Tuition Remission for University Employees

[Kawa'a]

Sorry if I posted this in the wrong area...my question is maybe oddly specific. I'm a full-time employee at a UC and one of my benefits is tuition remission (2/3 for most programs). I like the work I do and do not want to quit to go grad school or change careers. I have no interest in being a nurse, doctor, or pharmacist, which is the bulk of programs at the institution I work for. That leaves one MS program and one Ph.D. program...both of which require full time attendance. I could possibly go to Berkeley, which is far (travel-time wise)...but maybe do-able. Has anyone been in this situation where they were a university employee and you utilized the tuition remission benefit? Did you find a program that allowed you to be enrolled part-time?

I'd be interested in studying Public Health, Public Administration, Public Policy, or Health Sciences/History. I found a MPH program at Berkeley, which is a hybrid on campus/online program. I noticed any type of program with an online aspect at the UCs is not well advertised. Does anyone know of any other good UC programs with online components, especially in the Bay Area? I would not want to complete a program solely online, but if there were some basics handled that way, I'd be open to it.

Sorry for all the questions, but I'm at the beginning stages and just mulling it over. Any help is very appreciated!

[KidA123]

Let me just start by saying I'm not going to be able to answer your question (hey, but at least you got a response!). But maybe you can answer mine?

I'm looking into UC Berkeley for grad school and an obviously great perk would be tuition remission. I see that if you work 45% as a GSR (http://grad.berkeley...eligibility.pdf) you can get full tuition and fees covered. However, I couldn't seem to find anything in the Berkeley Jobs section that said tuition remission was even a benefit! Seeing as I'm not sure exactly what these acronyms mean, I'm not sure if tuition coverage is even an option.

1. Can someone clarify what it means to be a GSR vs. regular graduate student working towards their master's?

2. If tuition remission is offered for regular employees of Berkeley, does it matter which department you work within? For example, if I want to study Public Policy but am working as a full-time Research Assistant in the Biology department, am I still as eligible?

I appreciate help from anyone.

Thanks!

[Kawa'a]

Yes, my questions are pretty specific and so I'm not surprised to not hear back, but I'm happy to hear from you, KidA123, anyhow. I can tell you that tuition remission is for all full-time staff employees regardless of which department you are with. However, not all programs qualify. Most self-sustaining programs do not qualify. Also, tuition remission is transferable to other UCs. So you can work at Davis and attend Berkeley, for example. And then there's the question of working full-time and attending your program full-time...just kind of depends on your particular situation. Hope that helps and good luck!

[long_time_lurker]

I know nothing about UC but the best bet is to just ask the directors of the programs. Often rules like "must be enrolled full-time" or "must not be employed while receiving a stipend" are bendable or waivable if you just speak to the appropriate person. You must have some connections from your job with someone who can get the ball rolling for you.

[MarleneM]

On 11/29/2011 at 4:37 PM, Kawa'a said:

Yes, my questions are pretty specific and so I'm not surprised to not hear back, but I'm happy to hear from you, KidA123, anyhow. I can tell you that tuition remission is for all full-time staff employees regardless of which department you are with. However, not all programs qualify. Most self-sustaining programs do not qualify. Also, tuition remission is transferable to other UCs. So you can work at Davis and attend Berkeley, for example. And then there's the question of working full-time and attending your program full-time...just kind of depends on your particular situation. Hope that helps and good luck!

Hello, 

It's been a while so hopefully you will read this. Did you ever get the tuition reduction? I'm a full-time employee at UCSF and hoping to get into UC Berkeley.