A full semester Tuition and Service Fee Waiver (TFW) is available to all cooperating personnel who host a student teacher/intern (and/or an Early Field Experience candidate for more than 45 clock hours). Please note:
Certain restrictions apply!
Receipt of a TFW from CoTE does not guarantee the ability to use said TFW for all programs and/or courses.
Individual programs/departments/campuses may restrict the use of TFW for their courses. It is your responsibility to check with the host department/campus to see if your waiver can apply to courses in which you enroll.
Student insurance fees will be automatically assessed and are not covered by the waiver. It may be possible for you to receive an exemption of this fee.
Check your Co-op Portal for details about your waiver!
Cooperating personnel can only earn 1 waiver per semester and waivers can expire. Check your Co-op Portal to make sure your waivers are valid prior to enrolling in courses.
Read the information on the home page of your Co-op Portal prior to redeeming your waiver.
When to Apply Your Waiver
A TFW may not be used until the semester following the term in which it is earned, and must be used within four terms of its issue. Earned waivers can not be transferred to another person.
Waivers redeemed are applied to your bill for that semester they were redeemed in.
Waivers should not be redeemed until after you have registered for courses.
CoTE recommends that you redeem your waiver no earlier than 2 weeks before classes begin for the semester, but no later than the “10th day” add/drop deadline for full semester courses. This will allow for smooth processing of the waiver and give you enough time to request exemption from the student health insurance fee.
Use the Academic Calendar to view the semester start dates and the 10th day add/drop deadline.
Campus Waiver Guidelines
When used at the Urbana campus, the TFW exempts cooperating personnel from the following assessments:
Tuition costs for any non-restricted courses during the term in which exemption is requested
Urbana service fees incurred in registration during the term in which exemption is requested
Application fee if the student applied for admission to an Illinois graduate program during the term in which exemption is requested
McKinley Health Center fees for students registering for on campus courses.
Tuition waivers can be transferred to UIC and UIS. Waivers transferred to the University of Illinois Springfield are only redeemable for 4 credit hours of tuition. Once a TFW is transferred to a UIC or UIS they are subject to that campus’ policies. It is your responsibility to review the applicable policy to see if your waiver can apply and which fees it will cover.
Cooperating Personnel waivers cannot be used for approved cost recovery or self-supporting programs. These courses are typically identified in the class schedule as self-supporting. It is your responsibility to identify if you are in a self-supporting program and/or registered in a self-supporting course. For additional assistance with determining whether your waiver can be applied to your program/course of choice, please reach out to your program. See below for information on cost recovery and self-supporting programs for the three campuses where your waiver may be applied:
If you prefer to meet with someone about your waiver questions, CoTE offers virtual Waiver Office Hours. These are only available by sign-up. Access the sign-up link through your Co-op Portal.