HR2430 TUITION REIMBURSEMENT POLICY - FINAL VERSION 12092015 BOS AGENDA.PDF

MARICOPA COUNTY INTERNAL POLICY
Policy Title: Policy Number: HR2430
TUITION REIMBURSEMENT
Current Adoption Date: 12-09-2015
Approved by: Board Agenda Number: C-31-16-016-6-00
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 to help make them more productive,
enhance their current job performance, and equip them to pursue new
opportunities within County government in addition to, attracting new employees
and promoting Maricopa County’s long term retention objectives.
II. APPLICATION
This policy is authorized by the Board of Supervisors pursuant to A.R.S. § 11-
251. The Board of Supervisors reserves the right to modify this policy within its
sole discretion; 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: A 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 the exclusions
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.
IV. POLICY

Policy Title: Policy Number: HR2430
TUITION REIMBURSEMENT
Current Adoption Date: 12-09-2015
The revisions to this Policy are applicable to all reimbursement applications
submitted after July 17, 2013. No arrangement between the employee and an
educational institution or 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 distributed on a first-come, first-
served basis. 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 tuition reimbursement budget if funds are available
as outlined herein.
B. Employee Eligibility
1. Employees must be non-temporary, full-time, have completed at least six
(6) months of continuous employment (contract employees must have
completed twelve consecutive months with the County), and have been
evaluated at least as “meets” on their latest 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.
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Policy Title: Policy Number: HR2430
TUITION REIMBURSEMENT
Current Adoption Date: 12-09-2015
3. Employees in an unpaid status at the time of their application
submission, approval, and/or final reimbursement are not eligible.
Exception: Employees on the following protected leave are eligible:
Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA) or Uniformed Services Employment
and Reemployment Rights Act (USERRA).
4. 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.
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
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.
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Policy Title: Policy Number: HR2430
TUITION REIMBURSEMENT
Current Adoption Date: 12-09-2015
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. Courses offered through or taken as a part of one of the following degree
programs even if the course is determined to be job related:
a. Law
b. Medicine (including Osteopathy and Naturopathy)
c. Dentistry
d. Veterinary Medicine
e. Pharmacology
f. Chiropractic
g. All other Doctoral Degrees
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 graduate (master’s level) classes as follows:
A - Up to 100%
B - Up to 80%
C - Up to 60%
Pass - Up to 80%
c. Plus (+) or Minus (-) grades will be reimbursed based on letter grade
alone.
d. Public Management Certifications
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Policy Title: Policy Number: HR2430
TUITION REIMBURSEMENT
Current Adoption Date: 12-09-2015
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.).
f. Out-of-state/County Tuition for Online Courses
Only at the in-state/County rate in accordance with Section IV (C)
above. 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
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
Employees who voluntarily terminate from County employment must repay all
sums they received for reimbursement under this policy during the last 12
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Policy Title: Policy Number: HR2430
TUITION REIMBURSEMENT
Current Adoption Date: 12-09-2015
months prior to their termination. Any amount owed shall be deducted from
the employee’s final pay check. If there is any remaining amount unpaid, the
employee may choose to work with Payroll to make payments or the debt will
be sent to collections.
V. PROCEDURES
A. Application Requirements
Employees must complete the required applications and submit all required
paperwork 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 a classes related to that degree
program. This is a one-time requirement for each degree program.
b. An 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 for each class,
including classes taken as a part of an Approved Degree Program.
a. Applications must be submitted no earlier than 90 calendar days
before and no later than seven calendar days after the start date
of each class.
b. Tuition reimbursement documents (i.e., itemized school account
register showing proof of payment and original grade reports) must
be submitted within 60 calendar days of the last date of the class.
Electronic grade reports are preferred. If grades and receipts are not
turned in within these deadlines, the classes will not be reimbursed.
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Policy Title: Policy Number: HR2430
TUITION REIMBURSEMENT
Current Adoption Date: 12-09-2015
c. 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.
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. Repayments will be taken out of employee’s
paychecks until the overpayment is repaid in full.
5. Employees attempting to obtain Tuition Reimbursement not authorized
by this Policy may be prohibited from participation in the program and
may be subject to discipline subject to Appointing Authorities’ discretion.
C. County Human Resources Responsibilities
1. Develop and maintain the program’s application forms.
2. Process requests and provide final approval for reimbursement.
3. Distribute central tuition reimbursement funds on a first-come, first-
served basis.
4. Assist supervisors and employees with processes and questions.
Revision History
Version Revision Date Description of Revision
1 19 June 2006 Initial version.
2 22 June 2011 (C-31-11-016-6-01) Expanded eligibility criteria.
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Policy Number: HR2430
Policy Title:
TUITION REIMBURSEMENT
Current Adoption Date: 12-09-2015
Expanded approved degree programs to include any degree
that is related to a career that the County currently employs,
17 July 2013 (C-31-11-016-6-01) eliminated supervisor approval, added a reimbursement clause
for employees who voluntarily leave County employment
3 (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.
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