Education Benefits
UVA Education Benefits Program
The education benefits described on this page are for Academic Division employees. Medical Center Education Benefits are separate.
UVA encourages employees to continue their education. The University’s Cornerstone Plan guides us to “invest in employees to foster a culture of excellence and achievement." The Education Benefit Program puts that belief into practice to help you reach your educational and professional goals. You can earn a degree or certificate, take continuing education courses, attend a conference related to your work, or pursue other avenues of education that support your goals. The Education Benefit enables you to do these things by providing financial support.
Academic Division Employees
The program offers two options - Tuition Benefit or Professional Development Benefit, described below. A maximum of $4,360 is available for use between the two benefits per calendar year.
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Tuition Benefit
Applied to for-credit coursework toward a degree or academic certificate program.
Coursework must be completed at an accredited educational provider (see Forms section below for list of accredited schools).
Up to the full $4,360 may be used for tuition.
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Professional Development Benefit
Available for use on job or career-growth related offerings relevant to your current job.
Offerings must be provided or sponsored by a recognized provider of professional development experiences.
Up to $2,000 may be used for professional development. This leaves $2,360 to be used toward the Tuition Benefit if you also choose to pursue a degree or certificate program.
Details
Here is helpful information for employees interested in using education benefits.
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Eligibility Requirements for the Education Benefit Program
To be eligible for education benefits, an employee must:
- Be an actively working full or part-time employee (including Classified Staff, University Staff, Faculty, and Professional Research Staff).
- Have had one year of continuous, benefits-eligible employment at UVA.
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Potential Taxation of Education Benefit
For tax reporting purposes, Education Benefit funds are reviewed from October 1 through September 30 to allow time for payroll to appropriately document them on W-2's. If you receive over the IRS limit of $5,250 for education costs, the excess is considered taxable income to you and appropriate taxes will be withheld.
The amount credited to your annual benefit allotment is based on the year the reimbursement was paid.
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Apply
To apply for the benefit, submit an Employee Request in Workday. Use the Benefits Processing Education Requests Job Aid for detailed instructions.
Workday Job Aid: Processing Education Requests -
Reimbursement
To get reimbursed, course completion and payment documentation must be submitted. Information on how to submit is located in the Education Benefit Policy, Section II / Part F.
To check if an educational institution is accredited, visit the U.S. Department of Education’s list of accredited schools.
For information about possible fee waivers for employees who take classes at UVA, go to Financial Services Fee Waiver for Employees at Student Financial Services (determination of possible fee waiver is made by SFS).