Are Preparation Courses covered under the Tuition Reimbursement Program?
A. Preparation and self-development courses, such as the Certified Public Accountant courses or language courses must receive prior approval by the State Tuition Reimbursement Coordinator. The application should include an explanation of or documentation for the program and its relevance to the employee’s State job. It is important to note, however, that if the employee’s collective bargaining agreement specifies non-credit classes are not eligible for reimbursement, then employees under the agreement will not be reimbursed for these expenses. If the contract is silent, employees will be reimbursed for these courses at the non-credit rate, undergraduate or graduate rate specified by the collective bargaining agreement. Rates of reimbursement are determined by the requirements of the program. For example, if program requires a Bachelor’s degree or Life Experience is considered to be equivalent to a Bachelor’s Degree, then the employee will be reimbursed at the graduate rate. If a Bachel
