Spring 2025 - College Tuition Scholarship Reminder
The Spring 2025 term is quickly approaching. To receive the College Tuition Scholarship (CTS) benefit, Officers must apply each term; one application per child.
To ensure your Spring 2025 College Tuition Scholarship (CTS) Benefit application is processed in a timely manner, please submit it to EBPA, the CTS administrator as soon as you receive your child’s itemized college tuition bill. Your completed application must provide all the information requested on the CTS application form; please don’t leave any sections blank. If your application is missing information, EBPA will email you requesting the missing information and your application will be in a “Pending” status until all missing information is received.
Tools and Resources
The following resources are available in the CTS Tuition section of the HR website as a guide to help you prepare and submit your application(s) to EBPA:
- CTS Checklist
- CTS Policy
- FAQs (Tuition -> College Tuition Scholarship)
- Grants, Awards, and Scholarships Sample Letter
- College Tuition Scholarship Application - Retired Officers
- College Tuition Scholarship Application - Deceased Officers' Family
Your Child's Itemized Tuition Bill
As part of the CTS application, you must provide a copy of the college or university’s itemized tuition bill. Traditional or online student account bills (e-bills) are accepted. The bill must include:
- College or university name or logo
- Dependent child’s name
- Itemized tuition bill
- Semester/trimester/quarter the student is attending
- Dollar value of any scholarship, grants, and/or awards received; and
- Payment mailing address information. If payment mailing address information is not printed on the online student account e-bill, provide a copy from the official website that confirms payment mailing address information, and submit it with your CTS application.
If Your Child Receives Grants, Awards, and/or Scholarships
You must provide official documentation which details if those funds are applied specifically to “tuition,” or “may be applied to all charges” on the student account. Please see the Grants, Awards, and Scholarships Sample Letter to School to assist you in securing this information.
Please consult the CTS Checklist to ensure all requested and required information is provided as part of your application submission, to avoid any processing delays.
EBPA Document Submission Portal
To submit your completed tuition scholarship application and itemized tuition bill, please visit the Tuition Scholarship Upload Portal. Once this page has loaded, click Tuition Accounts, enter your information, upload the necessary documents, and click SUBMIT.
EBPA CU Tuition Tracking System
We encourage you to register for the EBPA CU Tuition Tracking System to enhance your customer service experience. Registration requires your Columbia email address and password creation. CU Tuition Tracking System provides online status updates on the processing of your application: In Progress, Pending, or Paid. Once your tuition scholarship benefit has been paid, an Explanation of Payment is available online or to be saved for your records.
EBPA Tuition Tracking – Frequently Asked Questions
Q. Did you get my application?
A. CTS applications will be available for tracking 2-3 business days after they are submitted through the portal.
Q. What is the status of my application?
A. Applications will be available for tracking 2-3 business days after they are submitted through the EBPA tracking portal.
Q. When will my child’s school receive payment?
A. Please allow up to 15 business days for EBPA to process your CTS application for benefits payment. EBPA CTS payments are sent via U.S. mail.
If you have questions about the CTS policy or other Tuition Program benefits, please call the Columbia Benefits Service Center at 212-851-7000 (9 a.m. - 4 p.m., Monday-Friday) or email [email protected].