Policy

Nonresident tuition (NRT) remission is provided as a non-taxable benefit to all eligible Graduate Student Researchers (GSRs) employed by the University of California, Davis.

1. Eligibility

To be eligible for remission of nonresident tuition, a student must:

• Be eligible for and be appointed to the title Graduate Student Researcher (GSR) for a minimum of 25 percent time total from all funding sources for the full quarter.
• Be a nonresident student for tuition purposes.

2. Consistency

Consistent with OMB Circular A-21, all eligible GSRs receive nonresident tuition remission regardless of the funding source for their appointment. The cost of nonresident tuition remission is based on the rate of nonresident tuition applicable during the term of a qualifying appointment as a GSR and is charged as a direct cost to the fund source that supports an eligible GSR’s salary or wages. In the event of multiple appointments collectively equal to 25 percent time or greater, charges are prorated among the eligible fund distributions in the same proportion as the salary charges. In the event that a nonresident GSR has a fellowship, traineeship, or other external award that specifically allocates award funding for the payment of tuition and fees, the amount allocated is applied to payment of fees and tuition, and any fee or tuition obligation remaining is remitted from the source that funds the GSR’s appointment.

Exceptions

Principal investigators, with the written permission of their graduate program, may charge the nonresident tuition benefit to the graduate block grant or another suitable non-federal funding source under the following circumstances:

1. If the granting agency considers nonresident tuition to be an allowable expense, then NRTR must be charged to the fund source that provides the GSR's salary. This category includes most federal agencies such as NIH and NSF. For proposals submitted prior to October 1, 2003, the NRTR expense may be diverted to another fund source under the control of the hiring unit or the student's graduate program (i.e., block grant, gift account, research and education fund, indirect cost return fund, etc.) provided that fund allows the NRTR charge. These NRTR charges may not be diverted to another sponsored program fund source; NRTR charges must be based on the effort and salary allocated to a sponsored award.
2. If a GSR is hired on General Funds (199XX), he or she is entitled to receive NRTR. However, NRTR may not be charged to State General Funds (19900). Units that choose to hire nonresident GSRs on 19900 funds must request to have the NRTR expense diverted to an alternate fund source under the control of the hiring unit (e.g., block grant, gift account, research and education fund, indirect cost return fund, etc.) that allows the NRTR charge. If units only have State General Funds available, they will need to request Office of Graduate Studies approval to hire a GSR with NRTR. Once the hire is approved, the NRTR expense will be diverted to University General Funds (19933), as NRTR may be charged to this funding source. To fund the NRTR cost, the hiring unit's General Funds (19900) Sub 3 budget will be reduced by a corresponding amount.
3. If a granting agency or if a specific fund source does not permit nonresident tuition to be charged, the NRTR charge must be diverted to a program-controlled fund source where NRTR is allowable (i.e. block grant, gift account, research and education fund, indirect cost return fund, etc.). Information regarding agencies that do not permit payment of nonresident tuition is available from the Sponsored Programs Office. Most prominent on this list are awards from state agencies (CalTrans, California Water Resources Board, etc.) and some USDA awards (structured as cooperative agreements).
   
4. If a student is hired as a GSR on a non-federal fund source and the budget is insufficient to fund NRTR, that expense may be diverted to another non-sponsored fund source where NRTR is allowable (i.e., block grant, gift account, research and education fund, indirect cost return fund, etc.).
   

Under no circumstances should a GSR's hiring authority assume without consultation that block grant funds will be available from the GSR's graduate program to fund nonresident tuition remission. Use of a graduate program's block grant funds to fund this benefit requires the prior written authorization of the program chair.

3. Accountability

Applications for contracts and grants are required to include, for awards to be in place or to be renewed as of the beginning of the Fall Quarter 2004, a separate direct cost budget item for “Fee and Tuition Remission.” This item includes all fee remission charges for which a qualifying appointment is expected to be eligible, including nonresident tuition, if nonresidents can reasonably expected to be funded on the contract or grant. Nonresident tuition remission is budgeted and expensed on Sub 6, attached to object code 8970 created specifically for this benefit. The amount budgeted for nonresident tuition remission should be the estimated cost of nonresident tuition for the coming fiscal year, as indicated at:

http://www.ormp.ucdavis.edu/studentfees/documents/current/gradnonres_fees.pdf

This expense is treated as a direct cost, but depending on agency-specific policies is generally not part of the direct cost base upon which the budget must calculate indirect costs.

4. Relationship to other benefits

This program does not modify fee remission practices for GSRs that were in place as of July 1, 2004. All GSRs are eligible for remission of the Graduate Student Health Insurance Program (GSHIP) fee, the education fee, the registration fee, and campus based fees specified in campus policy.