University Times

A packed house for the Staff Association Council (SAC) brown-bag seminar on Dec. 3 indicated that staff members are enthusiastic about taking advantage of education benefits for themselves, their spouses or partners and their children.

In 2013, more than 1,900 faculty and staff used Pitt’s education benefits for themselves, and more than 2,100 dependent children and 350 spouses or partners of University employees took advantage of the benefit as well, which is available on all five campuses.

At last month’s seminar, Assistant Vice Chancellor for Human Resources John Kozar and benefits specialist Jennifer Pavlinich outlined eligibility requirements and the extent of the education benefits for the 150 staff members in attendance; Kozar noted that faculty benefits are administered by another Pitt office, so he didn’t address them specifically, although he allowed that they were “very similar.”

Full-time staff members receive the full education benefit offered by the University. It allows each staffer to take up to eight credits per 15-week term (typically two courses) in a degree or non-degree program — if the employee has no undergraduate degree. Those already with an undergraduate degree can take only six credits per term.

“Certainly, if you are working full-time, that is a pretty full load,” Kozar noted.

The cost to each employee is 3 percent of tuition for undergraduate courses and 10 percent of tuition for graduate courses.

Spouses of full-time staff members are eligible for tuition scholarships covering six credits for each 15-week term after the staff member has completed a year at Pitt. Spouses must be enrolled in a degree or certificate program, and their cost share is 10 percent of tuition for both undergraduate and graduate courses.

Dependent children — defined as natural or adopted children or stepchildren listed as dependents on a staff member’s IRS form 1040 — can have their entire undergraduate tuition covered while attending Pitt for up to 12 terms of full- or part-time study leading to their first baccalaureate degree. Kozar counseled staff members to use this benefit for as many full-time terms as possible, since 12 terms of part-time study usually is not enough to complete an undergraduate degree. (The dependent children education benefit does not cover tuition for graduate courses.)

Benefits for dependent children attending other universities was discontinued long ago, remaining only for those employees hired before 1989 and earning at least $17,500 a year today, and for those hired before 1994 who are making at least $40,000 annually now.

The IRS taxes some of the education benefits, Kozar cautioned. No taxes are charged for the tuition benefit given to dependent children attending Pitt or for staff members taking undergraduate courses. But staff members taking graduate-level courses pay taxes on a portion of the benefit. The full value of any tuition scholarship given to a spouse or partner is taxed as well.

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For full-time staff members, said Pavlinich, getting the education benefit for themselves is easy. There is no paperwork; once you register for a class, the scholarship is applied automatically to your account. For spouses or partners, the staff member must fill out the request for education benefits form at the beginning of each academic year, which requires a marriage certificate or domestic partner affidavit as proof of relationship. The same form is required for requesting the benefit for dependent children, as is the staff member’s most recent 1040. Those still eligible for the discontinued benefit at other colleges or universities must fill out the staff education benefits at other institutions form every semester.

All forms are available at www.hr.pitt.edu/forms.

Part-time staff members are afforded the education benefit on a pro-rated basis, depending on each staffer’s percentage of effort. Spouses and children of part-time staff members are not eligible for education benefits.

Newly hired personnel, said Pavlinich, must complete their provisional period (generally six months of Pitt employment) to receive education benefits. Those leaving Pitt can retain the benefit only if they exit their job at least two full months into the semester for which they wish to receive their scholarship.

Pavlinich also noted that, while the scholarship covers tuition, it does not pay for any additional fees, such as those for security, transportation, computers, labs or study abroad administrative fees.

Besides college tuition, said Kozar, there are other education benefits that come with a staff position. Falk Laboratory School, a K-8 institution run by the School of Education, gives a 25 percent discount on tuition for dependents of full-time staff members who have been working at Pitt for a year or more. The Pitt human resources website for education benefits, www.hr.pitt.edu/benefits/education, also links staff members to an outside organization called The Tuition Exchange Scholarship, a nonprofit partnership of 550 schools that allows the children of employees at those schools to apply to pay lower or no tuition at each other’s institutions.

“It is competitive,” Kozar warned, but added that many local schools are members, including Robert Morris University, St. Vincent College, Washington and Jefferson College and Duquesne University.

—Marty Levine