The University has been unable to increase aid packages to faculty and staff to subsidize their children's undergraduate education due to budget concerns.
The Tuition Aid Program, a benefit provided by the Human Resources Department, currently provides up to $10,000 to faculty and staff to help pay for each of their children's undergraduate tuitions. Because tuition costs across the country have steadily increased in recent years, the Benefits Office wanted to raise the amount of aid it doles out. But the recent economic downturn has prohibited an increase to the aid package, said Drew Murphy, director of benefits.
The office also discussed doing a "benchmarking study with peer institutions" to study similar programs, according to the Human Resources Advisory Board's Annual Report from 2010. Though the study was put on hold due to financial constraints, Murphy said the office is still periodically checking in with peer institutions.
Kimberly Almeida, benefits financial manager, said some form of the tuition program has been around since the University's founding and has remained largely unchanged. The biggest change occurred in 2002 when the standard rate was set at up to $10,000 per child, Murphy said.
Though the office is not able to increase the subsidy, both Murphy and Almeida said the current program is not in danger of disappearing.
Because the rate is equalized, the benefit is not taxed, which many faculty and staff seem to appreciate, Murphy said. The benefit is also applied toward each child who attends college.
The benefit can be applied to "virtually any school," Murphy said. "In the past few years, we have rarely had to turn anyone away," Almeida said.
Robert Boland, professor of psychiatry and human behavior, who has a son that is a junior at Drew University, said he was glad the program was in place at the University because he had heard from colleagues at other institutions that they were not provided the same benefit.
