TUITION REIMBURSEMENT POLICY 02-17-2016.PDF

MARICOPA COUNTY INTERNAL POLICY
Policy Number: HR2430
Policy Title:
02-17-2016
TUITION REIMBURSEMENT Current Adoption Date:
Current Implementation Date:
02-17-201
Approved by: Board Agenda Number: C-31-11-016-6-02
BOARD OF SUPERVISORS
Original Adoption Date: 06-19-2006
I. PURPOSE
To assist the employees of Maricopa County and Maricopa County Special
Districts in continuing their education, help make employees more productive,
enhance employee job performance, equip employees to pursue new
opportunities within County government, promote Maricopa County’s long term
employee retention objectives, and to help attract qualified candidates.
II. APPLICATION
This policy is authorized and approved by the Maricopa County Board of
Supervisors. The Board of Supervisors reserves the right to modify this policy
and any modifications will apply to all eligible employees.
III. DEFINITIONS
A. Appointing Authority: An elected official, the single administrative or
executive head of a department/special district, or the designated
representative authorized to act in this capacity.
B. Approved Degree Program: An undergraduate or masters degree program
approved by the County’s Human Resources Department that either relates
to the employee’s current job/career or an entirely new trade or career as
long as the new trade or career is one that the County currently employs,
subject to any exclusions or conditions listed in this Policy.
C. Full-Time Employee: For the purposes of this Policy, one who works 80
hours or more per pay period.
D. Special District: Flood Control District of Maricopa County, Maricopa County
Library District, and Maricopa County Stadium District.

Policy Title: Policy Number: HR2430
TUITION REIMBURSEMENT
Current Adoption Date: 02-27-2016
IV. POLICY
The revisions to this Policy are applicable to all reimbursement applications
submitted after July 17, 2013. No arrangement between the employee and a
County supervisor or manager, an educational institution, or a third-party
lender/processor, shall supersede any of the provisions contained in this Policy.
A. Limitation of Funds
1. Effective July 1 of each fiscal year, the amount of General Funds
available for this program will be set by the Board of Supervisors.
Departments may fund their own tuition reimbursement programs within
their operating budgets under these same guidelines.
2. Central tuition reimbursement funds are limited each fiscal year.
Employees will be reimbursed on a first-come, first-reimbursed basis.
When tuition reimbursement funds are exhausted for that fiscal year, no
further tuition reimbursements will be made for that fiscal year.
Departmental funds will be managed by the department.
3. An employee shall not be reimbursed more than $5,250 dollars during
any calendar year. The dollar limit is based on the calendar year in
which the funds are actually paid to the employee.
4. Grant and special revenue funded departments are encouraged to seek
grant and special revenue funds as their first source of tuition
reimbursement funding. When this funding is exhausted, reimbursement
may be paid from the general fund’s tuition reimbursement budget if
funds are available as outlined herein.
5. Employees can only seek reimbursement for funds which they have
personally paid or must personally repay. Employees receiving tuition
assistance from other funding source(s), such as scholarships, grants,
refunds, tuition waivers or other tuition reimbursement programs are
eligible for reimbursement only for the portion of qualified expenses that
exceed the amount of assistance received from those other sources.
Proceeds from student loans are not considered as coming from “other
funding sources” as the employee must repay those amounts.
B. Employee Eligibility
1. Employees must be non-temporary, full-time, and have completed at
least six (6) months of continuous employment in a non-temporary status
prior to submission of degree or class for approval. Full-time contract
Page 2 of 8

