The Benefit
Contacts, Forms
What Is the Benefit?
A College Tuition Scholarship (CTS) pays half of a student’s undergraduate tuition for eight semesters (or the equivalent number of trimesters or quarters). And if a student has two parents eligible for the benefit, the CTS will pay the other half as well!
Mind you, this doesn’t mean that a CTS will pay half the total college bill: "tuition" means the part of the bill that covers the academic program. Fees like health service fees, student activity fees, or laboratory fees are not covered, even when the bill from the college combines them with "tuition."
If your dependent receives awards and scholarships from other sources, the amount of the CTS will be capped at your tuition liability at the school your child attends.
Please note that effective January 1, 2009, the benefit will be capped at the limit of 50% of the Columbia College Undergraduate Liberal Arts Degree tuition rate for the given academic year. If the tuition at your child’s college exceeds the tuition rate for Columbia College, the maximum award you will receive is 50% of the current Columbia College rate (unless both parents are eligible Officers, in which case two benefits, of 50% of the Columbia College rate, for each eligible parent, will be paid.)
A CTS will never pay you more than you need to cover your actual tuition costs.
EXAMPLE: if the tuition at your child’s college is $10,000 per term, a student who has $5,000 per term in awards and scholarships will still receive a $5,000 CTS; a student who has $8,000 in awards and scholarships, however, will only receive a $2,000 CTS.
Note: The number of terms covered is the same for full-time and part-time students. If a student is in a joint undergraduate/graduate degree program, the CTS will still cover eight semesters or their equivalent.
What About Summer Terms?
The CTS program will cover a student for a summer term. This is in addition to the eight semesters (or equivalent number of trimesters or quarters) already allotted, provided that the summer courses are taken during those years in which the student is eligible for the eight semesters of fall or spring term CTS.
Summer Terms at Columbia
In addition to College Tuition Scholarships, dependents of officers and their spouses/same-sex domestic partners may be eligible for full tuition exemption as non-matriculated students in Columbia’s Summer Session. The dependent must be a student in good standing at another college or university, and the courses must be taken as part of his or her academic program. The dependent may also receive tuition exemption if accepted as a Visiting Student in the Special Students Program during the Fall and Spring terms. The student’s college need not grant point credit for the courses taken, and these terms do not count toward the eight-semester limit of eligibility for the College Tuition Scholarship Program.