Graduate Student Tuition on Sponsored Awards

The University at Buffalo (UB, university) is committed to meeting its obligations to sponsors and complying with all applicable requirements to establish, administer, and monitor sponsored projects, including those related to tuition remission, where allowable as a direct cost on federal grants and contracts and on non-federal grants and contracts as may be specified in the terms and conditions of the award.

Graduate students may be employed by UB as Research Project Assistants to perform necessary work on sponsored projects. Compensation for Research Project Assistants must include salary, fringe benefits, and tuition remission for the corresponding semester of their employment on the sponsored project. Full time enrollment is not required for tuition remission.

A principal investigator (PI) who intends to appoint one or more Research Project Assistants to a sponsored project must include a line item in the budget proposal for tuition remission corresponding to the anticipated length of the Research Project Assistant’s employment on the sponsored project. If a sponsor does not allow tuition, the proposal must include a commitment from the PI, department, or school/college to cover tuition costs for the Research Project Assistant.

When a no-cost extension of a sponsored project is requested, the PI must consider the five-year projected tuition schedule when planning to employ a Research Project Assistant during the extended period, as salary, fringe benefits, and tuition costs will be assessed to the sponsored project during that period.

The requirement to include graduate student tuition costs for one or more Research Project Assistants can be waived only with the approval of the PI’s dean and the Senior Vice President for Research, Innovation, and Economic Development (SVPRIED). A statement from the dean that tuition for one or more Research Project Assistants will be supported by school/college or other institutional funds must accompany the proposal. When appropriate and in accordance with the terms of the sponsor, tuition costs covered by other funding sources may be recorded as cost sharing on the sponsored project.

To receive tuition remission from a sponsored project a graduate student must:

• Hold one of the following titles:
  • Graduate Assistant; or
  • Research Project Assistant
• Have a bi-weekly (not hourly) appointment
• Perform university-directed work on the sponsored project
• Meet the eligibility requirements detailed in the Student Employment Policy

Research Project Assistants must perform work for a sponsored project for their tuition remission to be charged to the sponsored project award.

Projected tuition rates must comply with the State University of New York (SUNY) Tuition Schedule Policy.  

Graduate student tuition payments will be prorated, based on the student’s appointment and charged to a sponsored project or projects for the actual cost of tuition based on a full semester or prorated term. Budget revisions to the tuition category must be made in accordance with the Indirect (Facilities and Administrative) Cost Recovery and Distribution Policy. Student fees are not included in the five-year projected tuition schedule or the tuition remission process. Tuition remission payments are credited directly to the student’s account; students may not be reimbursed directly for tuition charges.

Current federal regulations require that tuition remission be consistently provided in a like manner to students in return for similar activities conducted in non-sponsored as well as sponsored projects. Under Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Uniform Guidance, tuition remission and other forms of compensation paid as, or in lieu of, wages to students performing necessary work are allowable provided that:

• The student is conducting activities necessary to the sponsored project;
• Tuition remission and other support are provided in accordance with established university policy and consistently provided in a like manner to students in return for similar activities conducted in non-sponsored as well as sponsored projects;
• During the academic period, the student is enrolled in an advanced degree program at the university or an affiliated institution and the student’s activities on the sponsored project are related to their degree program; and
• Tuition or other payments are reasonable compensation for the work performed and are conditioned explicitly upon performing necessary work.

This policy applies to sponsored projects administered by the Research Foundation and University at Buffalo Foundation.

Academic Good Standing
A student making acceptable progress toward a degree and eligible to register for and pursue academic coursework at the university for the current semester.

Principal Investigator (PI)
A UB faculty or staff member who bears responsibility for the intellectual leadership of a sponsored project.

Research Project Assistant
An employee whose primary responsibilities are to provide administrative, technical, operational, or programmatic support for a research project, sponsored program, or other research-related activity under the direction of a PI, Co-PI, project director, or other designated supervisor. For purposes of this policy, the term includes individuals holding the title Research Project Assistant or an equivalent title with substantially similar duties and responsibilities.

Sponsor
A government agency, corporation, foundation, or other organization external to the university that provides funding in support of a sponsored activity through a formal written agreement such as a grant, cooperative agreement, or contract. Sponsored activity funding cannot be made to UB anonymously; the sponsor must always be identified.

Sponsored Activity
Any activities required under a sponsored project.

The externally funded research, training, evaluative testing, or public service work performed by UB faculty or staff under a sponsored project.

Sponsored Award
The formal written agreement, usually a grant, cooperative agreement, or contract, through which a sponsor provides funding to support a sponsored project.

Sponsored Project
Any externally funded research, training, evaluative testing, or public service project directed by UB faculty or staff as part of their university work that requires the university to perform a specified program or provide specific deliverables.

Tuition Remission
Payment of all or part of the required tuition for graduate students employed as Research Project Assistants in return for performing work on sponsored project.

• Pay all tuition invoices approved by Sponsored Projects Services (SPS).

• Verify that all graduate students appointed as a Research Project Assistant to a sponsored project meet the eligibility requirements in the Student Employment Policy including registration requirements and are in academic good standing in accordance with the Graduate School Academic Standing Policy.
• Complete the applicable Graduate Student Remission/Scholarship Verification Form or equivalent for all graduate students appointed as a Research Project Assistant to a sponsored project.
• Notify the PI immediately of any changes.

• Add tuition remission to the Research Project Assistant’s financial aid package to prevent over-awarding.

• Develop a five-year projected tuition schedule compliant with the SUNY Tuition Schedule Policy annually.

• Include a line item for tuition remission based on the five-year projected tuition schedule in all proposals that include a Research Project Assistant appointment.

• Work with the department to verify that all graduate students appointed as a Research Project Assistant to a sponsored project meet the eligibility requirements listed in the Student Employment Policy including registration requirements and are in academic good standing in accordance with the Graduate School Academic Standing Policy.

• Submit to external sponsors those proposals that include a line item for tuition remission (in the ‘Other Direct’ budget category) for each Research Project Assistant budgeted in the personnel category. Submit to external sponsors those proposals where, if tuition costs are not included in the budget, the proposal includes a plan approved by the PI’s dean to cover the tuition costs for each Research Project Assistant listed for salary support.
• Verify that all graduate student appointments to a sponsored project with the title of Research Project Assistant are receiving tuition remission.
• Review and approve graduate student tuition costs to sponsored projects via the appropriate SIRI report.
• Forward approved invoices to Accounts Payable.