Please note that this transcript was auto-generated. We apologize for any minor errors in spelling or grammar.

Julie Shields-Rutyna: [00:00:00] Okay, well, good evening, everyone. Welcome. My name is Julie Shields Rutina, and I am the Director of College Planning, Education, and Training at MEFA, and I’m so happy that you’re here with us this evening. Uh, this evening’s webinar, webinar is on the topic of tuition break, and we have, uh, the speaker, the presenter to talk with you all about that, Lindsay Parks, who works for the New England Board of Education, and is the coordinator and main contact for.

Tuition break. Um, so in a moment, Lindsay will will speak with you. I’ll just give you a few housekeeping details. This webinar will go on for about an hour, maybe maybe a little bit less. Um, if you have questions, you can put them in the Q and a during the webinar, and I’ll be behind the scenes moderating and I can ask those of Lindsay along the way.

Um, and then, you know, as we go on, we’ll always um, Make sure by the end that [00:01:00] we we answer those questions. And if you need to leave for some reason, or you know someone who wanted to attend this and couldn’t just know that tomorrow will be sending you the recording. And the slides for this webinar. So you’ll have access to all of that.

And you can, you can share. And other than that, I’ll just let you know that MEFA has all kinds of webinars and all kinds of topics. I hope you come back and visit us often at MEFA. org slash webinars. And we’ll give you some other contact information like that at the end. So with that, Lindsay, I’m going to turn it over to you, and you can feel free to share your screen, and I’ll stop, I’ll shut off my video too as you start talking.

Lyndsay Parks: Absolutely. Thank you, Julie. Um, like she said, my name is Lindsay. I am with the New England Board of Higher Education. Uh, with the tuition break program. I’m very excited to be here to speak [00:02:00] with all of you Today, so we will jump right into it Um, if you are not aware of what tuition break is we’re going to run through that go through some commonly Um asked questions some scenarios and if you have any questions during the presentation Feel free to ask them or put them in the chat and I can get back to you Um, you know, throughout the presentation or at the end if necessary.

So, um, a little bit about me though before we jump into it though. I am, um, fairly new to the New England Board of Higher Education. Um, I actually just moved to New England from, um, Oklahoma. I have had about 10 years in K 12 and higher education. Um, I was with the Oklahoma State Department of Higher Education before I moved up here.

Uh, so I am excited to speak with all of you about Tuition Break and, uh, the New England Board of Higher Education, which is commonly referred to as NEBBE, so if you hear me say that. That is what I mean there. So, [00:03:00] let’s run into it. What is Tuition Break? If you’ve not heard of it before, um, we help New England residents save, uh, tuition on out of state public colleges and universities within New England.

And so New England, um, is you know, Vermont, New Hampshire, Maine, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and Rhode Island. Uh, so if you see any, you know, public institutions, uh, colleges, universities saying that it’s for, uh, students in other states, maybe like New York or Pennsylvania, um, that is something that they have decided on, you know, kind of on their own terms.

Uh, and so this is strictly for New England students. Uh, what it is, is it’s actually a discounted tuition rate at these universities and colleges. Um, so typically you have to be in an eligible, eligible major at the college or university outside of their home state to participate. So I’ll kind of go into some more detail about exactly what that means, um, how you qualify.[00:04:00]

And a common question that we get is, what about private colleges or universities? Uh, so, at this time, it is just for public colleges and universities. So, private colleges and universities are not a part of the tuition break program. So who is the New England Board of Higher Education, or NEBI is the acronym as I said earlier, and how is it funded?

So there are actually four regional, we call them compacts, throughout the United States. So ours, as you can see here circled on the screen, that is NEBI, and we’ve got the Midwestern, the Western, and then the Southern Regional Education Board. And how is this funded? Actually, Um, in about, you know, the 1950s is when the New England governors came together and made a decision that they wanted to create, um, this program.

It used to be called the Regional Student Program where students throughout New England could [00:05:00] go to the colleges and universities, you know, right next door and, uh, receive this discounted tuition rate. So it is actually funded, um, by the states because they came together and made this agreement together.

