Charging Tuition on Grants - Executive VP and Provost Message
Charging Tuition on Grants
Dear colleagues,
Starting January 1st, 2025, all proposals for sponsored programs (research, teaching, etc.) seeking funds to employ graduate assistants must include budgets that cover tuition and fees for students on stipend or fellowship. This requirement applies to all awards where tuition is not explicitly prohibited by the sponsor.
At peer institutions, it is a standard practice for these funds to be allocated to external awards, and our adjustment in policy aligns with the best practices at R1 institutions. This change aims to support the expansion of graduate programs. A recent analysis of student funding revealed that approximately $2.8 million of tuition for externally supported graduate research assistants was annually charged to the university's unrestricted funds. We expect this number to grow as our funded research and scholarship continues to grow. Adopting this funding model will free up unrestricted university funds and generate a new revenue stream for colleges to enhance their graduate programs.
Tuition paid from external sources will return to the college鈥檚 budget where it was generated to incentivize graduate program growth. We will provide guidelines for using the funds for new graduate student stipends, supporting active recruiting, and supporting additional graduate program activities.
While implementation details for writing student contracts remain to be determined, ORSP is developing budget templates and tools to adopt this change. They will work with all proposers to budget a blended tuition rate that accounts for some students needing the non-resident tuition surcharge. To answer your questions, Bethany Spurrier in ORSP will hold office hours on Monday, January 6th from 2 to 3 p.m. and Wednesday, January 8th from 10 to 11 a.m. She also can be reached on Teams, at orsp@ohio.edu, or calling 740-593-ORSP (6777).
Sincerely,
Donald Leo, Ph.D., Executive Vice President and Provost
Eric Muth, Ph.D., Vice President for Research and Creative Activity