Payroll Policy and Procedure Manual
Section 300: Payment of Graduate Student Employees
Effective: 01/01/2001
Revised: 11/14/2019

  • 302-01 Graduate School Requirements to receive Tuition Remission
  • 302-02 Student Accounting Tuition Remission Process
  • 302-03 Payroll Process for Distributing Tuition Remission

Eligibility requirements for tuition remissions are established by the Provost's Tuition Remission Policy and by the collective bargaining agreement between OSU and the Coalition of Graduate Employees (CGE).  See the Graduate School web site for additional information.  Student Accounts processes tuition remissions and charges the expense to a clearing fund.  It is Payroll’s responsibility to distribute those charges from the clearing fund to the appropriate department and/or grant funds.

302-01  Eligibility Requirements to Receive Tuition Remission

  • Be a regularly admitted, conditionally admitted, or provisionally admitted graduate degree-seeking student at Oregon State University.
  • Enrollment in a minimum of 12 credit hours each term of the appointment during the academic year, and 3 credit hours during summer session (see Graduate School website for additional information). Graduate assistants who are members of the Coalition of Graduate Employees, American Federation of Teachers, Local 6069 must enroll for a minimum of 12 graduate credits each term of the appointment during the academic year, and 3 graduate credits during summer session.  Audit registrations, course withdrawals, and enrollment in INTO OSU may not be used to satisfy enrollment requirements for graduate assistant salary/stipend, tuition remission, or health and wellness benefits. 
  • Assistantship appointment per 13-week term of at least 30% and not more than 49%.
  • A graduate assistant on less than .49 FTE may take on extra duties; however, the total stipend plus salary from Oregon State University shall not exceed the equivalent of .49 FTE for any term.

302-02  Student Accounting Tuition Remission Process

  • Graduate Assistant Job forms are completed by Business Center (BC) or employing department.
  • Job forms are reviewed and approved by BC Human Resources, then forwarded to BC Payroll.
  • BC Payroll processes Job forms and completes data entry in Banner.
  • Student Accounts runs a process that verifies the student’s enrollment and posts the tuition remission to the student’s account.  This process charges the cost of the tuition remission to a clearing fund.

302-03 Payroll Process for Distributing Tuition Remission

  • Set up position C69999 with a job suffix of FR for the graduate.
  • Process a non-cash earn code, “AGF” that allows an employer deduction to process.  This deduction credits the clearing fund and debits the fund used to issue pay.
  • Tuition remission must follow the salary, as is the case with all OPE. The only exception to this rule is in the case of a grant prohibiting the payment of tuition, in which case a cost share index must be used. If funds to be used are in a different index, a budget transfer would need to be processed to move the funds to the applicable index.
  • If pay index is not prohibited from paying the tuition remission, that index is charged, using account code 10951.
  • If the pay index is prohibited from paying the tuition remission, a cost share index is charged, using account code 10952.
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