Educational benefit program

The purpose of this policy is to establish the university’s policy, procedures, and guidelines for providing educational benefits to eligible university employees, their spouses and children.

It is the policy of Lynn University to provide tuition benefits to eligible employees of the university and their spouses and children. The university’s educational benefit programs, however, are a privilege - not a right. As such, would-be participants must be pre-approved and university funds must be available.

Employees participating in any of the educational benefits are responsible for payment of all fees including labs, service fees, graduation fees, books and any taxes that may be required by the government. The University reserves the rights to have employees (or their spouse or dependent child) apply for any financial aid to which they may be entitled.

Note: because educational benefits are only available when university funds are available, this policy is subject to change and the university explicitly reserves the right to modify its policies, procedures, and program eligibility. Payment of this benefit by the university in any given semester does not imply that it will be paid in future semesters as the program may be modified at any time.

Dependent child- a child who is a financial dependent of their parents, as defined by the IRS and Federal Financial Aid Program.

I. Donald E. Ross employee scholarship program

After one year of continuous full‐time service, employees, children and spouses of full‐time employees are eligible to enroll in Lynn University day and online undergraduate and masters courses, tuition‐free, providing they do not interfere with the employee's performance, schedule, and/or work hours.

All admissions are on a space available basis (including a cap on undergraduate online participants), and the employee, spouse or child must meet Lynn University’s admission requirements. Individuals taking advantage of this benefit must maintain at least a 2.0 cumulative GPA for undergraduate and 3.0 for graduate courses and meet the requirements of all applicable university, college and department academic policies. Employees may not enroll in more than six (6) credits per term. The university reserves the right to revoke employee scholarship for any individual who exceeds two (2) unsuccessful attempts in the same course or if the GPA falls below the required minimum. For undergraduate online courses, the employee scholarship benefit may be used for each course only once; subsequent attempts in the same course will not be covered by this benefit.

Employees only also may enroll in Lynn's doctoral program, with a 50% tuition discount, under the same conditions.

If eligible employees are laid off, go on a disability leave of absence, or have a status change from full-time to part-time, the employee scholarship will be retained for any approved term in progress. If eligible employees voluntarily or involuntarily terminate employment with Lynn University during an approved term, the university reserves the right to revoke the employee scholarship.

To apply for the employee scholarship, employees must complete and submit the employee scholarship form to Student Financial Services during the enrollment period of each term and no later than two weeks after the start of the term. If not received within two weeks after the start of the term, the employee forfeits the benefit for that term and will be responsible for the tuition cost.

The statement of financial responsibility form is required for all first time enrollees and the authorization of credit form is required annually. An employee who does not follow the financial form procedures will be charged the full tuition amount for the number of courses taken. Employees who are in default on federal loans at the time of the employee scholarship request are not eligible for the employee scholarship benefit.

Any outstanding fees must be paid at the time of registration by all employees, spouses, and children of employees. Employee scholarship benefit applies only towards tuition not towards the purchase of books. All graduate and online students need to pay the applicable iPad charge or bring their own tablet. The employee scholarship does not cover this charge. Students may apply for student loans to cover books and fees expenses.

The employee scholarship does not cover the cost of study abroad, however, any eligible employee, spouse or child of an employee will receive a discount.

Employee benefits cover only tuition or a portion of tuition. External funds from loans and grants may also be available, depending on the individual employee’s eligibility. Employee scholarship recipients, however, are not eligible to receive scholarships funded by the University. Information regarding loans and grants can be found online at www.lynn.edu/financialaid.

Note regarding taxation of educational benefits:

Graduate education - According to Section 127 of the Internal Revenue Code, only the first $5,250.00 of graduate level education expenses covered by the university are considered non-taxable. Those amounts in excess of the $5,250.00 exclusion are taxable, will result in additional tax withholding, and will appear as additional income on the employee's W-2 Form at year end. For an employee's spouse or child, the full value of graduate tuition assistance benefits is taxable to the employee and will be treated accordingly.

Undergraduate education – The value of tuition assistance benefits for undergraduate education received by an employee, his/her spouse, or eligible dependent child (according to IRS definition) is not subject to taxation. In contrast, the value of tuition assistance benefits for an employee’s children who are not eligible dependents is taxable, will result in additional tax.

II. Tuition exchange program

After one year of continuous full‐time service, employees, children and spouses of full‐time employees are eligible to apply. Tuition exchange is a reciprocal scholarship program which finances tuition for eligible students at participating institutions (eligible students are full-time employees who have completed one year of continuous service and their dependents according to the IRS definition). For more information on tuition exchange programs and to view a list of participating institutions, please refer to www.lynn.edu/mylynn.

To learn more about this policy or the supporting procedures, please contact Employee Services.