220.150 Employee Expenses - Education Leave and/or Educational Financial Assistance and Continuing Education

EDUCATION LEAVE AND/OR EDUCATION ASSISTANCE 

1. General Purpose 

   The purpose of educational leave with full or partial pay and educational assistance is to assist state employees to develop skills that will improve their ability to perform state job responsibilities or, in the case of educational leave, to also provide training and educational opportunities for employees of a state department that will enable the department’s director to better meet the staffing needs of the state department. 

2. Eligibility 
   1. Any non-temporary employee may be considered for education leave and/or education financial assistance. 
   2. Education leave and/or education financial assistance may be granted to employees to assist them in developing skills that will improve their ability to perform job responsibilities. 
   3. An employee receiving other financial assistance, such as scholarship aid or Veterans’ Administration assistance, will be eligible to receive education financial assistance only to the extent that the sum of all reimbursements does not exceed 100% of tuition and related expenses. 

3. Educational Institutions 

   An eligible employee may, under this program, attend any accredited educational institution within the State. Attendance at an out-of-state institution may be approved by DAS provided there are geographical or educational considerations that make attendance at an in-state institution impractical. 

4. Reimbursement Criteria 
   1. a. An employee may be reimbursed for tuition, fees and related expenses upon submission of an actual paid receipt (credit card receipts alone are not acceptable) from the educational institution to the designated department representative, and 
   2. b. Proof of successful completion of the course as follows: 
      1. Successful completion of undergraduate course requires at least a grade of “C-”. 
      2. Successful completion of a graduate course requires at least a grade of “B-”. 
      3. Successful completion of a vocational or correspondence course requires submission of an official certificate or diploma.

5. Continued Employment Requirements and Recoupment of Reimbursements

   See Iowa Administrative Code/Administrative Services Department [11]-63.10(8A) and [11] 64.10(8A). See the DAS-HRE form: Education Payments - Agreement for Recouping Education Payments 

6. Approval of Education Financial Assistance 
   1. Education financial assistance must be pre-approved by [Iowa Administrative Code/Administrative Services Department [11]-64.10(3)]. See the DAS-HRE form: Education Leave and/or Education Financial Assistance Application. 
   2. The application and instructions for its completion are included with this section. 
   3. Submit the completed forms to your supervisor at least 30 days prior to the start of the course. 
   4. When the course has been successfully completed, submit the original, official grade achieved document, and an actual itemized paid receipt to your department for processing. 
7. For additional information see Iowa Administrative Code / Administrative Services Department [11]-64.10.

CONTINUING EDUCATION

1. With the approval of the Appointing Authority, the State will pay for courses, workshops, seminars, etc., taken by State employees to meet continuing education requirements for maintaining professional registration, certification, or licensure when the continuing education course reasonably relates to the duties and responsibilities assigned to the individual, or to duties which may reasonably be assigned to the individual. If applicable, all provisions of the Iowa Administrative Code / Administrative Services Department [11]-63.10 and [11]- 64.10 must be met. 
2. The Appointing Authority may approve attendance of department staff at courses, workshops, seminars, forums, mid-summer short-term training sessions not to exceed five days, for the purpose of providing training to department staff that are directly related to the staff's current duties and responsibilities or those duties and responsibilities that the staff may reasonably be assigned. Payment of registration fees will be either by reimbursement to the employee, or by direct billing to the State. See Procedure 210.115 for allowable direct billing.
3. Undergraduate and Graduate Assistance - Undergraduate and Graduate assistance for job related and non-job-related courses are not taxable until it reaches $5,250. per individual, per calendar year, per Section 127 of the Internal Revenue Code. Tax-free education assistance benefits include payments for tuition, fees and similar expenses, books, supplies, and equipment. 
4. It is the department’s responsibility to track the total reimbursement of their employees to determine if a reimbursement to an employee for any graduate/undergraduate level courses would result in a total reimbursement exceeding $5,250. in a calendar year. 
5. For Educational Assistance or courses which have reached $5,250., and because of the taxable issues, contact DAS-SAE-Centralized Payroll for instructions on how to process.

SUBMITTING CLAIMS TO DAS-SAE-DAILY PROCESSING

1. A travel payment (TP) document for the graduate/undergraduate education assistance is prepared and approved in I/3. 
2. Attach the itemized paid receipt from the institution. A credit card receipt alone is not acceptable. 
3. Attach a copy of the grade report. 
4. Attach all receipts for books or extra fees. 
5. Employee must sign TP. 
6. TP shall be on-lined and approved in I/3. It will then workflow to DAS-SAE. 
7. DAS-SAE-Daily Processing will perform the final pre-audit. 
8. Object Code 2474 is to be used on the TP for graduate/undergraduate courses that are not taxable, job/non-job related, up to $5,250. per calendar year.