Pre-Award: Budgeting for GRA Tuition
In a previous blog, Budgeting for GRA Salaries, we discussed best practices and provided examples for how GRA salaries are budgeted at CSU. If allowed, tuition, differential tuition, and mandatory fees should also be included in the budget that includes GRA salaries based on the amount of effort GRA will spend on the project.
National Archives Code of Regulations for Scholarships and student aid costs
National Archives Code of Regulations: § 200.466 Scholarships and student aid costs (updated Jan 2026)
(a) Costs of scholarships, fellowships, and student aid programs at IHEs are allowable only when the purpose of the Federal award is to provide training to participants, and the Federal agency approves the cost.
(b) Tuition remission and other forms of compensation paid as, or instead of, wages to students performing necessary work are allowable provided that:
(1) The individual is conducting activities necessary to the Federal award;
(2) Tuition remission and other support are provided in accordance with the established written policy of the IHE and consistently provided in a like manner to students in return for similar activities conducted under Federal awards as well as other activities; and
(3) The student is enrolled in an advanced degree program at the IHE or an affiliated institution during the academic period and the student’s activities under the Federal award are related to their degree program;
(4) The tuition or other payments are reasonable compensation for the work performed and are conditioned explicitly upon the performance of necessary work; and
(5) The IHE compensates students under Federal awards as well as other activities in similar manners.
(c) Charges for tuition remission and other forms of compensation paid to students as, or instead of, salaries and wages are subject to the reporting requirements in § 200.430. The charges must be treated as a direct or indirect cost in accordance with the actual work performed. Tuition remission may be charged on an average rate basis. Reference § 200.431.
What is the difference between tuition and differential tuition?
Tuition is the per credit cost that all graduate students will be charged for taking classes at CSU. Tuition rates are established each academic year (August – May).
Differential Tuition are additional costs either by semester or credit hour for specific programs. Differential tuition is not a stand alone expense, it will only be charged if there is related tuition. Not all programs charge differential tuition.
What are Mandatory Fees?
General Fees, University Technology Fee, University Facility Fee, and University Alternative Transportation Fee.
Budgeting for Tuition and Mandatory Fees
Tuition and mandatory fees are expenses that should follow effort as it is written in the scope of work/project narrative. If a budget includes GRA salary for a full academic year, you will include two semesters of tuition and mandatory fees; if it includes the salary for only part of the year, you may only need to include tuition and mandatory fees for one semester.If you have a GRA only in the summer months, it may not be necessary to budget for tuition since GRAs only take classes during the summer on rare occasions.
Resident vs. Non-Resident Tuition
For budgeting purposes, we consider resident tuition. During their first year of enrollment, the CSU Graduate School covers the difference between resident and non-resident tuition through the Tuition Premium Program. The expectation is that the student will establish residency in their first year. The Tuition Premium Program is also available to international students for the duration of their GRA, provided they remain enrolled for the minimum credits. It’s important to note that the Tuition Premium Program only covers resident-instruction (RI) tuition and does not include CSU online tuition, summer tuition, fees, differential tuition, or non-residential instruction (RI) credits. For all restrictions to the Tuition Premium Program, see the Graduate School website.
Additionally, look at the proposed start dates for the project to see if current approved rates or current approved rate + an inflation factor are applicable. It may be a good idea to apply an inflation factor in the first year of your budget if the proposed start date is in the next academic year. The KR PD budgeting tool has a built-in inflation factor of 8% for subsequent budget periods after Year 1. The inflation factor would need to be applied manually in Year 1 if it is deemed necessary. Keep in mind that some sponsors only allow current approved rates at the proposal stage.
Tuition, differential tuition, and mandatory fees will be exempt from the indirect calculation if your sponsor utilizes CSU’s negotiated indirect cost rate agreement (NICRA).
Modified total direct costs (MTDC) consisting of all direct salaries and wages, applicable fringe benefits, materials and supplies, services, travel and up to the first $25,000 of each subaward (regardless of period of performance of the subawards under the award). Modified total direct costs shall exclude equipment, expenditures, charges for patient care, rental costs, tuition remission, scholarships and fellowships, participant support costs, and the portion of each sub award in excess of $25,000. Other items may only be excluded when it necessary to avoid a serious inequity of the distribution of indirect costs, and with the approval of the cognizant agency for indirect costs.
Post-Award: Accounting for GRA Tuition
Tuition, differential tuition, and fees are ‘Other’ Direct Costs that are allowable if reasonable, allocable, consistently applied, and allowed on your award. They should follow the effort of the GRA student paid on that project. If a GRA works on more than one project (sponsored or other) these expenses should be allocated between the projects in the same proportion as their effort. If salary needs to be reallocated via a past period distribution adjustment (PPDA), these expenses should also be reallocated via a general ledger transfer (GLT).
Tuition paid for by a Sponsor on behalf of a student is considered compensation and will show up for reconciliation under object code 5762 and will be reported to the student via 1098 T each tax year. Tuition is set up each semester for payment on the student’s behalf using a sponsor billing system. An authorized person(s) in each academic unit will set this up, and it will be reviewed by the appropriate Fiscal Officer before it is expensed to the project.
Other considerations:
Before budgeting for another department or unit, it is best practice to reach out to the college/department contacts and ask if they have any differential tuition for their program.
Resources:
Assistantship Benefits, Resources, and Policies
Graduate School Tuition and Differential Tuition rates
Graduate School Tuition Premium Program
Office of Sponsored Programs website
Student Support Guidance
Throwback and original blog from December 29, 2021, by Shannon Irey, Training and Information Coordinator, OSP