MORGAN STATE UNIVERSITY
OFFICE OF HUMAN RESOURCES (OHR)

POLICY ON TUITION WAIVER

Morgan State University supports the general policy of tuition waiver for persons in the following categories according to the specified conditions for each category. Persons receiving educational benefits under this policy should be aware that tuition waiver may be considered income by the Internal Revenue Service and may result in significant tax liability. It should be noted that any tuition benefits afforded under this Policy are subject to change. Students receiving tuition benefits at the time a policy change occurs may continue to receive the benefits through the end of the semester in which the policy change occurred and changes to the available tuition benefits shall become effective the next semester. Within the President’s sole discretion, certain programs of study may be exempted from this policy.

• PERMANENT/ REGULAR FULL-TIME EMPLOYEES, PERMANENT/ REGULAR FULL-TIME MILITARY EMPLOYEES OF THE ROTC PROGRAM, AND RETIREES OF THE UNIVERSITY.

1. Permanent/ regular full-time employees and permanent/ regular full-time military employees of the ROTC program are entitled to tuition waiver not to exceed eight (8) credit hours per semester (graduate and undergraduate). All other applicable fees shall be charged.

2. Retirees of the University are entitled to tuition waiver not to exceed eight (8) credit hours per semester (graduate and undergraduate). All other applicable fees shall be charged.

3. Persons in this category receiving the benefit of tuition waiver who are enrolled in classes requiring a certain minimum enrollment shall not be counted to attain this minimum.

4. Normally, no adjustment in regular working hours will be permitted. In exceptional instances, however, a supervisor, with the written approval of the Vice President of the Division in which the employee works, may arrange such an adjustment.

5. Persons in this category who audit courses are limited to eight (8) credit hours per semester.

6. Unit supervisors will be held responsible for the judicious administration of this policy. The President will review the policy and make periodic reports to the Board of Regents.

• PERMANENT/ REGULAR PART-TIME EMPLOYEES

1. Permanent/ regular part-time employees are entitled to tuition waiver equivalent to the proportion of hours worked, based on a maximum of eight (8) credit hours per semester (graduate and undergraduate). All other applicable fees shall be charged.

2. Persons in this category receiving the benefit of tuition waiver who are enrolled in classes requiring a certain minimum enrollment shall not be counted to attain this minimum.

3. Normally, no adjustment in regular working hours will be permitted. In exceptional instances, however, a supervisor, with the written approval of the Vice President of the Division in which the employee works, may arrange such an adjustment.

4. Persons in this category who audit courses are limited to a maximum of eight (8) credit hours per semester (graduate and undergraduate).

5. Unit supervisors will be held responsible for the judicious administration of this policy. The President will review this policy and make periodic reports to the Board of Regents.

• SPOUSES AND DEPENDENT CHILDREN OF PERMANENT/ REGULAR FULL-TIME EMPLOYEES, FULL-TIME MILITARY EMPLOYEES OF THE ROTC PROGRAM, MEMBERS OF THE BOARD OF REGENTS, AND RETIREES OF THE UNIVERSITY.

1. Spouses and dependent children of full-time employees, full-time military employees of the ROTC program while assigned to Morgan State University; and spouses and dependent children of members of the Morgan State University Board of Regents and retirees of the University are entitled to tuition waiver for full-time undergraduate study. All other applicable fees shall be charged.

2. Spouses and dependent children in this category are entitled to a maximum of eight (8) credit hours per semester of graduate study. All other applicable fees shall be charged.

3. Spouses and dependent children who audit courses are limited to eight (8) credit hours per semester of undergraduate and graduate study.

4. Spouses and dependent children receiving the benefit of tuition waiver who are enrolled in classes requiring a certain minimum enrollment shall not be counted to attain this minimum.

5. Tuition waiver benefits for the spouses and dependent children of full-time employees shall be available only after the employee has been in the University service for two (2) years prior to the anticipated date of registration for course work.

6. Tuition waiver benefits for the spouses and dependent children of full-time military employees of the ROTC program shall be available only after the ROTC employee has been in the University service for one year prior to the anticipated date of registration for course work.