So I was telling you a little bit about that you have to be in an eligible major to participate in tuition break. And what this means is that, uh, there are two different ways that you could do this. So some of the colleges and universities have specified specific programs at their institution that qualify for this discounted tuition break.

So that they’re part of. The tuition break program. Um, and so you have to be enrolled in one of those majors in order to qualify for the discounted tuition rate. Um, and then the other way that you could qualify for it is if the institution has decided to go what we call flexible. And so they have made a decision.

That says that any out of state students in [00:06:00] New England can receive the discounted tuition rate regardless of the program or major they have decided to pursue. So, um, it really just varies based on the institution which is specialized and which is flexible. Uh, so you can, um, use the search tool on our website to see which institutions have chosen the specialized or the flexible and it will tell you.

Um, on our search tool, which is which. So you’re welcome to explore that at any time. Um, the website is right down there, the nebby. org slash tuition break. And, um, you can kind of explore that to your heart’s content and see exactly which institutions are offering what. So how do I apply for tuition break?

Well, you actually don’t. Um, you don’t have to apply for tuition break. There is no application to receive this discounted tuition rate through us. Um, so all you have to do is go through the admissions process with the institution that you are [00:07:00] interested in. Um, so there is not a separate application for us.

Uh, but You still have to, you know, go through all of the, uh, typical admissions processes for the institutions you’re interested in. So, if you live in Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, or Vermont, Um, you are eligible to receive the tuition break discounted rate. Um, If you have done your new research, I told you about the little search tool that we have, um, so you could go to the nebby.

org slash tuition break to see which of the eligible academic programs that are there for you. So you could go make sure that you have one of those. And then you just follow the steps for the institution of your choice, uh, to, um, you know, apply for admission. And then if you are still not sure if you are receiving the, uh, tuition discounted rate, um, I would always recommend that you reach out to the admissions office at the college that you’re [00:08:00] pursuing.

So if you are not sure if you’re getting it, you don’t really know exactly if you followed the steps, um, that you needed to do, I always recommend reaching out to the admissions office, um, and You know, talking to an admissions representative or admissions counselor there, and I’m sure that they would be happy to, uh, make sure that you’ve checked all the right boxes.

So, uh, if you are here not just because you are interested in a bachelor’s degree, a tuition break, does qualify for advanced degrees and certificates as well. So, um, if you are interested in pursuing a master’s degree or a PhD or you’re looking into getting a specialized certificate, uh, tuition break is part, uh, you can receive the tuition break discounted rate for these programs as well.

And those are also listed within the search tool. So if you kind of have your whole 10 year plan, Uh, uh, planned out, you can go on and see exactly [00:09:00] which colleges and universities offer what, you know, bachelor’s degrees, graduate degrees, um, PhDs, you can even do, um, like a JD, like a law degree, medical degree, um, any type of advanced degree qual you can get the tuition break, uh, discount, so.

Go on to the website, check it out and see, um, what is being offered where for you. A really common question that we receive is, um, how does tuition break, uh, stack with other scholarships? Um, what does that fina financial aid process kind of look like? And so a few things to keep in mind here is that it is not, um, a scholarship, it’s not a grant, it’s nothing kind of along those lines, it’s just a discounted tuition rate.

So this university that you have chosen should just do that for you. Um, it shouldn’t really be anything that you need to, you know, fill out a [00:10:00] separate application for, like we talked about, or, you know, contact someone to make sure that you get that put onto your account. Um, we always recommend that you complete the FAFSA.

So make sure that you have done the FAFSA and you have sent that to the, uh, institution that you are attending in the fall. And, um, You’ll see that some colleges and universities, uh, still allow you to receive, like, other types of scholarships on top of the discounted tuition rate, uh, it really is just completely up to the college or university that you’re choosing, so I would just have a conversation with the financial aid office or the admissions office, whoever, uh, Um, you feel like you have a good relationship with there and see like what uh scholarships would you know that you would qualify for and if they uh stack on top of the tuition break discounted tuition rate.

