Tuition Benefits
Tuition Benefits
Central College assists employees and their families by aiding their dependents with the cost of their post-secondary education through participation in one of the following benefit programs:
1. Tuition reduction benefit
2. Tuition exchange benefit options
a.Tuition Exchange Program (CIC-TEP) – Council of Independent Colleges
1. The Tuition Reduction Benefit pertains only to tuition and audit fees of Central College. All individuals eligible for the tuition reduction benefit must pay the fees associated with course registration. This includes, but is not limited to: science lab fees, art fees, music lesson fees, pre-student teaching fee and student teaching fees.
Eligibility
Full-time employees: All full-time employees will be eligible.
.50 FTE or more Employees: Those who work .50 FTE or more may participate on a prorated basis.
Temporary: Temporary employees are not eligible.
Returning employees: Employees who leave Central College and return may not count previous service at Central College toward this benefit.
Time away to attend class: Time away may be permitted where such scheduling does not interfere with the job responsibilities. Such time away must be approved by the immediate supervisor. Time away for such attendance is personal time and is non-compensatory. A non-exempt employee should arrange make-up hours with the immediate supervisor. Elimination of formal breaks is not a permitted substitute for time away from the job in order to attend class.
Spouses: Tuition reduction benefit is available commencing in the academic period following two years of continuous employment for a maximum of 120 attempted semester hours. Courses which the spouse enrolls in and attends, but subsequently withdraws from, are counted toward the maximum number of semester hours. Spouses must maintain a 2.000 cumulative GPA in order to continue receiving the tuition reduction benefit.
Dependent Children: Tuition reduction benefit is available for dependent children commencing in the academic period following two years of continuous employment. Degree seeking children of eligible employees may enroll in courses on the Pella campus tuition-free, up to eight semesters (120 attempted credit hours maximum), providing they qualify under standard admission procedures. The term “children” includes biological children, step-children, and legally adopted children who are legal dependents of the employee as documented on the federal income tax return. Students admitted on “guest” status will be eligible for one semester of tuition reduction. At the end of that semester, the student must be admissible as a regular, degree-seeking student to continue.
All dependent children receiving the tuition reduction benefit must maintain progress toward graduation in order to continue receiving the benefit. Room and board charges are not part of the tuition reduction benefit and will be charged accordingly.
Tuition reduction does not apply to summer school.
If an employee leaves Central College employment for voluntary reasons (other employment, stay at home, etc.) or terminated or their position eliminated as part of a staff reduction during the time that the employee, their dependent student or spouse is enrolled and receiving tuition reduction, the benefit will continue through the end of the semester in progress.) A dependent child or spouse of a deceased employee will be eligible for the tuition reduction benefit for up to eight semesters (120 attempted semester hour maximum) if the employee was eligible for the benefit at the time of his or her death.
Other Financial Aid:
Tuition reduction is a valuable benefit to the college employee; as such it also represents a costly program for Central College. Therefore, employees whose children or spouse enroll at Central must submit the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) to determine eligibility for a State of Iowa Tuition Grant that will be used to offset the cost of this generous benefit. Specifically, tuition reduction students who qualify for the Iowa Tuition Grant will have the value of the Iowa Tuition Grant deducted from their eligibility for tuition reduction.
A dependent child or spouse already enrolled at Central College at the time his or her parent/spouse becomes eligible for the tuition reduction benefit will have the number of terms of eligibility for the benefit reduced by the number of terms the student has already received financial aid from the college.
The employee applying for the Central College tuition reduction for a dependent student or spouse must submit a copy of the front page from their most current federal income tax return to the office of student financial aid at Central by July 15. Employees failing to meet the July 15 deadline will be taxed on the tuition benefit.
2. Tuition exchange benefit options
a. Tuition Exchange Program (CIC-TEP)Council of Independent College
The CIC–TEP is a network of CIC colleges and universities willing to accept, tuition-free, students from families of full-time employees of other CIC–TEP institutions. CIC–TEP was planned and developed with a goal of creating a true-access program, without any costly fees or cumbersome credit-debit limitations. Each participating institution in the network agrees to import a limited number of students on the same admission basis as they accept all other students, without regard to the number of students it exports. The true-access component is only one of the many special features that the program offers.
Tuition Exchange, Inc. is a partnership of colleges and universities offering competitive tuition exchange scholarships to eligible members’ faculty and staff dependent children for a maximum of 8 semesters toward an undergraduate degree. The college participates in the Tuition Exchange, Inc. partnership.
Eligibility for CIC-TEP or Tuition Exchange: The tuition exchange benefit is available to dependent children of full-time employees in the academic period following two (2) years of continuous employment. Should the situation arise that all requests cannot be accommodated; a priority participation policy will be implemented. A continuing participant will have priority over a new applicant. Applications for tuition exchange must be submitted by November 1 for the following academic year. Dependent children of deceased or retired employees are not eligible for participation in the tuition exchange benefit.
If an employee leaves Central College employment for voluntary reasons (other employment, stay at home, etc.) during the time their dependent student is enrolled and receiving the tuition exchange benefit, or an employee is terminated or their position eliminated as part of a staff reduction, the tuition exchange benefit being received would continue through the end of the semester in progress.
The employee applying for the tuition exchange benefit for a dependent student must submit a copy of the front page from their most current federal income tax return to the office of student financial aid at Central by July 15. Employees failing to meet the July 15 deadline will be taxed on the tuition benefit.
Questions regarding these policies should be directed to the Talent, Equity, and Engagement Office.