As part of its investment in employees, Colorado State University provides the tuition scholarship program to lower the cost of classes for immediate family members who meet certain criteria. The tuition program provides a 50 percent scholarship at a CSU system university for the immediate family member of faculty and staff.
The program, which is administered by Human Resources and the Office of Financial Aid, is open to any non-temporary faculty, administrative professional or state classified employee who is more than half-time in a position that is eligible for university benefits. The tuition scholarship can be used by the employee’s spouse, civil union partner, domestic partner, and children under the age of 26, as long as degree-seeking and other eligibility criteria are met.
More information about criteria
About 350 students affiliated with employees accessed the tuition scholarship discount during the last academic year. That’s more than $1.67 million in tuition scholarship; a significant investment in university employees. There is no monetary cap on the program; any family member who qualifies will receive the 50 percent scholarship.
“This scholarship can add up to significant tuition financial savings and provides the opportunity to engage employees’ family members who may wish to pursue an educational degree into this benefit program,” said Teri Suhr chief total rewards officer at Human Resources. “While this scholarship program is specifically for immediate family, employees who take classes have access to the employee study privilege program, which provides full-time employees who meet the criteria with up to nine tuition-free credit hours each academic year. The savings of the employee study privilege program is a substantial incentive.”
More information about the employee study privilege program
Applications due in mid-October
- Fall semester applications are due Oct. 19; this deadline is for individuals who plan to access the scholarship for both fall and spring semesters.
- Applications for spring semester classes only are due March 15, 2019.
- Summer session applications are due by June 21, 2019.
More information about applying
Tuition is due by Sept. 10, and tuition scholarships are processed after census day, which is Sept. 5 this year. While this seems like a tight turnaround, students who are seeking the scholarship benefit are not assessed late fees until all applications are processed. This pushes back the due date for students seeking the tuition scholarship benefit to Oct. 10, said Tom Biedscheid, director of financial aid, giving an extra month to pay the remaining discounted tuition amount.
Program equates to millions in savings for employees
The scholarship was initiated in 1991 by the Board of Governors. Since 2011, about 2,500 students have accessed the scholarship, and the university has provided more than $9 million in discounted tuition as a benefit to employees.
In addition, the Office of Financial Aid has initiated a tuition prepayment installment plan. Biedscheid said that prepayment plan is open to any student and allows for tuition payments for the academic year to begin as early as March 10 of the previous academic year.
