Education Assistance
RISD offers education assistance to full-time faculty and librarians who are members of the Rhode Island School of Design Faculty Association. Employees must submit requests for educational assistance to their supervisor via Workday. Upon approval from the supervisor, Human Resources receives the request for final approval.
Requests for educational assistance must be submitted and approved prior to beginning the course(s). Employees pay for courses up front and receive reimbursement directly upon successful completion of the course with a grade of A, B or C. The maximum benefit is $2,500 per fiscal year and covers tuition expenses only.
Coverage: Please refer to the collective bargaining contract for more information.
Start date: Classes that start after completing one year of service.
End date: Final day of active employment.
Continuing Education (RISD)
Full-time faculty and librarians who belong to the Rhode Island School of Design Faculty Association can take RISD Continuing Education classes. Members of their respective families (e.g. an employee’s spouse, domestic partner and/or dependent children) can take courses offered by RISD Continuing Education as part of this benefit program.
Coverage and start date: Please refer to the collective bargaining contract for more information.
End date: Last day of active employment
For more information go to ce.risd.edu.
Tuition Remission (RISD)
Dependents of full-time faculty and librarians who a.) are members of the Rhode Island School of Design Faculty Association and b.) have served at RISD full-time for three years can receive remitted tuition to attend RISD.
Coverage: Four (4) years of remitted tuition (five (5) years for the architecture program) as a full-time RISD undergraduate student. Applicants must apply and be accepted through RISD’s standard admissions process.
To receive the tuition benefit, the employee must submit their application to Human Resources 30 days prior to the beginning of the first semester of each academic year.
Start date: Tuition incurred after meeting eligibility criteria above.
End date: Last day of active employment.
Tuition Remission (External)
Tuition is defined as that which is disclosed as tuition and/or academic fees, on an itemized invoice, that are verified in writing by the external higher education institution.
Coverage: Up to four years of remitted tuition to any dependent attending a full-time undergraduate degree program.
- Dependents of full-time faculty and librarians who are members of the Rhode Island School of Design Faculty Association who have at least three years of service will receive up to 20% of remitted tuition based on RISD’s current annual tuition.
- Dependents of full-time faculty and librarians who are members of the Rhode Island School of Design Faculty Association who have at least seven years of service will receive up to 35% of remitted tuition based on RISD’s current annual tuition cost.
Start date: Tuition incurred after meeting eligibility criteria above.
End date: Last day of employment. If employee’s employment is terminated, he/she must refund to RISD a prorated share of the value of the tuition payment for the current semester. If they retire or decease while employed at RISD, an eligible dependent will continue to receive tuition remission if currently enrolled at the time in a two- or four-year program at an accredited college or university.
Recipients must be legal dependents as defined by the IRS for federal income tax purposes and must be enrolled as full-time undergraduates in an accredited two- or four-year college or university. Payments are made each semester for a maximum of four academic years or eight academic semesters, or the equivalent. Board, room, and other special fees are not covered.
In the event that the dependent student withdraws from school or drops to part-time status, they can no longer receive tuition remission for that semester. The employee must return any remitted funds or reimburse the same amount to RISD.
Employees can submit their request for tuition remission through Workday. See instructions for how to complete the tuition remission request process.