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Staff and Meritorious Guidelines
Who is Eligible?
First Priority:Full-Time Faculty and Staff who have regular appointments and qualify for benefits, and
have been admitted to WVU as graduate or first professional (M.D.,
D.D.S., or J.D.) students.
Second Priority: WVU Fellowships Holders ( Swiger , Du Bois , Minority Doctoral, ATLAS, LASPAU)
Third Priority: Meritorious Students (selected by WVU colleges/schools only)
Funded Traineeships, Named Fellowships or Critic Teachers/Supervisors (selected by WVU colleges/schools only), and
Faculty & Staff who missed the first deadline.
Quota waiver forms are not to be used for the processing of tuition waivers provided to Graduate Assistants. See Guidelines for Graduate Assistants/Teaching Fellows.
What is Waived?
Tuition, General HERF, Specific HERF (COMER, Engineering, and Business & Economics) (for the approved number of credit hours) for all students with a graduate waiver. Also waived are the program specific fees charged to full-time Pharmacy, Health Professional Education majors and Professional Medical School students. Mandatory Fee Schedule A, Off-Campus fees, College or Department Non- waivable Specific fees, and other Special Fee Assessments are not waived. This means that all students will be invoiced for the Mandatory A Fees and other fees as applicable; those fees must be paid or the students' registration will be terminated for nonpayment. Students will then be required to go to Admissions and Records and be reinstated and pay a reinstatement fee in order to continue taking classes at WVU.
How Many Credit Hours Can Be Waived?
- Full-Time Employees - limited to a maximum of 6 credit hours per semester
- Second Priority students - the waiver will reflect the requirements of the fellowship (The Office of Graduate Education will initiate and carry out all the processing.)
- Third Priority Students - the number of credit hours waived is determined by the award as approved by the college/school
Hours to a particular student can be awarded from only one institution or WVU college/department. Hours can only be awarded to a student under only one category, (i.e. full-time faculty; full-time staff; meritorious student, etc.) For example, a faculty or staff member cannot receive student meritorious hours in addition to hours received in their capacity as a faculty or staff member.
Students may register for more hours than the hours for which they have tuition waived. They will be invoiced for the additional hours (tuition and fee charges will be based on the hours enrolled above the waiver). Waived hours will be considered the first hours lost when a student drops or withdraws from classes after the add/drop period. No refunds are given if waived hours are dropped.
Provided they meet the prerequisites of the course and have been admitted to WVU as graduate or professional students, students with Quota Tuition Waiver hours are eligible to register for courses at any level (undergraduate, graduate, or professional). However, students may not use merit hours to work towards a second undergraduate degree.
The following restrictions must be adhered to when awarding quota waivers to meritorious students:
- Waivers must be awarded only to degree-seeking students.
- Generally, a minimum of 3 credit hours is set for all quota waiver awards.
- Quota waivers generally should be used to meet degree requirements.
- The maximum length of time waivers (including graduate assistant waiver) may be received by a full-time student is set at 3 years for master's students and 5 years for doctoral students continuing beyond the master's.
- Emphasis in awarding quota waivers should be placed on attracting doctoral students and on master's degree students who plan to proceed to doctoral candidacy.
- Quota waivers should especially be used to attract qualified West Virginia residents.
How To Apply?
Faculty and Staff must have the appropriate Graduate Tuition Waiver Designee in their department or college complete and sign the appropriate Graduate Tuition Waiver Form; faculty and staff should be aware that any Graduate Tuition Waiver that exceeds a total value of $5,250 annually may be considered by the IRS to be a taxable benefit.
Students seeking meritorious tuition waiver hours should contact their department/division to request such hours. The department will in turn complete and sign the appropriate Graduate Tuition Waiver Form. The process must be open in the sense that all eligible students should know when Quota waivers are available.
Where To Get Forms?
Forms will be sent to each college Graduate Tuition Waiver Designee in advance of the priority deadlines. Additional forms may be obtained from the Office of Graduate Education in 201 Stewart Hall, or phone 293-7173.
Waivers for faculty and staff that are received in the Office of Graduate Education in 201 Stewart Hall by 4:45 p.m. on the designated due date, will be approved and processed within the first priority time line if all the information on the form is complete and legible and meets the specifications of these guidelines.
What If The Deadline Is Missed?
All first priority students whose forms are received after the designated due date will be given waivers in the order in which forms are received. Credit hours returned or freed due to deletes will be allocated on the basis of category of student, Dean/Director's priority, and the circumstances surrounding the request. The Office of Graduate Education will notify the unit of any additional allocation. It is the responsibility of the unit to notify the student. Students may have to walk papers through the process in order to recalculate their invoices that were incorrect because of a late submission.
Allocation
All meritorious waiver hours will be distributed as early as possible to the academic colleges/schools. These hours will remain within the college/school for distribution. In other words, any cancellations by the first week of classes can be awarded to other graduate students in that college/school.
The Board of Governors specifies that a full-time graduate/professional FTE waiver must consist of 12 credit hours. Therefore, a school/college must use 12 meritorious hours from its allocation for any meritorious/scholarship student enrolled for 9 (considered full-time) or more credit hours. Forms indicating 9, 10, or 11 credit hours cannot be processed .
Meritorious hours are considered non-taxable scholarships and, therefore, cannot be awarded for services rendered.
Where To Send Completed Forms
Send original (Blue, Green, or Pink) forms to: West Virginia University, Office of Graduate Education, PO Box 6203, Morgantown, WV 26506-6203. It is advised that each school/college keep a copy of the original. The Office of Graduate Education must have originals for signature purposes.
Deletes
Units, Graduate Tuition Waiver Designee, Deans/Directors, or students themselves must notify the Office of Graduate Education (293-7173) by the end of the first week of classes of anyone who should be deleted from the waiver file (or those wishing to decrease the number of credit hours waived) because they did not or could not register for classes, withdrew or dropped early, or are no longer WVU or BOG employees. Notification may be made by phone, but must be followed up by promptly submitting a delete form. Every unreported delete means fewer hours that can be allocated back to academic colleges/schools. Failure to report deletes by the deadline may result in the student's suspension from eligibility for this waiver for the subsequent academic year.
Invoices
Inaccurate completion of the tuition waiver form, failure to apply and be admitted to graduate or professional study, or lateness in submission of the waiver form may result in an incorrect invoice being issued. This creates unnecessary work for the Office of Graduate Education and for the Graduate Tuition Waiver Designee. It remains the responsibility of the student to: 1) correct inaccurate data; 2) complete all admission requirements; 3) get the waiver approved by the college or department that they attend or are employed by; 4) present proof of the waiver to the Office of Graduate Education or the Office of Student Accounts before the last day designated by which to pay fees; and 5) notify the WVU Financial Aid Office of the waiver award if the student applied for, or received, any federal financial aid (such as loans or work-study positions).
Questions
Please call the Office of Graduate Education at 293-7173 concerning any Graduate Tuition Waiver questions.
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