UVA Education Benefits Program

To be eligible for education benefits, you must:

• Be an actively working full-time or part-time (20+ hours) benefits-eligible employee (Classified Staff, University Staff, Faculty, and Professional Research Staff).
• Have had one year of continuous, benefits-eligible employment at UVA by the start date of the class, and intends to remain on the active payroll during the entire term of the class.
• Have approval from your supervisor for the course, CEUs, or certification in your field of study, as outlined in your performance plan.

Temporary, wage, and other non-benefits employees are ineligible for the Education Benefit.

If attending a conference or event, you must receive CEUs or certification credits and the conference must be directly related to your position.

Course related to mindfulness, yoga, and other similar-related topics could be supported by Hoos Well or other vendors, and are not part of the Education Benefit program.

Non-eligible programs or expenses include:

• Books
• Certification exams
• Course materials
• Food
• Games
• Hobbies
• Lodging
• Management development programs
• Personal enrichment courses
• Private consultant refresher courses to take examinations
• Seminars
• Special examinations for admission to degree programs
• Sports
• Travel
• Workshops

To be eligible for education benefits, you must be an actively working full or part-time employee (20+ hours/week), flex staff, or management team member who has completed 6 consecutive months of employment with the Medical Center or Academic Division (waived for RN Clinician I) prior to the beginning of your course. You must be in good standing at the time the educational assistance request is submitted.

Your professional certification must be of value/benefit to the Medical Center, as determined by your department manager. A third party, standard-setting organization that has an assessment process with on-going requirements to maintain certification must confirm your mastery or competency awarded.

Unit-based and Medical Center Pool team members are not eligible.

Course Eligibility

A course is eligible if it meets at least one of the following criteria:

• Academic credit course offered by an accredited school leading to an Associate's, Bachelor's, Master's, or Doctoral degree
• Review course for a professional certification approved by the team member's department
• English as a Second Language (ESL), literacy and related classes
• Lean and related classes
• Eligible courses taken for a grade or credit must be completed with a grade of C- or better for undergraduate courses or a B- or better for graduate courses. Documentation of "pass" is required for non-graded courses.

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.

Tuition Benefit

The Tuition Benefit is 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). Tuition is calculated using in-state tuition rates (where applicable), regardless of your residency status, and is based on the current tuition rate at the time of your request.

Up to the full $4,360 may be used for tuition toward a degree seeking program.

Professional Development Benefit

The Professional Development Benefit is available for use on job or career-growth related offerings relevant to your current job. The offerings must be provided or sponsored by a recognized provider of professional development experiences.

Up to $2,000 may be used for professional development, including classes, certification training, and conferences. This leaves $2,360 to be used toward the Tuition Benefit if you also choose to pursue a degree or certificate program.

Departments may choose to offer additional educational benefits through departmental funding. With approval, you would submit the School/Unit/Department funding request and provide both the PTAO of the School/Unit/Department and your supervisor's computing ID.

Course Benefit

• Team Members receive up to $2,000 per calendar year for eligible courses
• Team Members in "hard to fill" positions (this list will download to your device when clicked on), or those pursuing degree requirements for one of these positions, may receive up to $5,250 per year for eligible courses
• Educational Assistance for eligible courses applies to tuition registration fees, exam fees, and laboratory fees.

Certification Benefit

• Benefits are also available for approved professional certification expenses, for up to $375 per year beyond the $2,000 or $5,250 course benefit. Benefits over the $5,250 threshold will be subject to taxation.

Benefit Payment

• Educational assistance will be provided as a reimbursement after successful completion of the course or professional certification. There is an exception for team members with 2+ years of continuous employment and an annualized salary of $50,000 or less, RN Clin 1s, or if you are employed 6 months, attending UVA. If you fall into one of these categories, then you are eligible for Advance Tuition for Eligible Courses (this is for courses only, not certifications).
• Non-education related fees (e.g. student activity fees) and expenditures for books are not eligible.
• Team Members may also receive professional development funding from their department for non-credit courses or professional conference expenses that are not covered under the Educational Assistance Policy. 