All right we’re gonna run through kind of [00:11:00] some what if scenarios so that way you See, uh, kind of if you have a credit question in your head but you don’t quite know, uh, how to word it, we’ll kind of run through that and, um, get some more, get some more background information for you. So, I live in blank state and want to go to blank college or university.

How do I know if I qualify for tuition break? Um, so. Look, I’ve said, if your state of residence is Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, or Vermont, so if you live in one of those six states, um, you are going to be in one of the participating colleges and universities, and then one of the eligible academic programs on top of that.

Um, so remember, like I said earlier, private universities do not, um, do not qualify for the tuition break discount. So it would need to be a public institution, but then also for some of them, you would need to be in one of the eligible academic programs [00:12:00] as well. And then you just need to confirm the program offering with the college that you’re interested in.

And so there is a review that we do every year with all of the institutions that participate in tuition break. And we ask them, all right, what are your programs that you’re offering this year? Um, are you Are you saying that, um, this program does not qualify for the tuition rate anymore? Are you adding any new programs?

Um, and we do this annually. So there is always a chance that, um, something listed on our search is not going to be offered the year before. I mean, or, you know, the year coming up. Um, and that is. Totally up to the institution, um, but you can always just confirm and make sure that the program that you’re interested in is going to be part of the tuition break discounted tuition rate.

So, um, and if you’re wondering if, you know, you, you see it on there and you’re wondering if it’s going to still be there [00:13:00] or, um. Maybe even the program that you were interested in, um, you thought it was on there, but then you can’t find it, you’re always welcome to send me an email, and, um, I can check on that for you and see, and see what happens.

Sometimes it’s just a glitch of the internet, um, and then sometimes it’s that, uh, that the institution did decide to, um, you know, remove that program from their listing. So my chosen major isn’t offered in my state and isn’t listed as a tuition break program at the school I’m interested in. Can I still access the tuition break discount?

Um, the answer for that is no, unfortunately. Sometimes a college or university just decides not to offer certain majors. Through tuition break. Um, the way this works is we’re just a program administrator, essentially. And then all the colleges and universities get to make these decisions on which programs are a part of the program.

Um, and so, you know, that just [00:14:00] is kind of how it happens sometimes. Um, we, I wish I was more privy to why things are decided the way that they are, but. Um, like I said, we do an annual review, and more often than not, more programs are being added to the discounted rate versus being taken away. So, that is something I have, um, noticed as I’ve looked through the data, um, from years past.

And then, um, an example that we have listed here is that there’s just some majors that are just not offered in New England. Um, so professional golf management is not something that’s offered at any of the public Uh, colleges and universities in New England. So you would have to look at maybe one of the other regions and see if you could, um, pursue that elsewhere.

So that’s a quick overview of kind of what happens if, if the major you’re looking for isn’t, isn’t listed. Alright, so kind of what happens if I change my major, right? So, let’s say that you have, [00:15:00] you know, started your freshman year in a specific major that you’ve received the tuition break discounted rate, but you’ve decided that you want to change your major and it is not listed as one of the program’s, um, that participates.

So you, unfortunately, would be charged the full out of state tuition rate from that point forward. So you would need to notify, um, probably your academic advisor. Just depends, you know, each university does things differently that you want to change your major. You’d probably get that process started, and then, um, you know, the next time that your bursar bill comes around, your, um, tuition rate would increase to the full out of state tuition rate.

So, kind of the opposite of that, what happens if I’m in a non tuition break major, and then I decide to change to a tuition break major at that college? Uh, and I wish I had a straight across answer for you, but as of right now, usually, you can get the tuition break. Discount if you’ve [00:16:00] changed your major into one, um, you just need to contact, you know, your registrar or your college’s tuition break campus representative, um, and make sure that you see that discounted rate reflected on your next bursar bill.

