Tuition Remission

Tuition remission is defined as tuition costs paid for by some unit within the university, a fellowship agency, or as part of a formal, written university-approved agreement. Tuition remission is always part of a complete financial package that includes tuition remission, an assistantship or fellowship stipend, and university-provided student health insurance. The types of tuition remission are:

Waivers of In-State Tuition

• The UCF College of Graduate Studies receives permission to waive tuition for a number of graduate assistantship students and university fellows up to an amount approved by the UCF Board of Trustees. This “waiver authority” can only be used to waive the in-state tuition fees, and cannot be used for any other student fees. Tuition waivers can be used to cover the in-state tuition for graduate students with assistantship appointments in the three GTA job codes (1106, 1107, 1109) or awarded university-wide fellowships. In some instances, GAs (job code 1108) and GRAs (job codes 1104 and 1105) may also receive tuition waivers.
• Waivers will cover 9 SCH enrollment in Fall and Spring terms and 6 hours of enrollment in Summer terms with two exceptions:
  • • Covers 3 SCH in cases where 3 SCH is full-time enrollment (thesis-only and dissertation-only enrollments)
    • Specific programs having term program requirements in excess of 9 SCH, and which have been approved for additional coverage beyond 9 SCH by the College of Graduate Studies. Such approval applies to coverage for both waivers and payments.

Tuition Payments of In-State Tuition

• GRAs and GAs may receive tuition waivers but typically have their in-state tuition paid by their employing units or other appropriate program or college units.
• Employing units must pay the in-state tuition commensurate with the level of the assistantship for GTAs if a tuition waiver is not available.

Out of State Tuition

• All nonresident graduate assistants with 0.5 FTE appointments who have a full in-state tuition waiver or who have their full in-state tuition paid by their employer or other appropriate units will be charged a differential out-of-state fee of $0.00, in lieu of the standard out of state fee
• Graduate assistants with less than 0.5 FTE appointments or who have not been given an in-state tuition waiver or who do not have in-state tuition paid by their employer or other appropriate units will be charged the standard out-of-state fee at UCF

Local Fees

Standard tuition remission does NOT cover local fees; these may be paid by the hiring unit. Tuition remission is assigned to students as part of the Graduate Assistantship Agreement. Payment of local fees can also be included in the agreement. UCF charges local fees to fund building and capital improvement, financial aid, activity and service, athletics, and access to campus transportation and other things. These local fees add to the student’s tuition bill and are NOT covered by standard tuition remission. Students are responsible for paying the remaining balance on their accounts by the payment deadline for the term (published in the UCF Academic Calendar).

Best Practices for Tuition Remission

• The tuition waiver allocation will be made to all graduate programs in early January. Be sure to review it so that you do not offer more waivers than you have been allocated. Offer tuition remission to high-quality, full-time students only, those making good academic progress, and those you want to attract to UCF. Tuition remission is always a component of a complete financial package.
• Inform your students about their tuition remission and answer their questions. Students are not familiar with many of the details of their financial packages, and having them understand what they should expect goes a long way toward their satisfaction with the program. If you are unsure of the answer to any question, do not hesitate to contact the College of Graduate Studies (Jennifer Parham, Assistant Dean, Graduate Financial Assistance).
• Appoint your students on full (.50 FTE) assistantships for fall/spring or annual agreements. Only students with full assistantships or two half assistantships receive complete financial packages, including tuition support and student health insurance. This is particularly important for nonresident assistants, who otherwise will have to pay standard out-of-state tuition.
• Provide the information your program’s staff personnel need to process the assistantships and tuition remission for your students. This should be done sufficiently early to meet the university’s deadline to ensure that your students do not have to wait to get paid.
• Use your entire tuition allocation on waivers by May 15 and notify the College of Graduate Studies if you have any leftover waivers so that they can be used by others.
• Ask your students to contact you right away if they are considering dropping a course, withdrawing, or discontinuing their assistantship so you can advise them before they take action. If you have questions about the consequences of certain actions, contact the College of Graduate Studies (gradassistantship@ucf.edu).
• Always review your resources before entering assistantship offers and agreements in the Graduate Financials System.

Student Obligations

Students receiving tuition remission from the university are obligated to maintain their full-time enrollment and their graduate assistantship or fellowship. See “Student Obligations” in the Graduate Tuition Support section of the current Graduate Catalog for more information.
Assigning Tuition Remission to University-wide Fellowship Students

When completing a Graduate Assistantship Agreement for a University fellowship student who is receiving a tuition waiver paid by the College of Graduate Studies, enter Waiver Department Number 2044 in the Stipend and Resident Tuition Remission area of the agreement.

For a list of University fellowships for which the College of Graduate Studies provides tuition waivers, visit Graduate Fellowships in the current Graduate Catalog.

Assigning Tuition Remission to College- or Department-funded Fellowship Students

If making a college or departmental award to a student, please continue to follow the instructions for completing the Student Award Request Form on the Office of Student Financial Assistance website.

If you are providing tuition remission, complete a Department Request Form and send it separately via e-mail to the Office of Student Accounts to authorize tuition and/or local fees payments. Please note that students receiving college/department funded fellowships only are not eligible to receive health insurance paid by the College of Graduate Studies.

Assigning Tuition Remission to Assistantship Students

The authorization for tuition waivers and tuition payments will be done on the Assistantship Agreement at the same time that the assistantship is processed. Graduate Studies will process tuition waivers and record tuition payments using the Assistantship Agreement. Student Accounts will process tuition payments for students using reports from the Graduate Financials System. Departments can also pay the local fees (optional) through the Assistantship Agreement.

For details on completing the Assistantship Agreement, see the tutorials in the Assistantships section.
Fee Invoice and Local Fees

UCF charges local fees to fund building and capital improvement, financial aid, activity and service, athletics, and transportation access. On students’ PeopleSoft Customer Account and Fee Invoice, the Graduate Rate and Graduate Nonresident Rate show a combined charge for tuition and local fees, based on the total number of credit hours the student is enrolled. The local fees portion of these charges is not covered by university tuition waivers. Hiring departments who pay tuition payments for resident tuition are not required to cover local fees, but they may do so if they wish.

On the Assistantship Agreement, “Optional Fees” refers to these local fees. Hiring departments may authorize payment of Optional Fees on the Assistantship Agreement.

Students are responsible for paying the remaining balance on their accounts by the payment deadline for the term (published in the UCF Academic Calendar).

Graduate Studies Communications to Tuition Remission Students

Graduate Studies sends the following e-mail communications from gradassistantship@ucf.edu to assistantship students and from gradfellowship@ucf.edu to university-wide fellowship students regarding their tuition remission each semester.