7. Spouses and dependent children of permanent/ regular full-time faculty and permanent/ regular full-time staff of Morgan State University who die in service shall be entitled to tuition waiver for a period of time determined by the duration of full-time employment of the faculty member or staff, as follows: if the length of time of employment of the deceased faculty member or staff was less than three years, the spouse or dependent is eligible for tuition waiver for one academic year; if at least three but less than five years, two academic years; if at least five but less than seven years, three academic years; if at least seven but less than nine years, four academic years; and if more than nine years, five academic years. However, eligibility for tuition waiver for spouses shall expire at the end of seven years following the death of the full-time faculty or staff, and eligibility for tuition waiver for dependent children shall expire on the twenty-second birthday.

• SPOUSES AND DEPENDENT CHILDREN OF PERMANENT/ REGULAR PART-TIME EMPLOYEES:

1. Spouses and dependent children of permanent/ regular part-time employees shall be entitled to tuition waiver equivalent to the proportion of hours worked by the employee (graduate and undergraduate). All other applicable fees shall be charged.

2. Spouses and dependent children of permanent/ regular part-time employees who audit courses shall be entitled to tuition waivers equivalent to the proportion of hours worked by the employee.

3. Persons in this category receiving the benefit of tuition waiver who are enrolled in classes requiring a certain minimum enrollment shall not be counted to attain this minimum.

4. Tuition remission benefits for the spouses and dependent children of permanent/ regular part-time employees shall be available only after the employee has been in the University service for two years prior to the anticipated date of registration for course work.

5. For spouses and dependent children of deceased permanent/ regular part-time faculty members or permanent/ regular part-time staff who were employed at fifty percent time or more, the percentage of tuition remission shall be proportional to the percentage of service of the faculty member’s or staff’s employment, averaged for the three years immediately preceding his or her death. The length of time for which tuition remission will be available for such surviving spouses and dependent children shall follow the formula described in this paragraph.

• SENIOR CITIZENS

  1. Senior citizens, unless they are otherwise covered by this Policy, shall be admitted and entitled to tuition waiver for any scheduled credit or non-credit course (graduate and undergraduate), for as many as three (3) courses per semester on a space available basis, not to exceed nine (9) credits per semester.

  2. The University may not allow a senior citizen to enroll in a degree-granting program, unless the senior citizen meets the admission standards of the University.

  3. The University may not permit the full-time equivalent enrollment of senior citizens for whom tuition has been waived to exceed 2 percent of its undergraduate full-time equivalent enrollment.

  4. At the end of each semester, the President shall report to the Board of Regents on the number of senior citizens participating under the provisions of this policy.

• WAIVER OF TUITION FOR PERMANENT/ REGULAR EMPLOYEES OF OTHER PUBLIC INSTITUTIONS OF HIGHER EDUCATION AND THEIR DEPENDENT CHILDREN

  1. Effective the Spring 2002 semester, permanent/ regular faculty and permanent/ regular staff of the University of Maryland and its constituent institutions, Saint Mary’s College of Maryland and Baltimore City Community College shall receive tuition waiver at Morgan State University at the same level of benefits as provided for Morgan State University faculty and staff.

  2. Tuition waiver shall not be available to the spouses of faculty and staff of the University of Maryland and its constituent institutions, Saint Mary’s College and Baltimore City Community College.

  3. Effective the Fall 2005 semester, dependent children of permanent faculty and permanent staff of the University System of Maryland and its constituent institutions, Saint Mary’s College and Baltimore City Community College shall be required to pay Fifty Percent (50%) of the tuition of Morgan State University, with the remaining Fifty Percent (50%) to be billed to the respective home institution, except that:

     If a parallel lower division instructional program is available at Baltimore City Community College, dependents of Baltimore City Community College employees are eligible to take advantage of the provision of this tuition waiver benefit at MSU only after they have earned the associate degree or completed 60 hours of transferable credit. For those programs, e.g. Business, where A transfer @ is required by MSU prior to completion of either the associate's degree or sixty (60) credits, the tuition waiver benefit is available upon admission to the program. For programs where there is no parallel lower division instructional program available at BCCC, the tuition waiver benefit is available immediately.

• FOSTER CARE RECIPIENTS

  1. A Maryland foster care recipient who enrolls as a candidate in a Bachelor’s Degree program at Morgan State University, prior to his/her twenty-first birthday, is entitled to a waiver of the tuition and all mandatory fees to qualify for this tuition arid mandatory fee waiver, a foster care recipient must file for federal and state financial aid by March 1st of each year.

