<p>The Tuition Exchange/tuition waiver opportunity is the most wonderful benefit for employees of certain academic institutions. Granted, every institution is different and BEFORE the student gets the tuition benefit he/she has to get admitted to the tuition-benefit offering institution and undergo the same competitive process, just like every other applicant.
I do not think I am less sensitive to the tuition-paying parents, but I do consider that we are incredible lucky. Both my kids are getting a great undergrad education tuition-free, and will graduate with no loans. I do not usually talk about this in front of people who are making huge sacrifices to send their kids to school; and i just mention it here for information purposes.
The TE is NOT taxable.</p>
<p>Nothing free here at UW-Madison, but with the new compensation system in the works who knows what possibilities might be ahead. There is free auditing for those 60 and above for some but not all courses.</p>
<p>My university participates in several exchanges - the midwest compact, council of independent colleges, tuition exchange, and the Jesuit university FACHEX system. It definitely has made my meager salary more palatable knowing that my S can go to a great school tuition free! Plus it’s incentive to make him keep his grades up and study for his standardized tests knowing he has to get into one of these schools first before he can get the scholarship.</p>
<p>The next time any school calls me for $$ I am telling them that when they drop free or reduced tuition for any employees I will contribute. Bet that will get them off the phone real quck.</p>
<p>^Do not worry about wasting half of sec. on any kind of conversation, they will continue calling anyway. I just say 'Not interested", hang up before any reply and I know they will call anyway. With political party it seems to get results when youscream back that if they do not stop calling, you will never vote for them. With schools, they just having kids doing their “volunteering”, they would never care what you say on the phone. they just put their hours on their resume.</p>
<p>However, I would like to point out that Merit scholarship is much better option than faculty free education for kids. You do not have to pay taxes on tuition portion of Merit Scholarship, I heard that you still have to pay taxes on R&B coverage of Merit scholarship, though.</p>
<p>Penn State, which has a reduction in tuition (but not fees or board) after 1 year of f/t employment, limited to spouse/dependants/self and one degree</p>
<p>I am the stepmom of a really good student whose mother works for a college that offers her the benefit of tuition exchange. She is refusing to sign the paperwork to allow him to take advantage of this benefit. I am trying to find if there is anything we can do to get around this hurdle. The refusal is based on the fact that she wants to be paid for signing the document…</p>
<p>She want to be paid by her own child? How bizarre! Are there any provisions in the divorce decree regarding college expenses? Who is the custodial parent - your H or the witch? Does your stepson have a good relationship with his maternal aunts/uncles/grandparents and could he ask them to speak with her about this?</p>
<p>Unfortunately nothing in the divorce decree - she has previously signed up for one child who is completing her last year, so there is no eligibility issue.
In light of the fact that the benefit is not taxable, I was wondering if there is perhaps a precedent anywhere for the school allowing him to participate despite her refusal to sign. I did ask the school in question, but they have never encountered this situation before.
If there were costs associated we would of course contribute - I just object to paying for something that is free.
In light of the fact that graduates are finding it harder to achieve employment after completion of studies, we would like him to be debt free is possible.</p>
<p>I know at my school, I have to apply for the benefit and fill out a separate form for each school my child applies to. I’m not sure there is anyway around that (at my school, at least). How very unfortunate for your stepson and how very selfish and uncaring of his mother.</p>
<p>I’m afraid there’s little that can be done. It is her benefit, not the child’s, as she is the employee. You cannot force the woman’s employer to provide anyone else with her benefits.</p>
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<p>Apparently she has figured this out and decided to hold the boy’s educational opportunity hostage. How much is she asking for in order to sign the form? At the end of the day, are you and your H prepared to pay the cost of his education in order to avoid paying her anything? I would get a legal agreement if you do decide to pay her and this is something that requires her signature on an annual basis. But my guess is that she will cave if confronted by her other child, parents, siblings, etc. Shame on her!</p>
<p>I am not going to be so quick to jump on the band wagon to call mom selfish and “shame on her” because she is unwilling to release her information. We are only hearing a small snippet of the story.</p>
<p>tuitionseeker,</p>
<p>Who is the custodial parent(s)? Is it your husband’s ex or is it you and your husband?</p>
<p>possible scenarios:</p>
<p>tuitionseeker said
</p>
<p>Perhaps mom does not want her son “raliroaded” into attending a school because it is “free” that may not be the best school for the student. </p>
<p>Perhaps dad has said that he is only willing to pay the ends at a school where he can get free tuition and all other options are off the table. </p>
<p>Perhaps son may be considering profile schools that will ask for the income/assets of mom, dad and stepmom. If dad and stepmom have considerable more income and assets than mom, student could be full pay at any/every school outside of the school where mom works.</p>
<p>Maybe mom is looking for things to be equitable between her and her ex. If mom works at private u, dad is getting a really sweet deal if he is only paying room and board and mom is absorbing the cost of tuition (and possible tax implications).</p>
<p>sybbie, my comments were based on this:</p>
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<p>Perhaps, mom has a reason for saying this especially if ex has a history of not paying his fair share in supporting his children.</p>
<p>For all we know he is looking to get her free tuition and then still have her be responsible for a portion of room, board, fees etc. This way, mom is paying proportionally more than dad (especially if support ends once a child reaches 18).</p>
<p>Lets say room, board books is $10,000. Dad expects to pay half and have mom pay half. Mom is using her tuition benefit, then paying $5000 out of pocket for room and board. Dad gets to pay $5000 for room and board (the equivalent to 100/week, probably much less than what he was paying for child support). </p>
<p>Mom is proportionally paying more of the cost of attendance to educate the child, will still be responsible for sundry items for the child, while dad pays a share of room and board, walking away richer.</p>
<p>We do not know all the dynamics that are going on in this relationship.</p>
<p>You are all 100% correct - blended families are really complex arrangements and it’s very easy to take sides. Unfortunately, in the back and forth arguments the children suffer.
The child concerns lives with his father who is the custodial parent. We meet all daily living expenses and I am sure those of you with teenagers know that these are substantial. The mother is in terms of the divorce agreement required to pay a percentage, but has for the past 4 years been delinquent in all payments. There are some court orders requiring payment of these arrears but once again those of you in this boat will know that these are minimal and will therefore need to be policed way out into the future.
I realize that it is easier in terms of our preconcieved notions to accept that mothers are hard done by in a divorce, but that is not always the case.
In this instance, the mother created an expectation in the cild that he would be able to enjoy out of state tuition as did his elder sister, she travelled with him to look at the colleges, she gave him dates when the documents would be signed and then held back. From our perspective it would be easer to have him live at home and attend the state school with some financial aid and loans - but this goes against the long held ideal of attending some of the schools in the tuition exchange program.
This child is an A student, member of an honous society, MVP on some sports teams… he deserves every opportunity available to him.
The only reason that we have ot agreed to the extortionate terms of the requiremed payments is that signature is required every year - this is year 1 to secure a place. Our fears relate to what demands will be forthcoming in the actual 4 years of study.</p>
<p>The UC system does not provide tuition breaks to faculty.</p>