# Paying Tuition Using Sponsored Award Funds

**Source**: https://finance.uw.edu/sfs/node/632
**Parent**: https://finance.uw.edu/sfs/uw-depts/departmental-scholarships-and-fellowships

**Paying Tuition Using Sponsored Award Funds**

**Overview**

Student Fiscal Services (SFS) has implemented changes to the **student database (SDB)** and the **spend categories** associated with tuition transactions.

SDB tracks all student account balances and adjustments. This includes transactions such as:

- Tuition reimbursement using grant funding
- Tuition remission for teaching/research assistantships
- Tuition reimbursement via scholarships

These changes help ensure sponsored award funding is applied consistently and in compliance with federal and sponsor guidelines.

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**Default Setup for Sponsored Awards**

When a sponsored award (grant) account setup request is submitted, the default spend category is:

- **SC2789 – Tuition and Fees Paid by Grant**

  - Tuition is exempt from F&A for Base 18 – Modified Total Direct Costs (MTDC).

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**Options for Paying Tuition vs. Scholarships**

Depending on award terms and sponsor guidelines, two spend categories may be used:

- **SC2789 – Tuition and Fees Paid by Grant**

  - Exempt from F&A for Base 18 – MTDC
  - Typically the correct setup for most federal and federal flow-through awards
- **SC1534 – Disbursement of Financial Aid – Scholarships**

  - Subject to F&A for Base 23 – MTDC (commonly used for NIH Training Grants)
  - Exempt from F&A for Base 18 – MTDC

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**Key Guidance on Tuition vs. Scholarships**

**Federal and federal flow-through awards:**

- Tuition is generally allowable.
- Scholarships are generally **unallowable.**

**Non-federal awards:**

- May be more flexible; both tuition and scholarships could be allowable depending on terms.

**F&A treatment:**Two common F&A bases, base 18 and base 23, are listed below to outline the impact of incorrect categorization.

- Tuition

  - Exempt from F&A for Base 18 – MTDC
  - Exempt from F&A for Base 23 – This is the standard F&A base used for NIH Training Grants.
- Scholarships

  - Exempt from F&A for Base 18 – MTDC
  - Subject to F&A for Base 23 – This is the standard F&A base used for NIH Training Grants. If tuition is misclassified as a scholarship, both the unallowable scholarship transaction and related unallowable F&A transaction will post to the grant worktag.

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**Determining Setup in SDB**

Setup depends on sponsor requirements, including:

- Award terms and conditions
- Request for Application (RFA) guidelines
- Request for Proposal (RFP) guidelines
- Program Announcement (PA) guidelines
- Uniform Guidance and Sponsor general award guidelines/terms.

Examples:

Unform Guidance – [200.466 Scholarships, student aid costs, and tuition remission](https://urldefense.com/v3/__https:/www.ecfr.gov/current/title-2/subtitle-A/chapter-II/part-200/subpart-E/subject-group-ECFRed1f39f9b3d4e72/section-200.466__;!!K-Hz7m0Vt54!lAy7e8q2KltqhhWGhj_e53KswdKAHYcd3ptqXtHcnF6iqrMK3IHv3xzhcChpxx9dAxXlRukuYmbg3Q$)\
NIH Grants Policy Statement – [7.9.1 Allowability of Costs/Activities](https://urldefense.com/v3/__https:/grants.nih.gov/grants/policy/nihgps/HTML5/section_7/7.9_allowability_of_costs_activities.htm?Highlight=Scholarship__;!!K-Hz7m0Vt54!lAy7e8q2KltqhhWGhj_e53KswdKAHYcd3ptqXtHcnF6iqrMK3IHv3xzhcChpxx9dAxXlRumr4x2__Q$)

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**Exceptions**

While the general rule is to set up sponsored awards to receive tuition (SC2789), exceptions do occur. These must be supported by clear sponsor terms or guidance.

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**If you are unsure whether to use tuition or scholarship categories for a sponsored award, please contact Grant and Contract Accounting via** [**gcahelp@uw.edu**](mailto:gcahelp@uw.edu) **or via Award Portal before initiating the account setup.**