How to Apply

You must complete the application process for Tuition Exemption at the beginning of each term; this means your Tuition Benefit Eligibility Form and other materials must be submitted to the appropriate office at your school between the time you receive your first Term Bill and the end of the Change of Program Period (see the Academic Calendar for details).

If your application is not approved, you will be responsible for any tuition for courses you keep. Columbia University does not accept responsibility for denied coverage if you are found to be ineligible for the benefit.

Getting Started: Applying for the Tuition Exemption Benefit Program 
Officers: How to Apply
Spouses/Same-sex Domestic Partners and Children: How to Apply
Dropping Courses
CTS and PTS Programs

Getting Started: Applying for the Tuition Exemption Benefit Program

After you or your eligible family member has been accepted as a student in the school, department, or college, and have registered for classes, you must apply for tuition exemption each term by completing the following steps:

Note: Whether you are an Officer or an eligible family member, you will need to print, complete and sign your Tuition Benefit Eligibility Form from the  CU Online Benefits Enrollment System. Family members will need the Officer to print this for them.

 

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Officers: How to Apply

Every term:

1. Log in with your UNI and password to print, complete and sign your Tuition Benefit Eligibility Form from the CU Benefits Enrollment System.
2. If you are a graduate student taking courses related to your work, complete a Job-Related Graduate Course Certification Form (see Tax Treatment). The form must be signed and dated by you and your supervisor. Attach the form to your Tuition Benefit Eligibility Form.
3. Submit the completed and signed Tuition Benefit Eligibility Form and, if it applies, your signed original Job-Related Graduate Course Certification form, to the Student Service Center in 205 Kent Hall (Morningside), or Registration & Financial Services @ CUMC in 1-141 Black Building (Medical Center),  between the time you receive your first Term Bill and the end of the Change of Program Period each term (see the Academic Calendar for details).

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Spouses/Same-sex Domestic Partners and Children: How to Apply

1. The Officer must log in in with his or her UNI and password to print your Tuition Benefit Eligibility Form from the CU  Benefits Enrollment System. Note: If you are the eligible child of two eligible Officers hired on or before July 1, 2011, each Officer must print, complete and sign the form.
2. If your eligibility does not appear in the system, the eligible Officer of your family will need to submit proof of your relationship to Columbia University HR Benefits, which may consist of the following:
   • for a spouse — marriage certificate;
   • for a same-sex domestic partner — See Benefits in Brief for guidelines.
   • for a biological dependent — birth certificate, adoption papers or guardianship papers
   • for dependent stepchild — birth certificate, adoption papers or guardianship papers and marriage certificate
   • for a child of a same-sex domestic partner — birth certificate, adoption papers or guardianship papers, and domestic partnership documentation as described in Benefits in Brief.
3. If you are an eligible child not enrolled in a degree program but taking courses at Columbia, you must provide additional documentation from another accredited college or university. This documentation must be on the other school’s letterhead; it must show that you are either a candidate in good standing at the other school (and that the courses you are taking are part of your academic program), or that you are enrolled in courses specified in writing by an admissions officer as required for admission into an accredited undergraduate or graduate degree program.
4. Submit the completed and signed Tuition Benefit Eligibility Form to Student Financial Services in 205 Kent Hall (Morningside), or Registration & Financial Services @ CUMC  in 1-141 Black Building (Medical Center), between the time you receive your first Term Bill and the end of the Change of Program Period each term (see the Academic Calendar for details).

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Dropping Courses

If you do not want to continue a course, you should arrange with the Registrar to drop it by the end of the first week of classes to avoid any possibility of financial responsibility, and to avoid having the course count toward the course limits.

Note: Dropping all of your courses means withdrawing from the University. The University charges a $75 fee for all withdrawals from the University, and this fee is not covered under this Tuition Exemption Benefit Program. 

 

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CTS and PTS Programs

For CTS/PTS Program eligibility and procedures, see the College Tuition Scholarship or the Primary Tuition Scholarship.

 

 

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