Education Benefits at Other Institutions for Dependent Children

Required Criteria for Education Benefits 

  • Employee must be regular, full-time hired on or prior to September 1, 1994 as regular, full-time. Eligible positions: faculty, staff, librarians, and research associates
  • The student must be a natural, adopted, or stepchild of the employee.
  • The student must be listed as a child dependent on the employee's Form 1040 U.S. Individual Income Tax Return for the calendar year most applicable to the academic term for which scholarship application is being made. Please view the “Qualifying Child Rules” page on the Internal Revenue Services’ website for more details.
  • The student has not earned a baccalaureate degree.

Education Benefit at Other Institutions

Until September 1, 1994, the University of Pittsburgh offered a benefit program for dependent children to attend other accredited colleges or universities. While this program was discontinued, dependent children of full-time, regular employee in an eligible position, hired prior to September 1, 1994, may still be eligible to receive this benefit.

If the employee is currently classified as full-time, regular faculty, staff, librarian, or research associate and was hired by September 1, 1994 or have accepted in writing an offer of employment by September 1, 1994 as a full-time, regular faculty, staff, librarian, or research associate, the dependent child would be eligible.

The dependent child may attend any other accredited college or university as a full-time or part-time student. The scholarship covers tuition up to a maximum of the in-state, full-time undergraduate tuition for that term in the College of Arts and Sciences at the Pittsburgh campus. A student who has not used the maximum tuition per year and wishes to attend another institution or the University of Pittsburgh for the remainder of that academic year as a full- or part-time undergraduate may have the balance applied to that tuition. A maximum of 8 terms may be used at colleges or universities other than the University of Pittsburgh. The student would have 4 additional terms of education benefits that the scholarship may be used at the University of Pittsburgh.

Required Paperwork for Education Benefits at Other Institutions

Paperwork must be submitted each academic term.

  1. Education Benefit Request Form for Dependent Children Attending Other Institutions (via DocuSign)
  2. Copy of the employee’s most recent Form 1040 U.S. Individual Income Tax Return, listing the student as a dependent
  3. Copy of the institution's (college/university) bill for the academic term being requested

Note: Individuals who request the dependent child(ren) education benefit for the 2023-24 academic year with their 2021 Form 1040 and 2021 Tax Extension will only have the fall term benefit applied at the time of the request. Once the 2022 Form 1040 is received, the remaining requested terms will be processed. If the 2022 Form 1040 is not submitted by the last business day of the fall term (December 16, 2023) the benefit will be rescinded. A new benefit request form can be submitted for the spring and/or summer terms as long as they are received by the last business day of their respective term with the 2022 Form 1040.

Submission of Required Documentation

To submit your request form and related documentation:

  1. Access the Education Benefit Request Form for Dependent Children Attending Other Institutions (via DocuSign).
    • Note: This form should be submitted only by the benefits-eligible employee at the University of Pittsburgh (not the dependent child).
    • This form and related documentation must be submitted once per academic year.
  2. Enter your name and valid Pitt email on the form.
    • Note: Forms submitted from any non-Pitt email address will be rejected.
  3. After selecting "Begin Signing," you will be sent an access code to the email you entered. You must enter the access code you received to complete signing the form.
  4. Enter all required information on the form, including attaching any related documentation.
    • Copy of the employee's most recent Form 1040 U.S. Individual Income Tax Return, listing the student as a dependent.
    • Copy of the institution's (college/university) bill for the academic term being requested.
  5. Review your information. Once all information is entered and the form is signed, please select "Complete" from the DocuSign toolbar (at the top of the page).

Forms are processed by the Benefits Department within 1-2 business days. Once processed by Benefits, the form is sent to Payment Processing for check distribution. For an estimate of when the check will be issued, please refer to the Specialty Form section of the Status Inquiries page on the Payment Processing website.

Please do not contact the Benefits Department about the status of your form unless it has been more than 3 (three) business days since you have submitted it for processing. After your form is processed, you will receive an email from DocuSign:

  • If your form has been "Completed" and you have received an email from DocuSign saying "Completed" in the subject line: The benefit has been approved and will be processed. No further action from you is required. You will be contacted by OHR to verify the benefit amount and provide an update of how many of the eight (8) available terms have been utilized by the student.
  • If your form has been "Declined" and you have received an email from DocuSign saying "Declined" in the subject line: You will be contacted by OHR to discuss the reason(s) as to why the form has been denied, along with details about what you may need to provide to complete your education benefit submission successfully.