Employee Tuition Assistance Program (ETAP) Procedure | SCC

About

Employee Tuition Assistance Program (ETAP) Procedure

Division: Human Resources
SCC Procedure Number: SPR2.10
OPR: Director of HR
Issued: 8/1/2024
Revised:
Effective: 10/25/2024
Approved SCC President/CEO: 10/25/2024
Reference KCTCS Policy: 

Somerset Community College (SCC) encourages life-long learning and supports career growth for faculty and staff through the completion of college-level coursework. Since the state-wide tuition benefit for employees was eliminated, the college is making tuition assistance available through the SCC Employee Tuition Assistance Program (ETAP).

  1. Beginning with benefit eligibility at SCC, any SCC regular full-time faculty or staff member will be eligible to apply and be considered for tuition reimbursement for credit courses only, regardless of race, creed, color, national origin, religion, or sex.
  2. The maximum number of credit hours for which tuition assistance may be awarded shall not exceed six credit hours per semester (exception for labs may be allowed) with a combined maximum of 18 credit hours per academic year (summer through spring). Credit hours exceeding this limit will be the sole responsibility of the employee.
  3. If the employee chooses to apply for and receives financial aid to cover the full tuition amount for their classes, they will NOT be eligible for the SCC Employee Tuition Assistance Program. If financial aid does not pay the full tuition for the classes, employees may be eligible to receive funds from the ETAP. For example, if an employee takes 6 credit hours and receives financial aid for 3 credit hours, the employee can then ask for tuition assistance for the remaining 3 credit hours.
  4. ETAP reimbursement is processed through payroll due to IRS regulation for taxation; therefore, the SCC ETAP recipient will receive payment for tuition within four to six weeks after classes begin, depending on the date the finalized billing statement is received. Tuition reimbursement above the IRS limit is a taxable benefit to the employee. This limit is subject to change each year. Please check with Human Resources for the current limit.
  5. SCC ETAP will only pay for a specific class once. If an employee fails a class or decides to retake a class for a higher grade, the ETAP will not pay for the class again. Tuition reimbursement will not exceed the actual tuition.
  6. Course-related fees will not be funded but doctoral dissertation hours are eligible for funding.
  7. Acceptance of SCC tuition reimbursement requires the recipient to sign an obligation to remain employed with SCC after completion of their studies or pay back the tuition received from the ETAP. Employees would be expected to remain employed one semester for every six credit hours paid by the SCC ETAP, i.e. if an employee takes three semesters of classes and receives tuition assistance from SCC, they would be obligated to remain at SCC for three additional semesters once they completed their degree. Employees whose employment ends involuntarily are not required to reimburse SCC for ETAP funds received while employed.

Procedure

  1. Complete the SCC tuition reimbursement form (HR124). Faculty and staff will be expected to plan out their coursework for the Academic Year (Summer through Spring). If taking coursework during work hours, they must state on the application form how they plan to make up those hours. Faculty and staff must obtain the approval signature from their supervisor.
  2. In an effort to provide every SCC employee the same opportunity, the ETAP benefit will be given on a first come first serve basis – semester by semester – until ETAP funds are depleted. Therefore, prior to each semester, completed applications are due on the dates listed below. In the event one of the dates falls on a weekend, the due date will be the first working day following the set date.
    1. Applications for courses taken in the Summer: April 30th
    2. Applications for courses taken in the Fall: June 30th
    3. Applications for courses taken in the Spring: November 15th
    ETAP benefits may be available after the deadline, if so, additional requests may be considered.

Priority

Each year based on available funding, the college will budget for Employee Tuition Assistance through the ETAP. Once budgeted funds have been allocated, it is likely that additional funding will not be available during the year. If all application requests received by the deadline do not exceed the budgeted amount, SCC will fund tuition up to 100%, funds permitting. For example, if there is $3,000.00 remaining in the ETAP budget and an employee is taking courses at an in-state public university, instead of receiving 50% assistance from Morehead State University (MSU) alone, the employee could receive additional funds to cover up to 100% of their tuition.

  1. MSU has entered a partnership agreement with KCTCS which allows any KCTCS full-time employee to be admitted to a degree program and/or take classes and receive a 50% tuition waiver/discount. This is the amount used to determine the base benefit per credit hour. Any faculty or staff member wanting to start a new degree program should first explore whether MSU offers the degree program they want. If the employee would like to attend elsewhere, they are free to look for that program at other institutions and apply to receive funds for their tuition through the SCC ETAP. For consistency and to maximize the most benefit of the ETAP funding, regardless of the program or institutional choice, the rate for tuition assistance is capped at 50% of the MSU tuition unless additional funding is available.
  2. After the deadline for applications, if there are not enough funds to cover all employee requests, available funds will be allocated based on the date/time their application was received by HR and the college/university being attended:
    1. In-state public colleges/universities
    2. In-state private colleges/universities
    3. Out-of-state colleges/universities
  3. Examples:
    1. If the amount of requested funds does not exceed the budgeted amount, SCC will fund tuition for all requests equally up to 100%. This means the amount could be reduced between 50% to 100% depending on available funds.
    2. If the amount of requested funds exceeds the budgeted amount by more than 50% for all applicants, the priority will be to provide at least 50% to applicants attending colleges/universities using the priority listed in Paragraph 2. For example, if you are attending an out-of-state college and the funding runs out with 50% rates to in-state colleges/universities, you will be unable to receive ETAP funds during that semester. If more than one person is attending out-of-state institutions, and enough funding is available to help one person, it would go to the person whose application was received by HR first.