Eligibility

Am I Eligible for a CTS?

• You are a full-time salaried officer of administration, instruction, the libraries, or research; and
• You or your spouse/same-sex domestic partner has a dependent child—a natural child, adopted child, or stepchild, or a child for whom one of you has legal guardianship—who is a candidate for an undergraduate degree at an accredited college or university other than Columbia or Barnard College; and
• The dependent child is age 26 or under;
  AND
  
  • You were hired, appointed or promoted to an Officer position on or before July 1, 2011, and have not had a break in service of more than 31 days after July 1, 2011;
    OR
  • You were hired, appointed or promoted to an Officer position after July 1, 2011 or have had a break in service of more than 31 days after July 1, 2011 and have completed four years of full-time continuous service.
    

NO if:

• You are a visiting officer of instruction or research; or a postdoctoral research scientist/scholar, postdoctoral research fellow, or postdoctoral clinical fellow.

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How Soon Am I Eligible?

Eligibility depends on the Officer’s start date and years of service.

For Officers who were hired, appointed or promoted to an Officer position on or prior to July 1, 2011, and have not had a break in service of more than 31 days after July 1, 2011:

You are eligible to receive a CTS for a given term, if you meet the eligibility requirements as detailed above, by: 

• September 1 for a Fall Term benefit
• January 1 for a Winter or Spring Term benefit
• May 1 for a Summer Term benefit

For Officers who were hired, appointed or promoted after July 1, 2011, or have had a break in service of more than 31 days after July 1, 2011:

You are eligible to receive a CTS for a given term after completing four years of continuous full-time service and meeting the other eligibility requirements as detailed above, by:

• September 1 for a Fall Term benefit
• January 1 for a Winter or Spring Term benefit
• May 1 for a Summer Term benefit

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What is the Benefit?

For eligible Officers on payroll on or before 7/1/2011, and without a break in service of more than 31 days after 7/1/2011

A College Tuition Scholarship (CTS) pays, at an accredited undergraduate academic institution outside Columbia or Barnard College, the lesser of 50% of the external institution’s tuition, or 50% of the current year’s Columbia College tuition, for eight semesters (or the equivalent number of trimesters or quarters). If the tuition at your child’s college exceeds the tuition rate for Columbia College, the maximum award you will receive is 50% of the current Columbia College rate.

If a student has two parents eligible for the benefit, and both parents were hired, appointed or promoted on or before 7/1/2011, and have not had a break in service after 7/1/2011 of more than 31 days, the CTS will add both parents’ benefits to pay 100% of the lesser of the external institution’s tuition, or the current year’s Columbia College undergraduate tuition rate. Both parents need to apply for the benefit.

For eligible Officers on payroll after 7/1/2011, or with a break in service of more than 31 days after 7/1/2011

A College Tuition Scholarship (CTS) pays, at an accredited undergraduate academic institution outside Columbia or Barnard College, the lesser of 50% of the external institution’s tuition, or 50% of the current year’s Columbia College tuition, for eight semesters (or the equivalent number of trimesters or quarters). If the tuition at your child’s college exceeds the tuition rate for Columbia College, the maximum award you will receive is 50% of the current Columbia College rate.

If both parents are eligible Officers hired after 7/1/2011, a CTS still pays only the lesser of 50% of the external institution’s tuition, or 50% of the current year’s Columbia College tuition.

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How the Benefit Works

CTS covers tuition costs only. Fees such as health service fees, student activity fees, laboratory fees, or books are not covered, even if the bill from the college combines them with “tuition.”

If your dependent receives awards and scholarships from other sources, the amount of the CTS will be capped at your tuition liability at the school your child attends.  A CTS will never pay you more than the lesser of the maximum CTS award or what you need to cover your actual tuition costs.

EXAMPLE: If the tuition at both Columbia College and your child’s college is $10,000 per term, a student who has $5,000 per term in non-CTS awards and scholarships will still receive a $5,000 CTS to attend the other college; a student who has $8,000 in awards and scholarships, however, will only receive a $2,000 CTS.

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What About Summer Terms?

The CTS program will cover a student for a summer term. This is in addition to the eight semesters (or equivalent number of trimesters or quarters) already allotted, provided that the summer courses are taken after the dependent has matriculated for the first semester of study and the summer period is during those years in which the student is eligible for the eight semesters of fall or spring term CTS. The dependent must provide written proof from their college or university on their institution’s letterhead that they are a student in good standing, and that the courses must be taken as part of his or her academic program.

Summer Terms at Columbia

In addition to College Tuition Scholarships, dependent children of officers and their spouses or same-sex domestic partners may be eligible for Tuition Exemption as non-matriculated students in Columbia’s Summer Session. The child must provide written proof from their college or university on their institution’s letterhead that they are a student in good standing at another college or university, and that the courses must be taken as part of his or her academic program. The child may also receive Tuition Exemption if accepted as a Visiting Student in the Special Students Program during the Fall and Spring terms. The student’s college need not grant point credit for the courses taken, and these terms do not count toward the eight-semester limit of eligibility for the College Tuition Scholarship Program.