Educate me (and mine).

May 14, 2009 2:05 PM

Which colleges or universities still offer free tuition to children of employees who get accepted to the school?

I once worked at a university where an employee's child (provided the parent was at a certain job level/rank and had been in the job long enough to qualify) could go to any of the undergraduate divisions for free if they were accepted to them. If the child went to another college, the university would pay half of the tuition.

Pretty sweet deal.

I know that schools are doing away with this kind of benefit, but what schools do you know of where this is still offered? My career is such that I can work in the academic setting, so where should I look for employment if I want my kids to get a free education?

This regards the US

posted by mds35 to work & money (51 comments total)

Rice University has a pretty sweet deal for children off employees. There is a reciprocal agreement with some other universities, as well.

It is tough getting a job at Rice. This is one of the reasons.
posted by Midnight Skulker at 2:11 PM on May 14

As of 2004ish, I think DePaul University still did this although I don't know the specific requirements concerning the parent's employment. I also want to say that a friend of mine whose father is a University of Chicago professor would have been able to go to the U of C for free had she applied and been accepted (this would've been late nineties, early aughts.)

This is all hearsay, though!

I've never known of a school that paid anything toward employees' children going to other schools.
posted by Neofelis at 2:11 PM on May 14

I'm pretty sure American University in D.C. does this. At least it did not that long ago.
posted by General Malaise at 2:11 PM on May 14

I believe the Claremont Colleges still do this.
posted by scody at 2:14 PM on May 14

I'm pretty sure Duke does, for at least some of undergrad tuition.
posted by barnone at 2:15 PM on May 14

I know that as of at least a few years ago a few of the Private colleges in Minnesota offered this. And they did have a reciprocity/exchange deal with about 5 different ones.
posted by Amby72 at 2:15 PM on May 14

Edgewood College in Madison, WI does this for all full time employees and I believe also has an exchange with a couple other similar colleges.
posted by mjcon at 2:16 PM on May 14

Many schools have tuition remission not only for their own employees and their families, but also have tuition exchange programs what offer tuition remission to any schools in the same consortium. See the Associated Colleges of the Midwest,Great Lakes College Association, Association of Presbyterian Colleges and Universities, the Tuition Exchange, the Council of Independent Colleges, the Catholic College Cooperative Tuition Exchange, and I'm sure there are others.
posted by decathecting at 2:19 PM on May 14

When my brother worked at the University of Mary Washington a few years ago now (the early part of the decade), they offered that.
posted by cabingirl at 2:20 PM on May 14

The University of Rochester does it for its employees, however you have to had completed 10 years of employment before it kicks in and it's only for students who come in as freshmen (you can't transfer in).

/hopes this is still in effect in 2019, otherwise we are so screwed
posted by Lucinda at 2:22 PM on May 14

I came in here to mention Rice University; however, children of faculty get preferential admission to children of staff. Vanderbilt pays 70% of the tuition for employee's children, and they also pay tuition at other universities (Roommate's father worked at Vanderbilt, and they paid most of Roommate's tuition at Rice).
posted by halogen at 2:23 PM on May 14

Yale University does this--they will pay up to half of undergraduate tuition or a certain inflation-adjusted amount (which is something like 15k a year), whichever is lesser. The benefit is the same regardless of whether the child attends Yale or not.
posted by phoenixy at 2:23 PM on May 14

Penn State pays 75%.
posted by stevechemist at 2:24 PM on May 14

Emory University offers "courtesy scholarships."
posted by Andy's Gross Wart at 2:27 PM on May 14

In the 90's the College of St Benedict/St John's University in Central Minnesota provided this benefit to their employees. Their kids even got some help with the tuition at the private high school. I can't find any wording on their site to see if they still do that.
posted by soelo at 2:28 PM on May 14

Lewis & Clark has this.

Also, the Oregon University System (includes U of Oregon, Portland State, OSU, etc.) has a tuition-reduction program for any employee working half-time or more which can be transferred to other family members.
posted by rabbitrabbit at 2:28 PM on May 14

I've never worked at a private University that did not offer this benefit. Though it is possible some are starting to cut back. My current employer, Widener University, offers it. Drexel and Villanova did when I worked there but that was a while ago.

Be sure to ask questions about the details. Which degree programs do they cover? Which employees/dependents are eligible? Do they have reciprocal agreements? If they have reciprocal agreements can you actually go to any school on the list or are there quotas? Is there a waiting period before you get the benefit? Do you have to agree to work there for a certain number of years after you finish your degree?
posted by interplanetjanet at 2:29 PM on May 14

One of my daughter's best friends got a free ride at University of Chicago because her mom teaches there (Class of 2012).
And I know someone who just took a job at Northwestern with the idea that his daughters' would get reduced tuition (they are now in high school).
posted by readery at 2:30 PM on May 14

Also, Reed College has a reduced tuition program for spouses and children (it's on p. 132 of that pdf).
posted by rabbitrabbit at 2:33 PM on May 14

The University of Chicago is outrageously generous in this regard. See here. For academic employees hired before July 2004, the benefit is "100% of the tuition at any college, up to 85% of the University of Chicago tuition rate," tax-free, if you are a "highly compensated employee." If you are "non-highly-compensated," it's 100% of tuition up to 100% of the UofC tuition rate.

Looks like they made it slightly less generous for employees hired after 2004: it's now 100% of tuition up to 75% of the UofC rate, taxable if you use it during your first four years of employment.
posted by chalkbored at 2:39 PM on May 14

I think the University of Pennsylvania pays 50% of undergraduate tuition for children of employees who began working before 1997. I'm not sure if that has changed since 2008.
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 2:45 PM on May 14

Arizona has qualified tuition reduction for employees, their spouses and eligible dependent children. The agreement is reciprocal among the three state universities.
posted by Squeak Attack at 2:54 PM on May 14

I was about to come in and post about Arizona, where I work, but Squeak Attack beat me to it. However, you also mentioned that schools were getting rid of this benefit. I was not aware of that, although a few of the posts here do seem to make it seem like what has happened is the benefit is now less generous at some places.
posted by bove at 3:01 PM on May 14

As of a couple years ago, Tulane had this.