Professional development activities consisting of other educational activities or programs not resulting in academic credit or certification, such as conferences, certificate programs, professional association programs, training programs, and non-credit continuing education programs are not covered under this policy, but may be funded by your unit or department.

The Nursing Scholarship Program is offered through the Professional Nurse Staffing Organization (PNSO).  Information will be posted on the PNSO web page when the program is open for application, usually in the Spring each year.

To apply for the benefit, submit an Employee Request in Workday. Use the Benefits Processing Education Requests Job Aid for detailed instructions.

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).

In order to request Educational Assistance, start by enrolling in the Educational Assistance CBL in NetLearning:

• Search for "Educational Assistance" in the Learning Opportunities tab.  
• The CBL includes a FAQ and Job Aid (also see Resources below) that will help you navigate through the system and ensure that your request meets policy requirements.  
• Once you complete the CBL, please allow up to a week for processing time. You will receive an email notification from MCC Security that you must agree to the terms and conditions.
• Once you have clicked off on this request, please allow 24 hours to gain access to PeopleSoft Financials Supply and Chain Management.  
• Once you submit your request online, it will go to your supervisor for initial approval and then be routed to HR for final approval.  
• You will then receive email notification that payment has been made.

If you qualify for Advance Tuition for Eligible Courses, you must submit your request prior to registering for the class.

Please note that with this online process your request amount must be exact.  If the amount you request is more than the maximum benefit available, the request will be returned to you for correction and re-submission to your supervisor.  

IMPORTANT

The benefit maximum will be based on the calendar year in which the payment is made.

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.

For tax-reporting purposes, education benefit funds are reviewed from October 1 to September 30 to allow time for Payroll to appropriately document them on W-2s.

The amount credited to your annual benefit allotment is based on the year the reimbursement was paid.

Academic Division Employees

You should plan to take courses scheduled at times that will not require absence from work during your regular work hours. Check with your supervisor prior to registration to determine if your supervisor can approve a work accommodation request.

The decision to grant a work accommodation for the Education Benefit is discretionary with your School/Unit/Department supervisor, and is based on your supervisor's assessment of a number of factors, including anticipated needs of your unit, available resources, and your motivation and potential. Supervisors are encourages to make a reasonable effort to find an appropriate work schedule accommodation.

Work time off to attend classes is permitted on Sponsored Projects.

Several types of work schedule accommodations are possible, including:

• Revised work schedule
• Excused absence with use of leave time
• Release time with pay

Medical Center Team Members

Your manager is responsible for determining if the credit load and/or eligible course schedule requested will interfere with your work commitment or performance. If you are a part-time employee, you must take classes outside of your regular work schedule.

Academic Division Employees

Upon approval, funds will be deposited through your payroll on the next available pay period. It may take up to 2 pay periods to receive payment.

Within 30 days following the end of the course or event, please provide documentation through Workday. This includes:

• An official grade report or appropriate document showing successful completion of the course
• Paid bill or receipt indicating the amount of tuition you paid.
• The amount credited to your annual benefit allotment is based on the year the reimbursement was paid.

If you leave the University before successfully completing the course, or before reimbursing any amounts owing under this policy, or you do not register for or you stop attending a course for which you have received an education benefits disbursement, you are responsible for immediate repayment of the full amount of the benefit disbursement.

Medical Center Team Members

For Advance Tuition Requests, within 30 days after completing your course, please submit evidence of your satisfactory course completion to UVA HR, or repay the advance tuition amount.

Payments will be direct deposited into your account within 2 business days following final approval by UVA HR and successful complete of the eligible course or professional certification.

Expenses that have been waived or paid through other sources such as scholarships or grants are not eligible for reimbursement.

You are not eligible for reimbursement of educational expenses if you do not complete the eligible course satisfactorily, you drop or withdraw from the course, or you terminate Medical Center employment (except when transferring employment to the Academic Division of UVA). If you leave Medical Center employment, you are required to repay any educational assistance reimbursement amounts received within the past 12 months from the end of the class prior to termination, and any tuition advance payments for courses that are completed less than 12 months prior to termination. Appropriate deductions will be made to recoup the full amount of these assistance payments from your final pay.