Nonresident Tuition

Nonresident tuition is a serious problem for all out-of-state students. It is especially unfair to international students, who cannot be considered in-state students at this point, and are often forced to advance to candidacy sooner.

GSA believes that Non-Resident tuition should be lowered, and that international students should be treated as equals to other non-Californians.

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 .

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


(a) 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.


(b) Be a nonresident student for tuition purposes.

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.

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:


(a) In academic years 2004-05, 2005-06, and 2006-07 only, a nonresident GSR is employed on a continuing extramural award submitted prior to October 1, 2003, and it is not practical or possible to rebudget the award for a nonresident tuition charge.


(b) A nonresident GSR is employed on a funding source that does not allow nonresident tuition as a directly charged benefit, as evidenced by a written policy from that funding source.


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.

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/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.

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.