Officers - Primary Tuition Scholarship

For eligible, full-time faculty and other Officers, the Primary Tuition Scholarship (PTS) benefit pays for a portion of your children's tuition for grades K-8 at New York City Private Schools or The School at Columbia University. There is no waiting period.

Eligibility

  • You are a regular full-time salaried Officer of Instruction, Administration, the Libraries and Research; and
  • You or your spouse/same-sex domestic partner has a dependent child—a natural child, adopted child, or stepchild, or a child for whom one of you has legal guardianship—who is enrolled in grades K-8 at a private school;

AND:

  • Both you and the child live within the five boroughs of New York City; and
  • The school is an accredited, private academic institution located within the five boroughs of New York City.

Officers are Not Eligible if:

  • You are a visiting Officer of Instruction or Research, or you are a postdoctoral research fellow or postdoctoral clinical fellow; or
  • The child is in nursery school, pre-kindergarten, or grades 9 through 12. 

Officers who are eligible can receive a PTS as soon as you are eligible for full-time Officer benefits, although you will be only partially covered for a school year if one is already under way. The table below illustrates the portion of the PTS you are entitled to receive if you are newly hired or newly eligible.

Note: The day of the month does not have an impact on your benefit. In addition, the table assumes the academic year runs from September to June. If the school operates on a different academic year, the scholarship will be adjusted based on how far into the academic year you were hired.

New Hires or Newly Eligible

PTS Benefits

For eligible Officers hired, rehired, appointed, or promoted after 7/1/2011, or with a break in service of more than 31 days after 7/1/2011:

A Primary Tuition Scholarship (PTS) pays between 10% and 35% of your eligible child’s tuition at a private K-8 school within the five boroughs of New York City, depending on qualifying family income, OR 60% of your child’s tuition for grades K-8 at The School at Columbia University, beginning in the 2024-25 academic year. Families with multiple children enrolled at TSC will receive an additional 5%, equal to a 65% benefit, for each sibling enrollee after the first child.

As with all private schools, admission to The School is a separate process not related to the PTS application process. For more information, contact the Admissions Office or visit their website. You may receive as many scholarships as you have eligible children. However, a child with two parents eligible for the benefit can only receive one scholarship.

For eligible Officers hired, rehired, appointed, or promoted on or before 7/1/2011, and without a break in service of more than 31 days after 7/1/2011:

A Primary Tuition Scholarship (PTS) pays between 10% and 35% of your eligible child’s tuition at a private K-8 school within the five boroughs of New York City, depending on qualifying family income, OR 60% of your child’s tuition for grades K-8 at The School at Columbia University, beginning in the 2024-25 academic year. Families with multiple children enrolled at TSC will receive an additional 5%, equal to a 65% benefit, for each sibling enrollee after the first child.

As with all private schools, admission to The School is a separate process not related to the PTS program. For more information, contact the Admissions Office or visit their website.

You may receive as many scholarships as you have eligible children. A child with two parents eligible for the benefit, hired on or before July 1, 2011, can receive two scholarships simultaneously, for a maximum of a 70% benefit at an external private school, or a 100% benefit at The School at Columbia.

Please Note: PTS will cover only one year of each grade level K-8. If a child's school recommends that a child repeat a grade, a PTS will also cover a second year of a grade on a one-time per child basis, assuming that documentation of the school's recommendation can be provided.

"Tuition" is defined as the portion of the bill that covers the academic program. Other fees such as those for extra-curricular activities, books, or materials are not covered, even if the bill from the school combines them with "tuition." If your child receives awards and scholarships from other sources, the amount of PTS will not be affected, except that the PTS amount will be capped at your actual tuition liability. A PTS will never pay you more than you need to cover your actual tuition costs.

