FY26 Changes for Tuition Remission Eligibility for RA, TA, PA, and LSA

A new tuition remission framework starts fall 2025 (FY26). See below for details on what is changing.

Information on remission details for RA, TA, PA, and LSAs through summer 2025 can be found on the Tuition Remission Eligibility for RA, TA, PA, and LSA page.

On this page:

• Eligibility
• Stacked appointments
• Tuition remission surcharge
• Authorization forms
• Graduate Assistance benefits eligibility

To qualify for a tuition waiver, a grad student must have a 33% FTE or higher RA/TA/PA/LSA appointment entered into Workday by the 6^th Friday after classes start each semester.

• Student eligibility will be based on appointment as it is entered in Workday.
• 33% FTE means 33.0% FTE, not 33.33%. Appointments must be greater than or equal to 33.0% FTE to be eligible for a tuition waiver.
• Cutoff date will be the 6^th Friday after the first day of classes for each semester. This translates to October 10 for fall semester 2025 (FY26).
• 33% FTE will be defined as a 33% appointment that has been entered into Workday by the cutoff date. Please note, we are NOT requiring a qualifying appointment to work a 33% FTE equivalent for the entirety of a semester. We’re going to pull a list of all grad students on the cutoff date that have a 33% FTE or higher RA/TA/PA/LSA appointment in Workday – that will be our population of grad students that have qualified for a tuition waiver for that semester.
  • No appointments entered after the cutoff date will be considered for tuition remission eligibility:
    • A 33% FTE appointment entered the day before the cutoff date will qualify for a waiver.
    • A 50% FTE appointment entered the day after the cutoff date will not qualify for a waiver.
  • The start date of a qualifying appointment must be on or before the cutoff date.
• If a grad student terminates their employment early for a reason other than graduation, the department must tell the Bursar’s Office and/or Business Services so the remission can be removed and the surcharge reversed. If no action is taken by the department in these cases, the grad student will keep the waiver, and the surcharge will stay on the associated funding.

Summer

Summer tuition remission rules will not change from current state.

• There will be no surcharge associated with summer. We only charge for fall and spring semesters.
• Grad student tuition waivers will roll forward from spring semester to cover summer if the grad student worked a qualifying appointment in the spring, unless the department cancels the remission for summer.
• If a grad student doesn’t work a qualifying appointment in the spring, they must work a 33% FTE appointment for 8 weeks in the summer to qualify for a summer tuition waiver.

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Stacked appointments will not be allowed. Only individual appointments at or above 33% FTE will be eligible for tuition remission (TR).

• No appointments below 33% FTE will ever get hit with TR surcharge.
• If a grad student has multiple qualifying appointments (33% FTE or higher), surcharge will be split by FTE/funding split on both appointments.
• If one appointment above and one below 33% – all surcharge will hit the higher FTE appointment.
• If a grad student has multiple appointments below 33%, they will not be eligible for a tuition waiver and no surcharge will be assessed for that student. A grad student will not get a tuition waiver no matter what the total FTE % is if all appointments are below 33% FTE.

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• The tuition remission (TR) surcharge rate will change from $6k/semester to $5,363.76/semester (standard grad in-state tuition at plateau).
• There will be one charge for all grad assistant remissions – including dissertators. The charge will be $5,363.76 per semester, regardless of how many credits the grad assistant is taking.
• TR surcharge will only hit RA/PA funding. TA/LSA appointments will not be hit with a surcharge.
• Surcharge will not be assessed for grad assistants that are paid on fund 142.
• Funding for a single qualifying appointment can be split multiple ways.
  • If a 40% FTE appointment is funded equally on 4 different funding strings, the surcharge associated with that appointment will be split equally on those 4 funding strings.
• We will ignore the January A pay period when assessing TR surcharge on grad assistant funding. Fall will run from September A pay period – December B, and spring will run from January B through May B. This more closely aligns with the academic calendar and mirrors the period of time that grad students actually work.
  • There will be no surcharge associated with summer.
• Funding changes and salary transfers will be picked up by Business Services monthly. Surcharge will follow the salary/stipend.
• Surcharge entries will initially hit monthly. The goal is to book entries after every payroll hits in the future, but will be monthly to start.
• For budgeting purposes only, include a 3% annual increase in tuition costs starting with FY27. FY26 tuition remission surcharge will be $5,363.76 per semester.

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Tuition remission authorization forms still need to be submitted to the bursar’s office by the cutoff date so waivers can be applied timely to student accounts. We hope to eliminate this step in the future.

How to submit tuition remission forms

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