Staff Tuition Assistance Program (STAP) for Graduate Courses
Employees of the university may be eligible for the Staff Tuition Assistance Program (STAP) for courses found in the official university course schedule. Under current IRS regulations, the STAP for graduate courses is considered taxable income; therefore, it is subject to federal withholding and Social Security and Medicare (OASI) taxes. The benefit is processed by Student Accounts Receivable and the full amount, less taxes, is applied to the employee’s tuition bill. The benefit is reflected as Tuition Remission on the earnings statement and is processed during the semi-monthly pay cycle.
Non-Payroll Related Tuition Benefits
The following types of tuition benefits are processed outside of Payroll Services, as they are not considered taxable income or reported on IRS Form W-2 under current IRS regulations.
- Tuition Reduction Benefit – Effective fall 2013, students employed as Teaching Assistants (TAs), Assistant Instructors (AIs) and Graduate Research Assistants (GRAs) are eligible for a Tuition Reduction Benefit (TRB) related to their student academic employment. TRB is nontaxable. The TRB is processed by departmental personnel and the full amount is applied to the tuition bill. For more information about the TRB, please see the Graduate School website.
- Tuition Remission – Undergraduate students and staff receiving the STAP for undergraduate courses can receive a Tuition Remission credit applied directly to their tuition bill. Tuition benefits for undergraduate courses are not considered taxable income under current IRS regulations; thus, the full amount of the benefit is applied to the tuition bill. Tuition Remission is processed via Student Accounts Receivable.