Employee Tuition Reduction Program

You, your spouse or dependent child can pay a reduced tuition rate up to a maximum number of credit hours.

• Employees: Regular benefit eligible employees are eligible on their first day of employment for the reduced tuition benefit. An employee must be an active regular benefit eligible employee as of the first day of a semester in order to be eligible.
• Retirees: Official NAU retirees are eligible.
• Other: Former employees receiving long term disability benefits (must have five years of continuous service) and selected affiliates are eligible for tuition reduction. Spouses and dependents of deceased employees may also be eligible for the benefit.

Your Spouse and Dependent Children

• Your legally recognized spouse is eligible for the benefit. You may be required to provide proof of eligibility such as a marriage license.
• In order for your dependent child to be eligible for this benefit they must meet the definition of “child” as defined under IRS §152(f)(1) and they must be your dependent for tax purposes.  You will be asked to complete an affidavit confirming your child is eligible for reduced tuition rates. In addition, you may be required to provide proof of eligibility such as a birth certificate or tax forms.

Proof of Citizenship: All students must complete the Eligible Citizen Proof item in their LOUIE “To-Do” list before the e-TRP benefit can be applied. Students who fail to provide proof of eligibility will be charged out-of-state tuition and cannot receive tuition waivers, grants, scholarship assistance, financial aid, tuition assistance or any other type of financial assistance that is subsidized or paid in whole or in part with state monies.

Eligibility is based on the IRS definition of a child and there are many details and exceptions. In most cases your child will meet the definition of a dependent child for a given tax year if your child meets the following criteria:

• Age: Is under age 30
• Tax Dependent: Is your tax dependent or could be your tax dependent except for a divorce decree.  If the child is married they do not file jointly with their spouse.
• Citizenship:Is a citizen or resident of the US, Canada or Mexico
• Residency: Resides with you for more than half the year including any time away for college.  There is an exception for a qualifying dependent of non-custodial parent.
• Support: Provides less than half of their total support, if your child is under age 24, or they do not earn more than the personal exemption ($4,200 for 2019)  if your child is between ages 24 – 30.

Determining if your child is eligible

• IRS Publication 501: Exemptions, Standard Deduction, and Filing Information section on “Exemptions for Dependents”  can help you determine if your child meets the IRS definition of child.
• Review the Dependent Eligibility Questions which includes affidavit questions in the e-TRP
• Contact your tax advisor if you have questions about how to determine if your child meets the definition of a child under IRS code 152(f)(1).

  Learn about an exception for divorced or separated parents

Fall and Spring

• Employee, Retiree or Affiliate – Tuition for students taking 1-9 credit hours is reduced to $25 a semester.
• Spouse– Tuition for students taking 1-9 credit hours is reduced to $25 a semester.
• Dependent– Tuition for students taking 1 or more credit hours is reduced to 25% of actual resident tuition. There is no enrollment limit.

Actual resident tuition is charged for any hours taken over 9 hours for employees and their spouses.  Students are responsible for all books and applicable fees. 

Students attending the Online Campus can review the Student Departmental Account Services (SDAS) tuition rates for confirmation of their portion of the tuition costs that surpass the enrollment limit.

Summer and Winter

• Employee, Retiree or Affiliate– Tuition for students taking 1-6 credit hours is reduced to $25 a session.
• Spouse– Tuition for students taking 1-6 credit hours is reduced to $25 a session.
• Dependent – Tuition for students taking 1 or more credit hours is reduced to 25% of actual resident tuition. There is no enrollment limit.

Actual resident tuition is charged for any hours taken over 6 hours for employees and their spouses.  Students are responsible for all books and applicable fees. 

Students attending the Online Campus can review the Student Departmental Account Services (SDAS) tuition rates for confirmation of their portion of the tuition costs that surpass the enrollment limit.

What is not covered?