I think that there is a group of colleges in the South that will "swap" this. i.e. I work at School A and you work at School B, so your child can go to my school for free while mine goes to yours for free.
posted by radioamy at 3:07 PM on May 14

Centre College (liberal arts).
posted by skypieces at 3:10 PM on May 14

Jesuit colleges do this. For example, a friend of mine whose father is a Boston College professor considered going to BC, St. Louis University, and Marquette, because he could go to any of them for free. (He ended up at SLU.)
posted by ocherdraco at 3:14 PM on May 14

Add USC to the list of private institutions offering this benefit (at least for now).
posted by chicainthecity at 3:22 PM on May 14

The Rochester Institute of Technology has a tuition benefit program for employees and their eligible family.

They participate in The Tuition Exchange program that has over 500 members. So their participating institutions listing may be a good resource for your research.
posted by Animus at 3:28 PM on May 14

I know a few friends whose parents' are professors at public universities in Illinois and could have gotten 50% off tuition from any public university in Illinois. However, it's not free && only for public institutions (nothing against).
posted by joydivasian at 3:33 PM on May 14

My alma mater, Murray State University does for a limited number of credit hours a semester.
posted by deezil at 3:36 PM on May 14

My dad worked at a university that did this, largely so that he could send his kids to university. Of course, 20+ years in, only 1 of the 4 of us took him up on the offer. The rest went elsewhere, getting scholarships and loans to do so. Point being--make sure YOU want the job for you, as well for your kid.
posted by stray at 3:42 PM on May 14

Skidmore College does and also has the swap option. As of 2006, Oberlin College did as well.
posted by Jon_Evil at 3:43 PM on May 14

Huh, I wonder why U of Chicago gets to decide whether and when the benefit is tax-free; I'd think that would be up to the IRS.
posted by yarrow at 3:46 PM on May 14

Columbia University pays half the tuition for children of salaried employees. The benefit is for good for any university, not just Columbia.
posted by plastic_animals at 4:03 PM on May 14

I don't have up to date info, but 7 or 8 years ago Wash U (in STL) did this.
posted by chrisamiller at 4:15 PM on May 14

University of Maryland does this: For employees hired after July 1, 1992, tuition remission benefits for their spouse and or dependent children become available after they have worked for the University for two years. Tuition remission benefits will be paid for the first undergraduate degree and courses must be taken at the home institution of the employee. (I actually knew a kid whose mom worked for UMD, and who was also a national merit scholar, so he actually got a stipend during his undergrad years! The downside was, he was stuck at UMD when he really wanted to be elsewhere.)

I thought Stanford University (where I work) had ended that benefit, but apparently they still do it, and will pay up to half of Stanford's tuition, regardless of school choice.
posted by sarahnade at 4:16 PM on May 14

Carleton University (Ottawa, Ontario) offers free tuition to children of faculty. My father taught at Algonquin College instead, and they offer absolutely nothing to children of faculty...
posted by kmennie at 4:31 PM on May 14

Nthing Jesuit schools -- my friend's parents teach at Xavier University, which has an exchange deal with a bunch of other schools, and she had a devil of a time deciding where to go. Ended up at Butler, though I don't know whether it's even on XU's exchange list.
posted by coppermoss at 5:18 PM on May 14

We have two colleges nearby that offer it. Clarkson University in upstate New York does for any full-time employee with 3 years service. St. Lawrence University does for faculty and exempt staff (but doesn't seem to for hourly or union employees.) They also have a reciprocal program that may pay all or part of tuition at other schools.

They're also part of the Tuition Exchange that animus linked to above.
posted by saffry at 5:26 PM on May 14

University of Richmond in Virginia.
posted by a robot made out of meat at 6:12 PM on May 14

University of Pittsburgh.
posted by the littlest brussels sprout at 7:17 PM on May 14

Johns Hopkins does after 90 days of employment.
posted by sperose at 7:20 PM on May 14

Linfield College: 100% tuition reimbursement for children of faculty/employees.
posted by thatbrunette at 10:54 PM on May 14

My little sister is going to the University of Southern California with tuition remission, thanks to our dad. USC Benefits page.
posted by dreamyshade at 11:25 PM on May 14

NYU was doing this at least up until a couple years ago.
posted by allkindsoftime at 12:23 AM on May 15

Baylor University does. (Yes, I know it's a Baptist school, but not everyone there is a Baptist.)
posted by Carol Anne at 5:37 AM on May 15

Webster University in St. Louis does this. All full-time employees get free tuition for all children for any bachelors or masters degree. Doctoral degrees are excluded.
posted by hworth at 6:27 AM on May 15

Carnegie Mellon for undergrad. Note that they also pay (up to a certain amount) for children attending a university other than CMU.
posted by namewithoutwords at 7:01 AM on May 15

Around the turn of the century, Notre Dame was still doing this. Then the fired my dad at the beginning of my senior year of high school, so I missed out on it.
posted by paisley henosis at 10:27 AM on May 15

decathecting lists some groups of cooperating schools, and I would like to amplilfy that by suggesting that a lot of smaller schools offer reciprocity. I work at Johnson & Wales in Providence, and we can swap with a *lot* (hundreds?) of other schools.
posted by wenestvedt at 10:48 AM on May 15

University of Toledo ("Ohio, not Spain," as we used to say.)
posted by faster than a speeding bulette at 3:32 PM on May 17