#  Tuition Policy 

 



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- Effective Date: July 1, 2007
- Revision Date: May 2024
- Responsible Office: Office for Sponsored Programs
- [PDF version of Tuition Policy](/file_url/346)

##  Policy Statement

 Tuition remission is the payment of tuition expense as a part of compensation to students performing necessary work on federal awards.

 For tuition remission to be an allowable charge to federal research awards:

- The individual is conducting activities necessary to the scope of work of the award;
- During the academic period, the individual is enrolled in an advanced degree program at a grantee or affiliated institution and the activities of the student in relation to the Federally-sponsored research project are related to the degree program;
- The amount of the tuition remission must be reasonable;
- Since the tuition remission is considered compensation, it must be certified.

 Tuition remission is a form of compensation and is subject to the Compensation section of the Uniform Guidance (2 CFR 200.430). If tuition remission is charged to federal awards in percentages supported by Harvard’s ecrt system, no further certification is required. If tuition remission is charged to federal awards in percentages not supported by Harvard’s ecrt system or if there is no statement, then a manual certification is required.

 Note that students who are “on tenure” in the NSF GRFP program cannot charge tuition remission to any sponsored awards. (See policy, “[Secondary Appointments for NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Program Fellows (GRFP](/secondary-appointments-nsf-graduate-research))”).

##  Reason for Policy

 All compensation charged to federal research awards, whether it is paid as salaries and wages or as tuition remission, is subject to effort reporting.

##  Who Must Comply

 All individuals involved with the administration and conduct of federally sponsored award activities, including central and departmental sponsored project administrators, principal investigators, and other research personnel must comply with this policy.

 Adherence to this policy is required for all effort related to federally sponsored awards.

##  Examples

 Facts used in example: A student receives $9,600 in salaries and wages (S&W) from two research awards and a non-sponsored source.The student receives $10,000 in tuition remission.

Sort      All Salary Sources

         Award A

 

  $4,800

 

  50%

 

    Award B

 

  $2,400

 

  25%

 

    Teaching

 

  $2,400

 

  25%

 

    

  $9,600

 

  100%

 

 



###  Tuition Distribution 1:

 **Tuition follows S&W on the research awards AND teaching.** Ecrt statements may be certified in the system.

Sort      All Salary Sources

     Tuition – All Salary Sources

         Award A

 

  $4,800

 

  50%

 

  $5,000

 

  50%

 

    Award B

 

  $2,400

 

  25%

 

  $2,500

 

  25%

 

    Teaching

 

  $2,400

 

  25%

 

  $2,500

 

  25%

 

    

  $9,600

 

  100%

 

  $10,000

 

  100%

 

 



###  Tuition Distribution 2:

 **Tuition follows S&W on research awards only.** Ecrt statements may be certified in the system since the percentage of tuition remission allocated to each research award does not exceed the percentage of effort on each research award as a percentage of effort on all research awards.

Sort      All Salary Sources

     Research Salary Only

     Tuition – Research Salary Only

         Award A

 

  $4,800

 

  50%

 

  $4,800

 

  67%

 

  $6,667

 

  67%

 

    Award B

 

  $2,400

 

  25%

 

  $2,400

 

  33%

 

  $3,333

 

  33%

 

    Teaching

 

  $2,400

 

  25%

 

  $0

 

  0%

 

  $0

 

  0%

 

    

  $9,600

 

  100%

 

  $7,200

 

  100%

 

  $10,000

 

  100%

 

 



###  Tuition Distribution 3:

 **Tuition remission is charged to sources other than those used for S&W.** Effort must be adjusted and certified manually on each ecrt statement where the student appears.

Sort      All Salary Sources

     Tuition Remission

     Adjusted Effort

         Award A

 

  $4,800

 

  50%

 

  $1,000

 

  10%

 

  $5,800

 

  29.5%

 

    Award B

 

  $2,400

 

  25%

 

  $0

 

  0%

 

  $2,400

 

  12.3%

 

    Award C

 

  

  

  $4,000

 

  40%

 

  $4,000

 

  20.4%

 

    Dept Fund

 

  

  

  $2,500

 

  25%

 

  $2,500

 

  12.8%

 

    Teaching

 

  $2,400

 

  25%

 

  $2,500

 

  25%

 

  $4,900

 

  25.0%

 

    

  $9,600

 

  100%

 

  $10,000

 

  100%

 

  $19,600

 

  100%

 

 



##  Revison History

- December 2014 – updated references to the Uniform Guidance
- March 2023 – updated to reflect compensation practices for unionized graduate students

##  Related Resources/Appendices 

- [Procedure – Charging Tuition Remission to Federal Awards](/file_url/412)
- [Effort Reporting Policy](/effort-reporting-policy)
- [Secondary Appointments for NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Program Fellows (GRFP](/secondary-appointments-nsf-graduate-research))



 



 

 See also:- [ T ](/alpha/t)
- [ Policies ](/page-type/policies)
- [ Tuition ](/policies-guidance/tuition)