Purpose
Middlebury College provides educational assistance in the form of a Tuition Cash Grant Scholarship for eligible employees’ dependent children who are pursuing full-time undergraduate work at an institution other than Middlebury College that is accredited under section 117 of the IRS Code.
Eligibility
In order to qualify for the Tuition Cash Grant Scholarship, the following terms of eligibility must be met:
A. The employee/parent must:
1) Have worked for the College:
(a) Full time for 10 years or more,
or
(b) Part-time, in an eligible position(s), for the
equivalent of at least 10 full-time years. “Eligible
positions” are regular positions (not: temporary,
seasonal, on-call, or contract jobs), and are
scheduled for a minimum of half time.
Work need not be continuous, so long as cumulative breaks-in-
service do not exceed cumulative actual service.
OR
2) Be a tenured faculty member.
Employees who have met all eligibility requirements and then either officially retire from the College, or leave work due to a disability or death, will remain eligible for the program.
New employees: Individuals who leave another institution, at which they had an accrual towards a tuition benefit of similar value, in order to take a position at Middlebury, may receive equivalent credit toward the Middlebury College benefit eligibility. An individual who had previously completely satisfied the service requirement for a tuition benefit of similar value at the other institution may be immediately eligible for the Middlebury College benefit. Eligibility for credit based on a previous employer’s plan will be made by the AVP of Human Resources and will be based on the facts and circumstances of each case.
B. The scholarship recipient must be:
1) A child of the employee:
(a) The natural or legally adopted child of the employee,
or
(b) The stepchild of the employee provided that:
(i) The employee’s spouse is the natural or adoptive
parent of the child, AND
(ii) The employee’s spouse is the custodial parent for
income tax purposes, AND
(iii) The employee’s custodial relationship with the
child must have been in effect for at least as long
as the waiting period for the benefit (10 years).
2) A tax dependent of the employee, as defined by the
Internal Revenue Code.
3) Less than 26 years old.
4) Enrolled full-time in an accredited undergraduate
program or accredited technical school (except that the
final semester of the senior year may be part-time).
5) Must be in good academic standing.
Benefit Amount
Eligible scholarship recipients receive a cash grant of either:
1. 30 percent of Middlebury's comprehensive fee,
or
2. One half of the tuition only (not room and board or other
charges or fees) of the institution attended,
whichever is less.
The scholarship is available for a maximum of four full years of coursework. (Four years typically equates to 8 semesters or 12 trimesters; determination of equivalency for programs with alternative schedules will be at the discretion of the AVP of Human Resources.)
Maximum Allowed Benefit
The College provides two separate dependent tuition benefit programs, the Cash Grant Tuition Benefit described in this policy and the Comprehensive Fee Credit. Eligible dependents may receive a maximum combined benefit of 8 semesters or 12 trimesters of benefit: benefits received under either program accrue towards the Maximum Allowed Benefit.
Application and Further Information
To receive the benefit the College employee must complete the Tuition Cash Grant Scholarship application and submit a copy of the tuition bill each semester/trimester to Human Resources. Payment will then be remitted directly to the institution in which the eligible child is enrolled. A copy of the benefit letter will be mailed directly to the employee.
Employees should contact Human Resources at ext. 5465 with questions regarding eligibility, program accreditation, payment of benefits, etc.