Policy Title: Policy Number: HR2430
TUITION REIMBURSEMENT
Current Adoption Date: 02-27-2016
employees must have completed twelve consecutive months with the
County prior to submission of degree or class for approval. In addition,
all employees must have received at least a “meets” standards or
equivalent on their most recent performance evaluation within the last 12
months.
2. To receive General Fund reimbursements, employees must work in a
department receiving General Fund appropriations. Employees of
departments that do not receive General Fund appropriations or that
receive a mixture of General Fund appropriations and grant funding, may
also be eligible for General Fund reimbursements if the department can
justify, through written explanation to the Office of Management and
Budget, that its current expenditure budget cannot support internally-
funded tuition reimbursements.
3. Employees on protected Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA) or Uniformed
Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (USERRA) leave
are eligible for reimbursement. Employees who are not on statutorily
protected leave and are in an unpaid status at the time of their
application submission, approval, and final reimbursement are not
eligible.
C. Class Eligibility
1. Classes must be offered through a public or private college, university,
community college, or technical school that is accredited by the North
Central Association of Colleges and Schools or another United States
official accrediting body.
2. Classes must fall into one of the following categories:
a. Have a direct relationship to the maintenance or improvement of
skills required by the employee in his or her present job; or
b. Necessary for the completion of an Approved Degree Program.
3. Classes must be taken for credit unless otherwise allowed in this policy.
D. Classes Ineligible for Reimbursement
Ineligible classes include, but are not limited to, the following:
1. Seminars, workshops, professional certifications/licensure, and
conferences for licensed professionals. However, with approval of the
Page 3 of 8

Policy Title: Policy Number: HR2430
TUITION REIMBURSEMENT
Current Adoption Date: 02-27-2016
Appointing Authority, these classes may be paid for out of departments’
appropriated budgets.
2. Seminars and classes taken for Continuing Education Units (CEU’s) to
maintain or obtain job-required certifications and/or licensure. However,
with approval of the Appointing Authority, these classes may be paid for
out of departments’ appropriated budgets.
3. Study abroad courses or classes attended outside of the State of
Arizona. Online courses, regardless of where offered, are eligible if they
are from an accredited public or private college, university, community
college, or technical school as required by Section IV.C.1.
4. All doctoral degree and Ph.D. courses and programs including but not
limited to the following:
a. Law
b. Medicine (including Osteopathy and Naturopathy)
c. Dentistry
d. Veterinary Medicine
e. Pharmacology
f. Chiropractic
E. Reimbursements
The costs of tuition and related fees for classes meeting the criteria listed in
this Policy are reimbursable as outlined below. No other fees, costs, charges,
or expenses will be reimbursed unless specifically stated herein.
1. Costs Eligible for Reimbursement
a. Maricopa County Community College District (MCCCD)
Up to 100% of tuition, books, laboratory fees, enrollment processing
fees, and other related class fees for classes where a grade of “A”,
“B”, “C” or “Pass” is obtained.
b. Non-MCCCD
Tuition (does not include books or any fees) for approved
undergraduate or master’s degree level classes as follows:
A - Up to 100%
B - Up to 80%
C - Up to 60%
Pass - Up to 80%
Page 4 of 8

Policy Title: Policy Number: HR2430
TUITION REIMBURSEMENT
Current Adoption Date: 02-27-2016
c. Plus (+) or Minus (-) grades will be reimbursed based on letter grade
alone.
d. Public Management Certifications
Up to 60% of tuition. Courses taken as a part of these programs are
not required to be taken for credit.
e. Credit-by-Examination Tests
Up to 100% for tests that assess the mastery of college-level material
acquired through general academic instruction, independent study or
extracurricular work and training (College Level Examination
Program (CLEP), Dantes Subject Standardized Tests (DSSTs),
Proficiency Examination Program (ACT-PEP), etc.). Tests must be
for the purpose of obtaining college admittance or college credit.
f. Out-of-state/County Tuition
Employees may only receive tuition reimbursement for instate and in-
county tuition rates. It is the employees’ responsibility to monitor and
report their residency status to the respective educational institutions.
2. Ineligible Costs
The following costs will not be reimbursed:
a. Classes for which employees receive a grade of “D”, “F”, “Fail”,
“Incomplete” or “Withdraw”.
b. Fees to third party lender/processors.
c. Costs associated with "audited" classes.
d. Costs incurred by employees that fail to comply with the
requirements of this Policy.
F. Tax Consequences
This Policy is designed as a non-taxable working condition fringe benefit and
is excluded from the employee’s gross income for federal and state income
and payroll tax purposes, e.g., Social Security and Medicare taxes. Non-
taxable fringe benefit limits are established by the IRS for each calendar year.
It is the responsibility of the employee to track calendar year Tuition
Reimbursement benefits received (referred to by the IRS as “Educational
Page 5 of 8

