Employee & Spouse/Domestic Partner Tuition

NMSU Global Campus Students NOTICE - Online tuition waiver submission is not available for students registered in NMSU Global Campus courses; a manual (paper or pdf) Tuition Remission Authorization Form must be submitted. Contact Benefit Services at 575-646-8000 or by email at benefits@nmsu.edu

Eligibility

One of the most valuable benefits offered by NMSU is the Educational Assistance Program made available to employees and their qualifying family members as follows:

Please see the following Tuition Waiver Quick Guides:

Employees eligible to participate in this program for themselves and/or their family members must be either a regular benefit-eligible status employee or a non-regular employee hired into a term appointment status. New employees must be hired prior to the start of classes to be eligible to submit a waiver request. Employees who terminate on or before the session census date will lose all employee and dependent waiver coverage for that session. This means that the student will be responsible for the full tuition amount owed on their account for that session. The waiver does not cover courses that are challenged, nontraditional, or result in no credit being earned.

Employees, spouses/domestic partners or dependent children who receive a graduate assistantship position with the university are not eligible to receive the tuition benefits.

Registering your Dependents

Your dependents (spouse/domestic partner and dependent child(ren)) must be recorded in the Banner system through Benefit Services. Proof of eligibility documentation must be submitted. Please see eligibility page for details.

UNM Course Waiver Eligibility

NMSU employees taking courses at the University of New Mexico may be eligible for a tuition waiver for one class per semester. For information regarding this process, please contact Benefit Services. Dependents of employees are not eligible for this waiver.

Credit Hour Allowance

Limits include mini-semesters for all NMSU colleges. Credits not used by the employee may be used by the eligible spouse or qualified domestic partner. The tuition free courses taken by the employee and spouse/domestic partner must not exceed a total of 6 credit hours for each fall and spring semester. For summer sessions, total credit hours must not exceed a total of 8 credit hours. If the spouse/qualified domestic partner is an NMSU benefit eligible employee, he/she must use his/her own employee tuition remission benefits.

  • FALL session - up to 6 credit hours
  • SPRING session - up to 6 credit hours
  • SUMMER session - up to 8 credit hours

Waiver Deadlines

The waiver form is available to the employee in MyNMSU 10 calendar days before the start of each session. Failure to timely submit a waiver will result in full tuition billing to the student.

  • FALL session - November 1st
  • SPRING session - April 1st
  • SUMMER session - August 1st

Expenses & Taxes

Fees

Only tuition and required fees included in the tuition rate will be covered by this benefit. Students are responsible for the purchase of course text books and software as well as other fees that may apply. Examples of fees not covered by this benefit are: the ASNMSU fee, Carlsbad Health fee, Course Delivery fee, Engineering Tech fee, Grad Health/Activity fee, Late Registration fee, and Payment Plan fee. For a complete list, see University Accounts Receivable information on Tuition and Fees.

TIP: Avoid non-refundable payment plan fees by submitting your tuition waiver in consideration of the 1-2 business day processing time and to ensure your waiver is applied to your student account before the payment plan deadline. Payment plan fees will not be refunded for waivers that are processed on or after the payment plan deadline.

Non-Resident Tuition for Employee and Spouse/Domestic Partner

Students registered as out-of-state residents will be charged out-of-state tuition costs. The tuition reduction benefit will be adjusted to cover the equivalent of in-state rates only; therefore, a balance may be owed at the end of a session. Non-resident students may opt to petition for NM Residency to receive in-state tuition. See details at the Registrars office at https://records.nmsu.edu/students/residency.html

IRS Tax Withholding from Employee Paycheck

Certain instances are considered taxable by the Internal Revenue Service. See the Tuition Taxability page for taxable examples and information.

Approval of Tuition Waiver

All employee tuition waivers must route for approval to the employee’s supervisor regardless of when the class meets. Supervisors may approve or deny tuition waivers based on the business needs of the department. If approved, the waiver will be applied to the student account. If disapproved, or not approved prior to the deadline, the employee will be responsible for the tuition cost for the semester. Employees who take a course during their normal working hours may be required by their supervisor to either make up the time spent away from their job (work station) or use their accrued annual leave hours, unless enrollment is a requirement for continued employment. Arrangements should be made with the employee’s immediate supervisor and the supervisor should perform the necessary oversight to ensure appropriateness.

Both the employee and their supervisor should be mindful of the dual role as student and as a faculty or staff member. It is important to be aware of and abide by all applicable rules and procedures that pertain to the privilege of this benefit in order to avoid any conflict of interest or conflicts of commitment. Supervisors should never have the responsibility of grading individuals whom they supervise. Also, efforts performed for classes should not be performed during work time, unless it has been approved by the supervisor and does not interfere with the duties of the NMSU job.

If an employee and his/her spouse or domestic partner are both taking classes, the tuition waiver must route for approval to the employee’s supervisor so the supervisor can approve for the employee only. However, if the employee is not taking any classes and is submitting the waiver for only his/her spouse or domestic partner, the form will not require supervisory approval routing. Please see ARP 8.61 – Tuition Remission Program for further information.

Waiver Submission Process

      1. If you are not currently registered as a student you will need to apply for admission (or readmission if you were formerly a student). Read more regarding registration.
      2. Register for classes through MyNMSU under the Student tab.
      3. Submit a Tuition Waiver Request for approval prior to the deadline. (Late requests will not be processed.)
        1. Submit the Tuition Waiver Request through MyNMSU under the Employee tab.
          1. For employees to receive the benefit, the waiver must be approved by his or her supervisor. Employee student accounts will be credited within 1-2 business days of the waiver being approved by their supervisor. Requests that are denied by the supervisor, or not approved by the supervisor by the deadline will not be waived and the employee will be responsible for paying the full amount billed.
          2. For a spouse or domestic partner to receive the benefit, the waiver must be completed and submitted by the employee. These do not route for supervisor approval. If the benefit is not shared with the employee, the spouse/domestic partner student account will be credited within 1-2 business days of the wavier being submitted.
          3. Track and understand the status of your request using the Tuition Waiver Request Status Matrix.
        2. NMSU Global students submit a manual (paper or pdf) Tuition Remission Authorization Form to benefits@nmsu.edu. Student accounts will be credited within 5-10 business days of the waiver being submitted.

Degree Earning Employees

Half-time or greater regular exempt and non-exempt staff with above-average job performance who earn degrees from an accredited institution of higher education during their employment will be rewarded in appropriate ways whenever possible. Employees who meet the criteria defined in ARP 7.15 will be eligible for a salary increase of:
  • 5% of their current salary, not to exceed $1,000, for an associates degree
  • 5% of their current salary, not to exceed $1,200, for a bachelor's degree
  • 5% of their current salary, not to exceed $1,400, for a master's degree
  • 5% of their current salary, not to exceed $1,600, for a doctorate degree
Note 1: An employee will receive recognition only once for each type for degree awarded. Note 2: An employee will not receive an increase for earning a lower degree than already held.