You are eligible to apply for the Tuition Assistance program if you meet all criteria below:

• Have completed two or more years of consecutive full-time service as a regular employee in a benefits-eligible category
• Are an active full-time (30 hours or more/week) staff member or an active regular full-time faculty member scheduled to work at least 40 hours per week
• Meet the two year service requirement and are actively working on or before the following dates:
  1. September 1 for fall semester,
  2. January 1 for spring semester, and
  3. May 1 for summer school
• In good standing with a satisfactory performance record, and your application is approved by your supervisor (and Associate Operating Officer or equivalent for DUHS) prior to the first day of class

Employees requesting reimbursement are required to have direct deposit.

House staff are not eligible for this program.

Eligible Courses

To be eligible for reimbursement, courses must meet the following guidelines:

• Must be related to the employee's current job or future career growth at Duke
• Must provide academic course credit that can be used towards earning a degree
• Must be listed in the institution's course catalogue
• Must be taken at Duke or any other higher educational institution with a physical presence in North Carolina that is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. A list of schools accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools is available online or by calling (404) 679-4500.
• Must be documented as part of an employee's professional development plan
• Must be completed with a grade of "C" or better, or "Pass" if a grade is not provided
• The course(s) must be approved by your supervisor prior to the first day of class
• Must not be a certification program
• Must not be for thesis or dissertation work (Masters theses and/or masters papers that are done in lieu of a thesis are not covered)
• Courses which are solely research are not covered by this program, even if the course provides credit hours. This includes any research classes that are post completion of course work, as well as individual research under the direction of program faculty.

Eligible courses include classroom, online or distance learning, and ESL (English as a Second Language).  Additionally, self-paced courses are reimbursable under the guidelines of the program. With these courses, 1) there must be a designated start and end date on the application within a specific semester/term, 2) it cannot take longer than the equivalent of one semester, and 3) there will be no exceptions to these dates when it is time to process the reimbursement.  Ineligible courses include certificate programs that do not grant academic credit towards a degree, and courses that are solely for research, thesis, or dissertation work.

Please note: The year in which the course begins is the year/semester/quarter used to determine tuition reimbursement eligibility.