Columbia University Human Resources

Procedures: How to Apply

Your Responsibility for Courses Not Covered by Tuition Exemption

You are held responsible for the tuition and fees of any course for which you are registered should that course be deemed ineligible for the Tuition Exemption Benefit. Thus, it behooves you to submit the proper paperwork early so as to avoid any issues or surprises.
 

To all prospective recipients of the Tuition Exemption Benefit:

Effective Summer 2007, you must complete the application process as soon as you register; this means your Tuition Exemption and other materials must be submitted to the Student Service Center within five (5) business days after your school's deadline for dropping courses. If your application is not approved, you will be responsible for any tuition for courses you keep. Human Resources does not accept responsibility for denied coverage if you are found to be ineligible for the benefit.

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Getting Started: Applying for the Tuition Exemption Benefit Program

After you have been accepted as a student in the school, department, or college that you would like to attend, and have registered for classes, you must apply for tuition exemption each term by completing the following steps:

First, whether you are an Officer or an eligible family member, you will need to print out your Tuition Exemption from the CU Online Benefits Enrollment System. Family members will need the Officer to print this for them.

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How to Apply: Officers

  1. Log in with your UNI and password to print your Tuition Exemption from the CU Online Benefits Enrollment System.
  2. If you are a graduate student taking courses related to your work, complete a Job-Related Graduate Course Certification form (see “Taxation” at left). The form must be signed and dated by you and your supervisor. Attach the form to your Application for Tuition Exemption.
  3. Submit the printout and, if it applies, your signed original Job-Related Graduate Course Certification form to the Student Service Center in 210 Kent Hall (Morningside) or Student Administrative Services in 1-141 Black Building (Medical Center), as soon as possible after you have registered for each term.
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How to Apply: Spouses/Same-sex Domestic Partners and Children

  1. The Officer must log in in with his or her UNI and password to print your Tuition Exemption from the CU Online Benefits Enrollment System. If you are the eligible child of two eligible Officers, each Officer must print the form. The online enrollment system contains your eligibility verification.
  2. Please know that if your eligibility does not appear in the system, the eligible Officer of your family will need to submit proof of your relationship to Human Resources, which may consist of the following:
    • for a spouse — marriage certificate;
    • for a same-sex domestic partner — See “Benefits in Brief" for guidelines.
    • for a biological dependent — birth certificate;
    • for an adopted dependent — adoption papers;
    • for a step-dependent — birth certificate and marriage certificate;
    • for a child of a same-sex domestic partner — birth certificate and domestic partnership documentation as described in “Benefits in Brief."
  3. If you are an eligible child not enrolled in a degree program but taking courses at Columbia, you must provide additional documentation showing that you are either a candidate in good standing at another school (and that the courses you’re taking are part of your academic program), or that you are enrolled in courses specified in writing by an admissions officer as being necessary for admission into an accredited undergraduate or graduate degree program.
  4. Submit the printout to Student Financial Services in 210 Kent Hall (Morningside) or Student Administrative Services in 1-141 Black Building (Medical Center).
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Dropping Courses

If you do not wish to continue a course, you should arrange with the Registrar to drop it as soon as possible to avoid any possibility of financial responsibility.

Note: Dropping all of your courses means withdrawing from the University. The University charges a $75 fee for all withdrawals from the University and this fee is not covered under this Tuition Exemption Benefit Program.

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CTS and PTS Programs

For CTS/PTS Program procedures, see the “College Tuition Scholarship” or the “Primary Tuition Scholarship,”  also available from your local HR office.

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