Payment / Reimbursement For SITN Classes
Under construction!
Company Payment or Reimbursement
Each company has their own approach to paying for SITN classes.
Some companies pay for classes up front (company pay), while
others expect the student to pay and be reimbursed later upon successful
completion (student pay). Check with your company's SITN
coordinator to find out this and other company-specific policies.
Each company sets its own limit for how much they will
reimburse for class expenses in a given year. Also,
every employer has company-specific approval procedures
for these expenses. Make sure you
obtain the correct approvals
and abide by your company's reimbursement limit
so you don't end up with a large, unexpected expense.
Successful Completion
Most companies define successful completion of an HCP or an NDO class
as occurring when the student earns a certain grade in that class.
If the student does not successfully complete the course, he or she
may be required to
write a check to the company for the cost of the class (company pay),
or may not be reimbursed for the class (student pay).
When a class is audited, no grade or other measurement of
student performance is provided by Stanford.
Since unsatisfactory performance is not possible, payment or
reimbursement for audit classes is pretty much automatic,
at least at some companies.
Avoiding Unnecessary Course Costs
Students can avoid paying for a class they cannot complete by
dropping it on or before the financial drop deadline. This
deadline comes very early in the quarter; see the
SITN deadlines
for more information.
Once past the financial drop deadline, you are responsible for
completing any HCP or NDO class you are enrolled in with
a satisfactory grade. If you do not, you will end up eating the
cost of the class, at least at most companies. We're talking a
non-trivial amound of money
here, so carefully consider the obligation you are taking on.
Other Grading Information
"Pass/fail" grades of S (no-option satisfactory) and
CR (student-elected satisfactory) imply the student earned
a grade of C or better. These marks should be acceptable if
a company considers a grade of C to be satisfactory.
Note that certain CS and EE seminars offer only the S/NC
grading option.
IRS Information:
Under certain circumstances, all or part of your tuition
reimbursement may be taxable. Consult the
relevant IRS web site
for more information. The documentation is not entirely clear, and
appears self-inconsistent in places.
You should seek competent tax advice from a qualified professional.