The PTS program reviews the most recent year’s federal, state and city income tax return(s) of the child’s family. This will always include your tax return(s). In addition, if you do not claim the child as a dependent, you may be required to provide the tax return(s) of the person who claims the child. On the federal tax return of you and your spouse (and, if applicable, the federal tax return of the person who claims the child as a dependent, if not you), the “total tax” you pay is subtracted from your “taxable income.” The resulting “qualifying family income” is used to determine coverage, as shown in the accompanying table. (Note: On the federal 1040EZ form, the equivalent of “total tax” is simply called “tax.”)

Qualifying Family Income

How to Apply

You apply for the PTS programs by following instructions in the Checklist and submitting your completed application via EBPA after June 1 for the start of a new primary school year. EBPA is our third party administrator that processes PTS applications and benefits payments.

PTS Checklist: NYC Private Schools

PTS Checklist: The School at Columbia

Submit application to EBPA after June 1 for the start of a new primary school year.

  • Document Submission Portal: To submit your tuition scholarship application, please visit the EBPA Secure Submission portal. Once this page has loaded, click Tuition Accounts, enter your information and upload the necessary documents and click SUBMIT, or
  • Send via fax: 603‐773‐4425; or
  • Send via mail: EBPA, P.O. Box 1140, Exeter, NH 03833‐1140.
  • Register to track the status of your application with EBPA Applications will be available for tracking 2-3 business days after they are submitted through the portal.

PTS application processing begins after all required documentation is received, and will take up to 15 business days to complete.

For application status and payment processing questions, please visit https://www.ebpabenefits.com/contact-us or call EBPA customer service: 1-888-456-4576.

Employment Changes Affecting Eligibility

If you are laid off during a term, your child’s PTS for that term will not be revoked. However, he or she will not be eligible for a PTS for any subsequent term.

Involuntary Termination or Involuntary Transfer to Part-Time Employment

If you are involuntarily discharged or released, or involuntarily transferred—other than for cause—from a full-time to a part-time appointment during a term, the PTS benefit for the current term will not be revoked. However, the Officer will not be granted PTS benefits for any subsequent term.

If your employment is terminated for cause, you will be required to pay back a portion of the PTS benefit for the current term, according to the table under Proportion of Scholarship Retained, which outlines the portion of your PTS you are entitled to retain if you leave in a given month. Note that the day of the month is not relevant for this purpose. Eligibility officially ends at the close of business on the last day of your active, full-time employment with the University.

Voluntary Resignation or Voluntary Transfer to Part-Time Employment

If you voluntarily resign, are discharged or released, or switch from a full-time to a part-time appointment during a term, you must refund to Columbia a portion of any PTS benefit received for that term. The table under Proportion of Scholarship Retained outlines the portion of your PTS you are entitled to retain if you leave in a given month. Note that the day of the month is not relevant for this purpose. Eligibility officially ends at the close of business on the last day of your active, full-time employment with the University.

Officer's Resignation, Discharge or Release, Or Child's Departure from School Listed on Application

Officers on any paid or unpaid leave of absence are still considered to be full-time Officers, and their otherwise eligible children continue to qualify for the PTS.

Upon the Officer’s retirement, children remain eligible for PTS benefits for which they were eligible under the terms in effect (at the time the application is submitted) for active Officers with the same hire date. To retire with this benefit, an Officer must be 55 years or older and must have completed ten (10) years of continuous benefits-eligible service after age 45.

  • If a deceased Officer had completed ten (10) years of continuous benefits-eligible service at death, the otherwise eligible dependent child of the Officer, or of the Officer’s spouse or same-sex domestic partner, is eligible for a PTS under the terms in effect for active Officers at the time the application is submitted.
     
  • If a deceased Officer had completed less than ten (10) years of continuous benefits-eligible service at death, the otherwise eligible dependent child may receive a PTS only to complete the academic year started before the Officer’s death.
Reminder on Tax Treatment

Tax Treatment

Under current Internal Revenue Service (IRS) regulations, a PTS only counts as taxable income when it benefits the dependent child of a same-sex domestic partner