Getting your education at Mason
Whether you want to brush up on your skills, learn something new, or pursue a degree, life-long learning is a wonderful benefit of working at Mason! Check out your classification below to see what benefit you’re eligible for.
- Full-time staff can have up to 12 credit hours waived each Academic Year (max 6 per semester)
- Part-time classified staff can have up to 8 credit hours waived each Academic Year (max 4 per semester)
- Non-Student Wage after each 500 hours of work can have up to up to 4 credits per semester waived (max of 8 per academic year)
Follow these steps to take advantage of this tremendous benefit:
Step 1: Apply for admission (the application fee is waived for Mason employees)
Step 2: Check to see if you were accepted into the program
Step 3: Register for courses (course fees will also be waived)
Step 4: Complete an Employee Tuition Exemption Request form for each course in which you are registered in each semester
Step 5: Submit your Tuition Exemption Request(s) to your supervisor/manager for his/her signature
Step 6: Submit your signed Employee Tuition Exemption Request(s) to Student Accounts after you have registered, but prior to the payment due date
A few things to remember:
- No special priority for registration
- Accepted into class sections on a “space available” basis
- Exemptions earned in one employment category will not transfer if the employee moves to another employment category (e.g. non-student wage employee moving to classified position)
- Time missed from work because of class attendance must be made up by the employee or charged to an appropriate leave balance so that the employee continues to meet the requirement for a 40-hour work week
- If you enroll in graduate courses, please remember that if you utilize a tuition waiver for graduate study, and your waiver is more than $5,250 in a calendar year, the overages will be reported to the IRS as taxable earnings
For more information, visit hr.gmu.edu/learning/waivers.php
To see the policy, visit universitypolicy.gmu.edu/policies/employee-tuition-exemption-benefit
What is not covered:
- Orientation, new student or special instructional fees such as individual vocal or instrumental instruction
- Tuition for consortium classes, courses that include foreign travel, and some contract courses are not eligible for exemption under this policy
- Continuing education programs