Academics

R3 Degree Completion | Reimbursement

 

Employer Reimbursement Guidelines

McPherson College is pleased to assist students in fully utilizing their employers’ tuition reimbursement benefits.  The following guidelines have been created to facilitate a clear understanding among students regarding employer reimbursement.  Please take a few minutes to review these guidelines and file them in a safe place for future reference. 

Types of Tuition Reimbursements

If your employer provides you with a tuition reimbursement benefit, you probably fit into one of the following two categories:

1. Your employer reimburses you for your tuition prior to the beginning of the term or pays McPherson College directly. If this is you, then your responsibility is to ensure that your tuition payment is made or your company's tuition voucher is submitted to the College's Business Office by the payment deadline of each term. Please register for your courses and start the reimbursement/payment process with your company as early as possible to meet the payment deadline. Failure to submit payment or the necessary paperwork to the Business Office by the published payment deadline will subject you to a late fee. It is your responsibility to follow up with both your company and the Business Office to ensure payment has been processed by the deadline. Please direct any questions regarding your payment arrangements to Linda Barrett at barrettl@mcpherson.edu or 620-242-0459.   
   
   
2. Your employer reimburses you for your tuition costs after the completion of a given term. You are responsible for coordination of satisfactory payment arrangements for your account balance by the payment deadline (e.g., full payment, payment plan, or loans). An option you may want to utilize is the Balm Loan Fund explained below.

Balm Loan Fund

Most employers who provide tuition reimbursement reimburse their employees after they have completed a course(s), received their grade(s) for a given term, and have paid their account balance. As a service to our employer-reimbursed students, McPherson College has developed a short-term loan fund that allows students the availability to borrow funds for a given term.  Re-payment of the loan must be complete within 45 days following the end of the term.  Students choosing to participate in the Balm Loan will be required to meet with a member of the business office, provide employment verification information (current paystub), provide a copy of their employer’s reimbursement policy, and complete a Balm Loan Fund promissory note agreement.  

The loan due date is designed to give students ample time to receive a paid invoice from the Business Office, receive their grades from the Registrar's Office, and process the reimbursement with their employer. 

Once a student is approved in a given calendar year the Business Office will apply the Balm Loan funds to a students account to cover the term’s balance.  Prior to Balm Loan funds being applied to the next term - students are required to pay-off the prior terms outstanding loan and/or account balance.

Loan qualification amount is the lesser of $5,250 per calendar year or the maximum amount allowed for reimbursement under their employer reimbursement agreement.  
Please note, if you withdraw from classes after the 100% or 50% refund periods in a given term, you are still obligated to pay your outstanding Balm Loan and account balance, regardless of forfeiting tuition reimbursement from your employer.

What do you need to do to acquire a Balm Loan?

1. Meet with a member of the Business Office to discuss your eligibility and more details of how the loan fund works.  The Business Office is located on the first floor of Mohler Hall.     
2. Bring in, mail, email or fax employment verification (most recent paystub) and your employer's tuition reimbursement policy to the Business Office (fax: 620-241-8443; email: barrettl@mcpherson.edu) prior to the payment deadline of the first term in which you desire to participate in the Balm Loan. Once the policy is on file, you will not need to send it again, provided your employer's reimbursement policy does not change. If there is a change in the policy, or you happen to change employers, you will need to send an updated policy.  Employment verification will be required annually.   
3. Completion of the Balm Loan Fund promissory note agreement provided by the Business Office upon request. The Business Office will need to obtain the following information from you at that time:
   • Personal contact information (home phone, cell phone, business phone, fax, mailing address, email address).
4. Request a copy of your billing statement from the Business Office. Keep this invoice on file until the time your employer requests it for reimbursement.
5. Fax a Transcript Request Form to the Registrar's Office to request your grade report be mailed to you at the end of the term.    

If you have any questions about these guidelines, please contact your admissions counselor, or the McPherson College Business Office.