So, uh, typically you can do that. Um, I haven’t really heard of any instances where that’s not possible, but, um, there are quite a few institutions that participate in tuition breaks. So, um, yeah. You always want to make sure that you’re getting the most accurate information for the college or university that you’re planning to attend or that you’re currently attending in this scenario.

So how much of a discount are you actually getting with tuition break? Uh, so as of the 23 24 academic year, uh, 8, 600 is the average annual tuition savings per student. Uh, so this works by allowing an eligible student to pay. this discounted tuition rate that is, [00:17:00] uh, significantly lower than the out of state tuition.

So I have an example over here, um, on the screen. So you can see in state tuition is listed as, uh, 6, 000. And out of state tuition at that same university is listed as 18, 000. Um, but the discounted rate for tuition break students, so New England students, is 10, 500. So as you can see at this university, your savings would be about 7, 500, um, since you qualified for this tuition break, uh, discounted rate.

So, uh, we have like a maximum percentage amount that they’re allowed to charge up to for a New England student, um, so if you’re kind of confused about that or if you think By chance that, um, what I’m saying here is not reflecting what you’re seeing on, um, any, you know, pamphlets that you receive or information that you see, um, on a college or university’s website.

We’d like to know [00:18:00] about it just so that we can kind of double check and check in with you and make sure everything looks accurate. Uh, so feel free to send me an email. My contact information will be at the end of the presentation. Um, And I will check and make sure that everything looks accurate for you.

So just some, some fast facts about tuition break itself. Um, like I said, there’s about an 8, 600 average annual savings if you compare, uh, the out of state tuition rate. like to the end state, what you would be paying. Um, there’s about 2, 700 majors available at this reduced tuition rate. Uh, there are 68 participating institutions all throughout New England, and um, this 23 24 school year, uh, academic year, 9, 000 students paid reduced tuition in 20, um, oops, that’s my bad, it’s supposed to be 23 24.

I made a typo in my own slides, but Julie, did you have a question?

Julie Shields-Rutyna: Well, someone [00:19:00] did ask an interesting question, so I thought I’d just ask. Yeah, so are there any tax implications or concerns for getting the discount? Like, would, would they receive a 1099 or anything like that?

Lyndsay Parks: You know, that is a great question.

I would say just based on my own experience in college admissions and when I worked for the Department of Higher Ed, um, I don’t think anything Like I don’t think it’s considered a gift or anything like I like nothing along those lines because it’s just it’s just a discounted tuition rate so it’s it’s as if you were just as separate line, like, you know, an in state student out of state student, you’re just a New England student so you’re just getting a different tuition rate.

I will double check because I don’t want to give any incorrect information. Um, but just based on what I know, it’s, it’s not considered a gift or anything. It’s just a flat tuition rate. So there shouldn’t be anything, um, like you shouldn’t be taxed on that.

Julie Shields-Rutyna: That’s great. And that’s my understanding [00:20:00] too.

And I know, I knew me for anytime we’re asked a tax question and we say check with your tax advisor, but, but I think, I think that was my understanding too.

Lyndsay Parks: Great.

Julie Shields-Rutyna: Sure.

Lyndsay Parks: Thank you.

All right. Well, that was actually a great segue. That was my last slide. I feel like I, I kind of flew through that, but, um, if I said anything too quickly, please feel free to, um, ask me questions. I will, um, I feel like I can’t really see the chat, so I will just, uh, Make sure I can get, uh, to where I can see everyone if they have any questions, but here is, um, our tuition break line, so it is an 800 number, uh, so if you don’t get someone On the first ring.

Hopefully maybe you’ll get someone on the second ring. It rolls to a few people at our office. I am the first contact for that though, um, and our tuition break inbox, um, I monitor that, you know, [00:21:00] five days a week, uh, on, in office hours. So I’m always happy to respond to emails or answer phone calls. Um, you can definitely leave a voicemail as well and I will get back to you.

Um, Yeah, I think I mean, that’s it for my slides. I have to answer any questions.

Julie Shields-Rutyna: And that’s great. So I’ll we’ll we’ll wait a moment and just see if anyone has any other questions. But I think it’s so terrific. I know that we’re always talking with students and families about really spending the time up front to research all of your options when making that choice after high school.

