Popular Scholarships | College Tuition Assistance Programs

Popular Scholarships

College Tuition Assistance Programs

Tuition Assistance Programs: Are You Eligible?

Tuition assistance programs are offered by many organizations in the United States. A tuition assistance program helps you pay the tuition fees for your academic program. The New York State Tuition Assistance Program (TAP), for example, is a lifeline for eligible New York residents who must pay tuition at approved schools in New York State. A TAP award can annually be up to $5000 depending on the academic year in which the student begins study. And you don’t have to worry about paying back the money as TAP is a grant, not a loan which has to be paid back. The eligibility criteria for the TAP are: the student must be a US citizen or an eligible non-citizen and a legal resident of New York State; he must study a full-time course of at least 12 credits per semester at an approved post-secondary institution in New York State; the student must have graduated from high school or, alternatively, have a GED, or passed any exam that is federally approved, demonstrating that the education he or she is about to take up will be beneficial to him; the student must have matriculated in an approved study program and be in good academic standing; have at least a cumulative ‘C’ average after receiving two annual payments, and be charged a minimum of $200 tuition per year; and the student must not be defaulting on any repayment of state awards or repayment of student loans, and must meet income eligibility limitations. The income limits for the New York State tuition assistance program are the following: dependent undergraduate students or students who are married or who have tax dependents should not have more than $80,000 NYS net taxable income; single independent undergraduate students with no dependents shouldn not have more than $10,000 NYS net taxable income; single independent graduate students without any dependent must have only $5,666 NYS net taxable income; the dependent graduate students who are married or have tax dependents must have only $20,000 NYS net taxable income. The amount of the award is determined by the academic year in which the first payment of the Tuition Assistance Program or any state award is received, type of post-secondary institution and tuition charged, combined family NYS net taxable income, dependent or independent financial status, and other family members enrolled in college. Tuition assistance programs like these are really beneficial to those who are serious about pursuing their academic dreams but are weighed down by their financial situation. Tuition assistance programs are also offered to employees of firms to learn new skills and meet the needs of a technologically evolving world. This program has been planned by the Board of Regents of the University Systems of Georgia. This would help an organization to have the most professionally skilled staff and thereby improve the quality of work. Students wishing to climb the academic ladder and employers wanting better performance from their employees benefit much from the various tuition assistance programs. No wonder then that tuition assistance programs have become the new mantra for better student opportunities and employee performance. The increasing number of firms encouraging their employees to enroll for training programs with tuition assistance programs is proof of this trend.