  2. A foster care recipient who receives a scholarship or grant for postsecondary study and is enrolled prior to his/her twenty-first birthday in a Bachelor’s Degree program at Morgan State University will receive a waiver for the difference between the scholarship or grant and the amount owed for tuition and mandatory fees.

  3. A foster care recipient shall remain eligible for a tuition and mandatory fee waiver until the foster care recipient receives a Bachelor’s Degree, but in no instance shall a recipient remain eligible for longer the five (5) years after the recipient first enrolled as a Bachelor’sDegree candidate.

• FOR MEMBERS OF THE MARYLAND NATIONAL GUARD

  A portion of the tuition will be waived for a student who is also an active member of the Maryland National Guard (i.e. the Army National Guard of Maryland and the Air National Guard of Maryland) only if:

  1. The member of the Maryland National Guard has been admitted to the University through normal admission procedures and is enrolled at the University; and

  2. The Maryland Adjutant General has certified that the member of the Maryland National Guard has at least 24 months remaining to serve or has agreed in writing to serve for a minimum of 24 months.

  3. The tuition will be waived in the amount of fifty percent (50%) of the regular in-state undergraduate or graduate tuition rate up to eight (8) credit hours per semester.

  4. Although a portion of the tuition will be waived, Maryland National Guard students will be responsible for the payment per semester of all applicable fees, including but not limited to: application fee, check return fee due to insufficient funds, mandatory fees, late registration fee, graduation fee, transcript fee, student professional liability insurance fee, identification card fee, vehicle registration fee, lost dormitory key fee, and loss or destruction of University property fee.

  5. Students are also responsible for the payment of books, related materials (if there is an additional cost associated with same), lab equipment and materials.

  6. Students are also responsible for room and board charges.

DEFINITIONS: For the purposes of this policy, the following definitions apply:

1. A foster care recipient is an individual who either: (1) resided in a foster care home in the State of Maryland on his/her eighteenth birthday, or; (2) resided in a residential foster care home in the State of Maryland on the recipient's 14th birthday.

2. A permanent/ regular full-time employee is one who works in a faculty or non-faculty position that is intended to last six months or more regardless of the source of funds and that was approved through the budgetary and appointment or classification processes and assigned a personal identification number (this does not include contractual employees.).

3. A permanent/ regular part-time employee is one who works in a faculty or non-faculty position at least fifty percent or more, but less than full-time in a position that is intended to last six months or more regardless of the source of funds and that was approved through the budgetary and appointment or classification processes and assigned a personal identification number (this does not include contractual employees).

4. The term spouse refers to a partner by virtue of a legal marriage.

5. The term child shall include a son, daughter, stepson, stepdaughter, legally adopted son, and legally adopted daughter.

6. A dependent child is a child who meets the criteria of being financially dependent under regulations of the Internal Revenue Service.

7. The term senior citizen means a citizen of Maryland who is 60 years of age or older, retired, and whose chief income is derived from retirement benefits, and is not employed full time.

8. The term semester shall refer only to Spring, Fall, and Summer semesters.

Policy Revisions:

• Amend tuition benefit of dependent children of USM, BCCC and St. Mary's College faculty and staff (Effective April 12, 2005);
• Amend to delete reference to space available for MD. National Guard (Effective October 14, 2003);
• Amend Credit Hours to Eight, Extend Benefits to Other Institutions of Higher Education, Clarify Benefit for Dependents of Deceased Employees, and Presidential Program Exemptions, Delete South African Refugee Section (Effective May 14, 2002)
• Amend Credit Hours to Seven, Reduce Employee Service to Two Years, Increase Waiver Amount for Maryland National Guard (Effective September 1, 2001)
• Reciprocity among State Institutions of Higher Education (Effective June 1, 2001)
• Eligibility for Foster Care Recipients (Effective July 1, 2000);
• Eligibility Requirements for Spouses and Dependents (May 13, 1992);
• Limiting Reciprocal Agreements (June 22, 1990);
• Senior Citizens (March 24, 1982),
• Employees (Part-time) and Retirees (March 26, 1984);
• Military Employees, Spouses and Children (June 22, 1989);
• Removal of Credit Hour Restriction (June 22, 1989).

See Also:

• Procedures for the Reciprocal Tuition Waiver Program