And, um, I know also that parents feel overwhelmed with the cost of, of higher, higher education these days. So this is just a great, a great option, a great choice. And if it, if it fits a really nice. A really nice break for the students and families. So

Lyndsay Parks: definitely, and more and more institutions are choosing to go to that fully flexible option [00:22:00] where you can receive the discounted tuition break, no matter what program that you use.

We have, we have more and more schools tell us every single year that they’re, they’re deciding to do that. So you actually don’t even have to worry about if you have an eligible academic program, you can, you can go to that university and receive So that’s something that we just always like to share that more institutions are going that direction.

Um, but, um, you know, we still have some that that do the specialized programs.

Julie Shields-Rutyna: And we did have another question. So someone asked, is the University of Maine an institution that offers the flexible discount, not the one based on the major? And is it only for the flagship campus in Orono or are other campuses in Maine a part of the program or not part of the program too?

Lyndsay Parks: Great. Well, that was my first question was which campus are you talking about? Um, so there are some, um, so University of Maine is interesting. [00:23:00] Most of the campuses do the tuition break discounted rate. Um, there are actually two University of Maine campuses that don’t participate because they actually don’t have an in state and out of state model.

They have a U. S. citizen in Canada. Model because they’re so close to the Canadian border that they have a lot of Canadian students. Um, so, because of that, they actually don’t, they don’t offer an out of state tuition rate, so there would be no, um, no discounted rate since it seems like all the U. S.

students are actually getting The same price. So I don’t know if those were the campuses you were wondering if you couldn’t find them on our website That’s why because if they don’t offer an out of state versus in state tuition model Then there isn’t really a discounted rate. We can give you there So if if it’s one of the other campuses I would have to double check, um, like I said, we get new information every year.

And so if there’s like a [00:24:00] specific major you’re looking for, or a specific campus, um, I would love for you to send me an email or I can check on it later. If you want to write out, write it in the chat, I can, I can grab that information at the end of the webinar. Um, and I’ll look into it, but just based on, on what you’ve told me, it’s that, um, that all of the university of Maine campuses participate in some way.

I don’t know if I can, um, accept those two that are better close to the border.

Julie Shields-Rutyna: And do you, do you know off the top of your head, someone’s asking if you know off the top of your head, which, which two of those are?

Lyndsay Parks: Um, I don’t. And I, that is just because I am newly to the region and I actually just don’t want to pronounce incorrectly.

Um, that, that’s on me. I can see them in my head, but I don’t want to miss. I am happy to find that information though. And, um, Uh, send it out to who’s asking. So, but that’s great. Very, very far north in Maine. So

Julie Shields-Rutyna: probably Fort Kent. I’m [00:25:00] thinking that’s on the border up there. And, um, uh, maybe the other one’s something on the new Brunswick border, but we’ll find that out.

And we’ll see that. Um, we’ll send that to you maybe in the follow up tomorrow. Even I’ll send it. That’s great. And, um, the other question is, um, and you might’ve said this, but do you have a complete list of New England Colleges and universities. Is that on your website?

Lyndsay Parks: Yes. Yes, it is. We do have a kind of pdf Breakdown, um, if you want to just scroll through that of all of the participating universities and then the programs that they offer Um, it’s a pretty it’s a pretty meaty document So I I don’t I don’t send it out very often.

Um, but you can find that that Ne or here I can share my screen again, so you can see the website, but, um, it is the, this one right here, this, um, nep.org/tuition break. Um, and from there you can actually search for programs and then you’ll be able to see [00:26:00] all the institutions that participate from there.

Um, and I’ll say the search tool can be a little finicky sometimes we’ve noticed. That, depending on what browser you’re using, sometimes it cuts off at a certain point. Like it looks like the majors just stop at, you know, psychology and you’re like, well, there’s a whole half of the alphabet missing. Um, so if that, if that does happen, please send us a note.

