Tuition Exchange Program

Guidelines for Participation

The Tuition Exchange is a program of reciprocal tuition remission between participating colleges and universities. Mount Holyoke College employees whose dependent* children are eligible to apply for a tuition exchange (TE) scholarship should understand that receipt of a TE grant is not guaranteed; and that each college or university has its own criteria for awarding TE scholarships. The most current listing of member institutions is contained in the Tuition Exchange pamphlet or on the Tuition Exchange website. Each year Mount Holyoke is permitted to offer scholarships for study at other member institutions at a level which is determined by the number of students who in turn attend Mount Holyoke as participants in the Tuition Exchange.

View a brief summary of the Tuition Application Process. The following forms are available on my.mtholyoke.

  • Tuition Exchange Application Form (attach Birth Certificate)
  • Tuition Exchange Recertification Form.
  • Tuition Exchange Member Schools

Selection Criteria

Dependent children of benefits-eligible faculty and staff who have the equivalent of five years of full-time service (or three years of service if hired before July 1, 2010) at Mount Holyoke are eligible to apply for the program. In order to be eligible to apply for any of these tuition benefits, an adopted or stepchild must be the dependent of the eligible College employee. Documentation/proof of relationship will be required for all benefits to be extended to dependent children.

  1. A legal dependent of the employee for at least five (5) years (or three (3) years if the employee was hired before July 1, 2010) prior to application; and
  2. Dependent child must still live at home with parent being responsible for 50% or more of their finances; and
  3. Dependent child must be under age 24.

Eligibility for Tuition Exchange does not guarantee a scholarship, only the right to apply for one.

The college must manage its utilization of the Tuition Exchange Scholarship program so that we maintain a reasonable balance between the number of dependent children of Mount Holyoke College employees who receive scholarships at other TE participating schools (exports) and the number of students attend Mount Holyoke College on TE Scholarships (imports).

Each year, in May, we will conduct a review of the 3-year rolling history of TE import/export experience. This review will consider the historical yield of both imports and exports and will ultimately determine the number of scholarship applications which the College can submit in the subsequent academic year in order to maintain reasonable balance between import and export TE Scholarships.

The Human Resources Department will communicate the number of TE scholarship applications to be accepted for the next academic year each May during their annual benefits open enrollment.

Given our TE utilization for past periods, the College will be able to submit 18 applications for Tuition Exchange for study beginning in the 2015-16 academic year.

The deadline for applications is December 1st of each year. Applications received after that date will not be considered.

If more than the maximum number of applications are received by Human Resources by December 1, the determination of which applications will be submitted to the Tuition Exchange Scholarship program will be made based on a combination of the employee's seniority (length of benefits-eligible service) and whether the child for whom the employee is applying for a scholarship is the first, second, third, etc. child to apply.

For first children, priority consideration will be given strictly based on seniority. For second, third, etc., children applying for scholarships, employees will be given similar consideration for overall seniority if the employee has additional service, proportional to the number of children for whom they have received, or are applying to receive, tuition benefits, (e.g. first child - 5 years of service, second child - 10 years of service, third child - 15 years of service, etc.) If the number of applicants at a level of seniority exceeds the available scholarships, selection within that group will be by lottery.

Scholarships will be awarded for full-time study for a first undergraduate degree program at a participating college or university. The Tuition Exchange program is not available for graduate or professional study, non-degree study, or work toward a second undergraduate degree. For this purpose, "full-time study" is defined as a minimum of 12 hours per semester or 24 hours per academic year. Failure to maintain course loads at this level may result in the revocation of the Tuition Exchange scholarship. Scholarships will be awarded based on 8 semesters of study or on expected graduation date, whichever is shorter. It is possible in any given year, if an extraordinarily large number of families apply, there will need to be a cap on the number of participants.

The dollar value of the scholarship will be determined by the institution attended. A listing of scholarship values at each member institution is available in the Human Resources Department.

Application Process

To apply for a Tuition Exchange scholarship, complete the Mount Holyoke College Application, which is available from and should be returned to the Human Resources Department no later than December 1.

Applications will be reviewed and scholarships awarded based on the criteria described above. Notification of awards are mailed from the individual colleges and universities to which your student has applied.  Written acceptance of the award is required.

Students must notify Mount Holyoke's Student Financial Services Office of their acceptance by a participating college or university, enrollment in that institution, and leave, suspension or withdrawal from the institution. Failure to provide such information may result in the loss of the Tuition Exchange scholarship award.

Eligibility for the Tuition Exchange program does not influence in any way the criteria for admission to the various member institutions. The college or university to which the application is directed is the sole determinant of whether admission will be offered and whether a Tuition Exchange scholarship will be offered.

Certifying Continuing Eligibility

Each year Mount Holyoke must certify the continuing eligibility of each participating student in the Tuition Exchange program. Consequently, a Mount Holyoke College Tuition Exchange Recertification form must be completed by December 1 of the year prior to the student's continued participation. This form is available from and should be returned to the Human Resources Department.

For Additional Information

Further information and application materials are available in the Human Resources Department. For additional information, please contact the Student Financial Services Office or the Human Resources Department.