The tuition reduction benefit does not apply toward books, applicable fees, program fees or tuition charged for hours exceeding the maximums listed above. Fees can vary based on the university, type of student or program. You should contact the institution you wish to attend for their current tuition rates/fees.

Note: The Graduate Personalized Learning Program is not covered under the Employee Tuition Reduction Program. 

Review NAU Tuition and fees

Is there a benefit for the Undergraduate Personalized Learning program?

The tuition reduction benefit for the Undergraduate Personalized Learning program is only available to NAU employees/retirees and their eligible spouse or dependent children. Students enrolled in an undergraduate degree program through Personalized Learning must contact Personalized Learning to find out the amount of the tuition reduction benefit for this program. Employees/retirees from ASU or UA are not eligible to use the tuition reduction benefit for the Personalized Learning program.

Note: The Graduate Personalized Learning Program is not covered under the Employee Tuition Reduction Program. 

Contact: pl@nau.edu for more information. 

NAU employees and retirees will need to complete an e-TRP each term to request the tuition reduction benefit. All other NAU associated eligible individuals should contact Human Resources at hr.contact@nau.edu or 928.523.2223 for an application. 

e-TRP will be open for submission 90 days prior to the first day of the term. Requests will continue to be accepted until the last day of the term.

Important

Employees from ASU or U of A should follow the tuition reduction process at their university, including any submission deadlines, even if they are requesting tuition reduction for a NAU student.

Process for ASU employees

Process for U of A employees

When the tuition reduction amount is posted to a NAU student’s account depends on the term.

• Fall: Once the e-TRP is approved, the first day the tuition reduction amount is posted to a student’s account is July 1st.
• Spring: Once the e-TRP is approved, the first day the tuition reduction amount is posted to a student’s is January 2nd.
• Summer and Winter: Once the e-TRP is approved, the tuition reduction amount is normally posted to a student’s account with 48 hours of the approval

Review a calendar listing the submission and posting dates for the e-TRP

The tax treatment is different for undergraduate and graduate level courses.

• Undergraduate level courses: The tuition benefit for undergraduate courses for employees and their dependents is not taxable.
• Graduate level courses: The first $5,250 of the benefit for graduate level courses taken by the employee is not taxable, but any amount over $5,250 will be taxable to the employee as income. An employee will be taxed on the full value of a tuition waiver for graduate level courses for a spouse or dependent.

The tax treatment of tuition reductions for both undergraduate and graduate level courses is subject to change by the IRS.

An undergraduate student, who is a dependent child, receives $15,000 of tuition reduction benefit. 

The employee is not taxed on the tuition reduction benefit.

A graduate student, who is the employee, receives $5,000 of tuition reduction for the tax calendar year.  

The employee is not taxed on the tuition reduction benefit.

A graduate student, who is the employee, receives $10,000 of tuition reduction for the tax calendar year.

The employee is not taxed on the first $5,250 tuition reduction benefit. The employee is taxed on $4,750 the amount of the tuition reduction over $5,250.

NAU’s Educational Partnership team is creating several partnerships with organizations in Arizona. This partnership provides a 10% tuition reduction for students enrolled in a graduate program at NAU (excluding Personalized Learning). Tuition Reduction Partnerships (TRP) that are currently active include, Arizona Department of Administration, Coconino Community College, City of Phoenix, City of Tucson, Phoenix Children’s Hospital, Valley Metro, and Maricopa Community College District and others. See the Organization Partnership page for more information.

Students who inquire about a partnership should check their organization’s HR website for more information on how to apply for the benefit.

Bernadette Gomez is the NAU contact for questions about the reduced tuition offered through these organizational partnerships. You can contact her at Bernadette.Gomez@nau.edu or call 928-523-5511.

*Please note, this program is not affiliated with the Employee Tuition Reduction Program (eTRP) and is intended for employees who work for an organization that has established an organization partnership agreement with NAU. This program is not intended for employees employed by NAU, ASU and/or U of A.