We’re, we are still currently, um. testing that and trying to figure out exactly what’s triggering that. Um, we’ve, we’ve contacted a few different people in the back end and they don’t know why it’s happening either. Um, so something looks a little odd or there’s a major missing that you know is supposed to be on there or a college or university that you know participates, but you can’t find them.

Um, that’s probably just an internet issue. Um, and we would love to get that fixed. So please send us a note and we’ll look into it. That’s

Julie Shields-Rutyna: great. And someone else is asking how, like, how fluid are these [00:27:00] lists? Do they, do the colleges add and take away programs pretty often, or?

Lyndsay Parks: Um, based on what I’ve seen in the past, and, um, we’re about to ramp up for this year’s review, so, um, For the next academic year.

Um, I’d say they add a few more and it’s very rare that any of them remove a program. Um, and I will say they don’t have to do it within this annual review. Like I had a university email me a few weeks ago and say they had decided to, you know, remove this one specific master’s degree. And so If that does happen, it’s usually just like one program, um, and typically it’s because, you know, the states they were offering it to, maybe that, you know, state has decided to, um, you know, invest more into that program or, you know, x, y, z.

whatever reason they’ve chosen, um, to say. So, um, from, from what I’ve seen in the past, it’s definitely more programs being added, um, or [00:28:00] program names changing. I would say that’s one thing I’ve noticed a lot with the, with the past data is that if you’re like, hey, this, this program is gone, this major is gone, it actually might just, they might’ve changed the name, um, to maybe be more standardized across.

you know, the United States or to be more specific to a type of program that they’re looking to do. Um, so I would, I would just reach out to the institution and see like, hey, I was interested in this, um, and see if maybe they changed the name of it or, um, they’ve actually removed it all altogether. But if there’s one that you’re looking at, like specifically, I, um, And you’re not sure you can, you can send us a note and I’ll, I’ll look into it.

Absolutely.

Julie Shields-Rutyna: Well, that’s terrific. Well, I want to thank you because I clearly can, you know, I’m glad you’re sharing that, that I think everyone on the call can see if they have questions about that, they have places to follow up and, um, your organization is so responsive to that. And let me see, I [00:29:00] see one more.

That’s a great question. Oh, there is another one. Okay. Um, is there a list that breaks down the schools into the ones that offer the flexible program versus the ones that offer breaks based on major?

Lyndsay Parks: Yeah, that’s a great question. Um, I, we do not have like a, these offer specialized these offer flexible as search tool has everyone listed, except there will be parentheses with an F.

And I wish I had a screenshot of that. Uh, that says, and if you see that F, that means fully flexible. So, you might even see that with an institution that they’ve decided to offer that major straight across the board. So, institutions can come in and say, we’re going to offer this specialized program. To students in, you know, Rhode Island in Vermont only, um, and they can, they can make that decision.

But then they can also do the opposite of that. They can say, hey, we’re, we’re going to offer this [00:30:00] specific program to all New England residents, even though the rest of our programs are specialized by state. So if you see that F with the little print, uh, the parentheses, that means it’s fully flexible.

Julie Shields-Rutyna: That’s great. Thank you.

Lyndsay Parks: I’ll have to add that into my slides. That was a great question. I, um, I don’t even have an image of it. I feel like that would be very helpful. So I’ll make a note of it for next time.

Julie Shields-Rutyna: Oh, that’s great. Well, there. So thank you. And thank you to everyone on the call. And these were good questions and keep the questions coming.

And, uh, good luck on all of your research of all of these great opportunities. Um, we do have so many here in New England. So it’s a nice thing. And, um, Continue to come back to me as a resource as well. We continue to have webinars, you know, all all during the week at different times on different topics, and we hope to see you again.

And Lindsay, thank thank you again.

Lyndsay Parks: Welcome. Thank you guys for coming. [00:31:00] It was really lovely to speak to everyone. And yes, if you have any questions, please, please follow up.

Julie Shields-Rutyna: All right. Thank you. Thank you all. Bye bye. Have a good evening.