Policy Title: Policy Number: HR2430
TUITION REIMBURSEMENT
Current Adoption Date: 02-27-2016
Assistance”). All tax liabilities for amounts reimbursed exceeding calendar
year limits, as set by the IRS, are the sole responsibility of the employee.
G. Separations and Repayments
One of the primary reasons for this program is to promote employee
retention. Therefore, an employee who voluntarily terminates from County
employment must repay all sums he/she received for reimbursement under
this policy during the last 12 months prior to his/her termination. Terms of
repayment will be worked out with County Human Resources prior to the
employee’s last day of employment.
V. PROCEDURES
A. Application Requirements
Employees must complete the required applications and submit all required
paperwork to Human Resources by the deadlines set herein. Failure to do so
will result in the request for tuition reimbursement being denied.
1. Application for Approval of a Degree Program
Degree approval must be obtained separate from class approvals.
a. A degree program must be approved by Human Resources prior to
receiving reimbursements for classes related to that degree program.
This is a one-time requirement for each degree program.
b. An approved application for a specific class taken as a part of a
degree program does not constitute approval of the degree program.
c. Final approval from County Human Resources is required before the
degree program is considered “approved”.
2. Individual Class Reimbursement
An application for class approval must be submitted to Human
Resources for each class, including classes taken as a part of an
Approved Degree Program.
a. An application for class approval must be submitted no earlier than
90 calendar days before and no later than seven calendar days
after the start date of each class.
Page 6 of 8

Policy Title: Policy Number: HR2430
TUITION REIMBURSEMENT
Current Adoption Date: 02-27-2016
b. Final approval from County Human Resources is required before the
class is considered “approved”.
c. Tuition reimbursement documents (i.e., itemized school account
register showing proof of payment and original grade reports) must
be submitted within 60 calendar days following the last date of the
class. An electronic grade report is preferred. If grade and receipt are
not turned in to Human Resources within these deadlines, the class
will not be reimbursed.
d. Proof of payment must show the funding source and that the tuition
for the class has been paid in full. If the receipt shows a balance due,
the County will not reimburse the employee until payment is made in
full and only if the payment is made within the applicable timeline.
B. Employee Responsibilities
1. Complete/provide all required applications and documentation.
2. Take classes and complete homework during non-work-scheduled hours
or during periods of approved personal leave. Work schedules will not be
reduced for employees to participate in this program.
3. Monitor the amount of reimbursements received in the calendar year.
4. Repay any amount received in error or in excess of the cap amount
established by this Policy.
5. Any employee who attempts to obtain Tuition Reimbursement in a
manner inconsistent with this Policy may be prohibited from participation
in the program and may be subject to discipline.
C. County Human Resources Responsibilities
1. Develop and maintain the program’s degree and class application forms.
2. Process requests and provide final approval on degree programs,
classes, and reimbursements. No supervisor or manager has authority to
approve degree programs, classes, or reimbursements.
3. Distribute central tuition reimbursement funds on a first-come, first-
served basis.
D. Applications, forms, and additional resources can be found on Human
Resources’ Tuition Reimbursement website.
Page 7 of 8

Policy Number: HR2430
Policy Title:
TUITION REIMBURSEMENT
Current Adoption Date: 02-27-2016
Revision History
Version Revision Date Description of Revision
1 19 Jun 2006 Initial version
2 22 Jun 2011 (C-31-11-016-6-00) Expanded eligibility criteria
Expanded approved degree programs to include any degree
that is related to a career that the County currently employs,
eliminated supervisor approval, added a reimbursement clause
for employees who voluntarily leave County employment
3 17 Jul 2013 (C-31-11-016-6-01)
(must pay back reimbursements made over the last 12 month
prior to termination), eliminated payment for non-Maricopa
County Community College course fees, and clarified the
exclusion of law degrees and doctorate degrees and classes
Minor revisions to align with changes to the Employee Merit
4 09 Dec 2015 (C-31-16-016-6-00)
System Rules
Minor revisions to align with changes to the Employee Merit
5 27 Feb 2016 (C-31-11-016-6-02 System Rules; December 2015 version was not the correct
version of the policy.
Page 8 of 8