Employee Educational Assistance (Fee Waivers)

UT Policy HR0330 – Educational Assistance (Fee Waiver) enables regular (benefits-eligible) faculty and staff to gain knowledge and skills to support performing their present work duties more effectively, and assist them in preparing for future opportunities by providing a plan for educational assistance. 

Full-time regular faculty and staff are eligible for a fee waiver for up to a maximum of nine undergraduate or graduate credit hours per term at any UT Campus. The fee waiver is pro-rated for part-time regular staff and faculty based upon their percent of effort as follows:

Employees who enroll for more than the specified number of hours per term will be charged the difference between the fee waiver and the cost of the total number of hours for which they are enrolled. Employee fee waivers apply only to university maintenance fees and out-of-state tuition. 

Additional Fee Waiver at a Tennessee Board of Regents or Locally Governed Institution

State law provides full-time employees at the University of Tennessee and Tennessee Board of Regents and Locally Governed Institutions with a fee waiver for one course for credit per term (maximum of four terms per year) at any state supported college, university, or area vocational- technical school. Term shall mean any period of time in which a student may receive a grade for the completion of a course. This waiver also applies to tuition charges, maintenance fees, student activity fees, or registration fees. The employee must comply with the enrolling institution’s requirements which may involve 1) presenting a valid University of Tennessee employee identification card; 2) completing the institution’s approval form; and/or 3) waiting for late registration to assure space in the class.

Accessing and Submitting Fee Waiver Forms

Please refer to the Office of the Bursar’s Frequently Used Forms for access to required fee waiver forms. 

Each form requires employee/spouse/dependent and enrollment details to be completed and signed by the employee before advancing to the employee’s department head for signature. The form should then be submitted to the UTC Office of Human Resources (HR), via [email protected], for official employment verification. Once completed, the form must be routed to the Bursar’s Office of the institution being attended for final processing and designation to the billing account. It is the employee’s responsibility to ensure all forms are completed and transmitted to the appropriate Bursar’s Office in a timely manner. 

• UTC Enrollment: For employees/dependents/spouses attending UTC, once the UTC HR team verifies employment details, the form will be routed by HR directly to the UTC Bursar’s Office for final processing, without further action required of the employee. 
• UTC employees attending UTC should utilize the electronic Employee Attending UTC form to streamline the workflow and submission process. 

The Office of the Bursar recommends all fee waiver forms be completed and transmitted to Human Resources at least 20 days prior to registration. All forms must be fully processed in accordance with designated Fee Schedules. Fee schedule and form deadline questions should be directed to [email protected]. 

Is your Graduate Degree Coursework Job Related? 

If so, you may be exempt from taxation for this fringe benefit.

Employees who are classified as graduate-level students taking courses required by their employer, or to maintain or improve skills needed in their present job, are exempt from taxation.  Review the following Fee Waiver Taxation and Employee Graduate Fee Waiver information for more details about the required Job-Related Tuition Waiver Form to request tax exemption, form deadlines, and fee/taxation schedules. Questions should be directed to the UT System Payroll Office at [email protected].