Budgeting for Tuition

Effective immediately graduate student tuition must be requested as a direct cost on grants that include requests for graduate student support. This is an allowable direct cost by federal, state and university rules. This requirement can be waived only with the approval of the dean and Vice President for Research and the proposal must then be accompanied by a statement from the dean providing tuition for the graduate student as cost sharing from college or school funds.

Guidelines for Tuition Remission from Sponsored Awards

For Principal Investigators Who Use Graduate Students in Their Sponsored Awards:

Unless specifically precluded by sponsor policy, Principal Investigators who use graduate student’s time and effort in their sponsored awards (excluding training grants) must include a line in their direct cost budget for tuition remission costs based on the University’s blended rate schedule.

Pre-Award

a. Sponsored Programs Administration will submit to external sponsors only those proposals which include tuition remission in the Other Direct category of the budget for each graduate student budgeted in the Personnel category of the budget.

b. If tuition remission blended rates increase after sponsored program proposals are submitted, those proposals submitted prior to the increase will be charged at the rate in effect at the time of proposal submission. Rates will be based on the prior year actual tuition charges and will be re-computed each year on July 1st.

Post-Award

c. Appointments of graduate students to sponsored program accounts must be accompanied by a fully completed Graduate Tuition Scholarship Verification Form. The original Graduate Tuition Scholarship Verification Form should be forwarded to Student Accounts with a copy to Grants and Contracts to establish notification and a billing of the sponsored award and a credit to the student’s account.

Tuition Remission Rates

1. The blended rate is based on the weighted average of in-state and out-of-state University wide standard tuition charges.
2. Tuition remission will be charged to sponsored award budgets according to the blended rate schedule and based on the number of credit hours included in the proposal.
3. The tuition remission blended rate schedule will be reviewed annually by the Vice President for Research to ensure appropriate amounts are being charged to cover costs.
4. The tuition remission account will cover the difference between the old and new blended rate.
5. Based on the mix of students, the tuition remission account should have a zero balance over time. Any surpluses/deficits will be carried into the next fiscal year.
6. The tuition remission policy and rates do not apply to training grants. They will continue to follow the same regulations and guidelines as established in their sponsored awards which includes charging actual tuition charges and fees.

Tuition Remission Payment Procedure

1. Upon receipt of the Graduate Tuition Scholarship Verification Form from the appropriate Dean’s Office or Vice Presidential area, the Office of Student Accounts will apply a pending credit to the student’s account in the amount indicated on the Form.
2. Upon receipt of a copy of the Graduate Tuition Scholarship Verification Form from the Dean’s Office or Vice Presidential area, Grants and Contracts will bill the appropriate sponsored award budget for tuition costs based on the blended rate. Monies collected from sponsored awards through this process will be transferred into a single University managed tuition remission account.
3. When the drop/add period for each semester is complete, the Office of Student Accounts will generate an invoice detailing each student’s actual tuition costs and will forward the invoice to Grants and Contracts. Upon receipt of the invoice, Grants and Contracts will reconcile the invoice with the Graduate Tuition Scholarship Verification Form submitted by the Dean’s Office or Vice Presidential area and will process payment utilizing the institutional tuition remission account.
4. Grants and Contracts will not reimburse students directly for tuition charges; all tuition remission payments will take the form of credit to the student’s account.
5. No fees will be covered by the tuition remission blended rate or remission payment process.

For Graduate Students

1. All graduate students who are receiving tuition remission under these policies must be employed as Research Assistants (RA’s) on sponsored awards and receive a bi-weekly stipend.
2. No graduate student is allowed to receive a tuition remission from a sponsored award without actually performing work for the grant. This requirement is necessary to satisfy the requirement of Section 41 of OMB Circular A-21.
3. UB’s Principles and Policies for the Award of Graduate Tuition Scholarships, as issued by the Provost in May 2001 and monitored by the Graduate School, will determine whether a graduate student working for and supported on a sponsored award is eligible to receive tuition remission. These eligibility policies apply uniformly across all graduate students at UB regardless of the source of tuition remission/tuition scholarship.

2006-07 Blended Tuition Rates

Based on resident/non-resident RPA credit hours for Fall 2000,Fall 2001,Fall 2002,Fall 2003, Fall 2004 and Fall 2005