Vol. 38, No. 18

7-16-2008
By: Adam King

Dependent tuition no longer requires 3-year wait

Eligible dependents of some Ohio State employees no longer have to wait to take advantage of the university’s reduced tuition benefit.

Staff and tenure-track faculty have had a three-year wait from their date of hire to become eligible for the dependent tuition benefit. But starting fall quarter 2008, sons, daughters, spouses and same-sex domestic partners of eligible OSU employees can take a 50 percent reduction based on in-state undergraduate general and instructional tuition rates — 75 percent if two parents or partners work at OSU.

“Improving educational benefits is absolutely the right thing to do for the university’s talented faculty and staff,” President Gordon Gee said. “Their creativity, hard work and dedication make Ohio State a dynamic place to learn and work. Faculty and staff provide a superb education, and their family members should be encouraged to take advantage of it.”

About 1,500 faculty and staff currently take advantage of dependent tuition, and hundreds more are expected to use the benefit with their new eligibility.

The deadline to submit a fall quarter 2008 dependent tuition request has been extended to Aug. 8 from July 15, allowing newly eligible individuals to take advantage of this change.

Applications can be found at hr.osu.edu/benefits/educationtuition.htm or call Human Resources Customer Service at 292-1050.

“For those people who have been hired within the past three years and now are suddenly eligible for benefits for their spouse, partner or children, I encourage them to complete an application right away,” said Larry Lewellen, associate vice president for Human Resources. “Education benefits are of very high interest, and few other employers can boast of a benefit that has all the advantages OSU can offer.”

Even institutions that Ohio State uses as comparison benchmarks are hit and miss in this area. Michigan, Texas, Washington, Wisconsin, UCLA and Iowa have no dependent tuition program at all. Indiana, Michigan State, Arizona, Penn State and Purdue all offer employees’ children tuition help immediately upon hire. Spouses get tuition benefits right away only at Indiana, Michigan State and Arizona.

“This strengthened benefit brings us another step closer to becoming a national employer of choice,” Gee said.

Katie Hall, newly elected chair of the University Staff Advisory Committee, said enhancing the tuition benefit was one of USAC’s critical agenda items. The group has been advocating for the benefit for years and found traction this year because of Gee’s and Lewellen’s support.

“Not only do we see this as an important and valuable recruitment and retention tool, but eliminating the waiting period also creates equity for this benefit between staff, tenured faculty, senior administrative officers and senior administrative and professional staff who were already eligible for this assistance immediately upon hire,” Hall said. “We are very appreciative of the support we received from President Gee, university leaders and the Office of Human Resources in exploring this and moving it forward.”

Likewise, Faculty Compensation and Benefits Committee Chair Tony Mughan was pleased with the added benefit.

“From FCBC’s point of view, the benefit change is particularly welcome because this should help us to retain good faculty,” he said.

Newly eligible employees were to be sent an e-mail July 15 from the Office of Human Resources notifying them of the benefit change.

The tuition benefit, which is allowed for use with either undergraduate or graduate studies, is worth between a maximum of $4,000 and $5,000 annually and is based on undergraduate in-state tuition general and instructional rates only.

The reduction is tax-free for undergrads, but graduate students must pay tax on the benefit.

The extra cost of the benefit will be added as a small percentage increase to the benefits overhead charge that is already part of departments’ budgets.

onCampus Home