are responsible for maintaining an accurate count of the semesters of tuition benefit support a student has received. A student who receives more terms of tuition benefit than he or she is eligible may be retroactively billed for the tuition of the ineligible semester(s).

Tuition benefit support is not generally available for summer semester.

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Administration of the Tuition Benefit Program

The Graduate School administers the Graduate Tuition Benefit Program. Verification of a student's TBP eligibility is the department's responsibility. Note: If a graduate student received a conditional tuition credit for the semester but (a) withdrew from courses, dropping below the minimum 9 credit hours; (b) received less than the minimal financial support; (c) failed to provide evidence of acceptable SPEAK test scores (as applicable); or (d) in any way did not meet all requirements or restrictions associated with any of the TBP graduate student components or Graduate School policy, the tuition credit will be rescinded. The student will be billed for tuition and fees at the full, relevant rate for that semester.

Students are not eligible to receive a tuition benefit after a semester has ended if they were not entered on the Web prior to the date the 'state's registration census'(15th day of classes) is taken. It is a department's responsibility to enter eligible students on the TBP Web page in a timely manner prior to the 15th day of the semester the student expects to receive the benefit. No retroactive benefits are awarded. With a petition from the student's department chair to the dean of the Graduate School, exceptions will be considered for personal emergencies such as illness or family emergency.