Lumberjack Education Assistance Program Procedures

• LEAP benefits apply only to mandatory tuition and fee charges excluding statutory tuition. Statutory tuition, excessive hours tuition, 3-peat charges and non-mandatory incidental fees are not covered by LEAP benefits.
• LEAP benefits will be reduced if tuition and fees are paid by a third party or contract, or are paid by any other exemption or waiver. LEAP benefits will also be reduced by student financial aid with the exception of PELL grant, FSEOG (Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant), outside scholarships, or loans.
• All participants must maintain a minimum cumulative GPA of 2.0 for undergraduate degree programs and a minimum cumulative GPA of 3.0 for graduate degree programs.
• If a student withdraws on or before the census date, LEAP will be removed and the student will be responsible for any balance owed.
• The employee must be employed through the census date of the semester to receive LEAP; otherwise, LEAP will be removed and the student will be responsible for any balance owed.
• Incidental fees that are not mandatory are not exempted, e.g. individual instruction fees, post office box fee, parking permit, etc.

• Active, regular (100% FTE) employees become eligible for LEAP benefits when they will have completed six months of continuous service for the university before the last day of the enrolled term.
• Statutory tuition related to courses eligible for LEAP will be covered by a separate employee scholarship as funding permits. Employee scholarships follow the same guidelines as LEAP.
• Full-time employees can be exempted from mandatory tuition and fees of undergraduate or graduate courses up to a maximum of $5,250.00 per calendar year. Any LEAP benefits above the annual eligible amount will be treated as taxable benefits to the employee at the end of the year. 

• Active, regular (100% FTE) employees may apply for LEAP benefits on behalf of their spouse/dependent child(ren) when the employee has completed six months of continuous service for the university prior to the end of the semester in which the spouse/dependent child(ren) will enroll.
• The LEAP benefits may be applied to undergraduate or graduate courses that are part of the overall degree plan of the spouse/dependent child(ren).
• Spouse/dependent child(ren) must upload requested documentation yearly to document their eligibility.
• Spouses must be recognized by law as a spouse or common law spouse and meet insurance eligibility requirements for a spouse as set forth by the Employees Retirement System of Texas (ERS).
• Dependent Child(ren) must meet all five of the tests below to be claimed as a qualifying child by the employee under IRS regulations. More information can be found in Chapter 3 of IRS Publication 17.

1. Relationship Test

To meet this test, a child must be:

• Your son, daughter, stepchild, foster child, or a descendant (for example, your grandchild) of any of them; or
• Your brother, sister, half-brother, half-sister, stepbrother, stepsister, or a descendant (for example, your niece or nephew) of any of them.

Adopted child. An adopted child is always treated as your own child. The term “adopted child” includes a child who was lawfully placed with you for legal adoption.

Foster child. A foster child is an individual who is placed with you by an authorized placement agency or by judgment, decree, or other order of any court of competent jurisdiction.

2. Age Test

To meet this test, a child must be:

• Under age 19 at the end of the year and younger than you (or your spouse, if filing jointly);
• A student under age 24 at the end of the year and younger than you (or your spouse, if filing jointly); or
• Permanently and totally disabled at any time during the year, regardless of age.

3. Residency Test

To meet this test, your child must have lived with you for more than half the year. There are exceptions for temporary absences, and children of divorced or separated parents.

Temporary absences. Your child is considered to have lived with you during periods of time when one of you, or both, are temporarily absent due to special circumstances such as: 

• Illness,
• Education,
• Business,
• Vacation,
• Military service, or
• Detention in a juvenile facility.

4. Support Test (To Be a Qualifying Child)

To meet this test, the child can’t have provided more than half of his or her own support for the year.

5. Joint Return Test (To Be a Qualifying Child)

To meet this test, the child can’t file a joint return for the year. 

• Active, regular (100% FTE) SFA employees become eligible for LEAP benefits when they will have completed six months of continuous service for the university before the last day of the enrolled term.
• Active, regular (100% FTE) SFA employees may apply for LEAP benefits on behalf of their spouse/dependent child(ren) when the employee has completed six months of continuous service for the university prior to the end of the semester in which the spouse/dependent child(ren) will enroll.

LEAP is a tuition assistance benefit that permits active, regular (100% FTE) employees of the university, their spouses, and dependents, to take undergraduate and graduate courses provided eligibility requirements are met and funding is available.

Active, regular (100% FTE) employees, their spouse, and dependents become eligible for LEAP benefits when the SFA employee has completed six months of continuous service for the university before the last day of the enrolled term of the student applying for LEAP.

To apply for LEAP, employees should log in to MySFA, go to Employment > Benefits > LEAP Application, and submit their application for supervisor approval.

For spouse or dependent applications, employees use the same steps. The spouse or dependent must upload the first page of tax form 1040 and accept the LEAP award in MySFA under Billing and Financial Aid > Billing > Upload Contracts, Exemptions, and Tax Documents > LEAP Eligibility Documentation, then proceed to LEAP Acceptance by going to MySFA > Billing and Financial Aid > Billing > LEAP Acceptance.

LEAP benefits apply only to mandatory tuition and fee charges excluding statutory tuition. Statutory tuition (currently $50/credit hour for undergrad, $80/credit hour for grad), excessive hours tuition, 3-peat charges, graduation fees, general deposits, and non-mandatory incidental fees are not covered by LEAP benefits.

As funds permit, full-time benefits eligible employees that receive LEAP also receive an employee scholarship for the amount of statutory tuition on their account.  No additional application is required for the employee scholarship.

Is it required that my courses are in my degree plan?
Employees receiving LEAP benefits are not required to have courses be in their degree plan.
For spouse/dependents, LEAP benefits may be applied to undergraduate or graduate courses that are part of the overall degree plan so long as he/she meets the definition of spouse/dependent as set forth by the LEAP HOP.

Yes! As long as all applicants are eligible for the LEAP program and have an approved application for that semester with the correct uploaded documentation by the deadline, then the LEAP program is not restricted to a limited number of family members at one time.

Please check these things first.  If they are all complete, then reach out to SBS for additional information.

• You have applied for LEAP (for you, your spouse/dependent)
• Your application (or spouse/dependent’s application) is approved/accepted
• The applicant meets the GPA requirements (2.0 undergraduate, 3.0 graduate)
• Spouse/dependents uploaded the documentation for that year (tax form 1040)
• Spouse/dependents – all courses are in their degree plan

You must take the following steps:

1. Contact your academic advisor and ask them to add the course to your degree plan.
2. Your advisor may need to work with the Registrar’s Office to update your degree plan.
3. Once the course is officially added, notify Student Business Services so LEAP can be re‑reviewed.

LEAP may not be applied until these steps are complete. 

LEAP is reviewed and applied after enrollment and eligibility are confirmed. If your courses or degree plan are still being updated, LEAP posting will be delayed until the review can be completed. Additionally, LEAP cannot post until Financial Aid posts to accounts which is typically 10 days before the start of the semester.

Yes. If LEAP has not yet posted, you are still responsible for making payment arrangements by published deadlines to avoid late fees, holds, or course drops. LEAP adjustments are applied once eligibility is confirmed.

LEAP does not automatically prevent course drops. If payment arrangements are not made by the deadline and LEAP has not yet posted, courses may still be dropped.

Employees that have posted LEAP but the Employee Scholarship is pending will not be dropped.

Yes. LEAP eligibility is reviewed each semester.

For spouse/dependents, only courses officially included on your approved degree plan are eligible for LEAP. Courses not listed on the degree plan are not eligible until your degree plan is updated.

No. LEAP benefits apply only to mandatory tuition and fee charges excluding statutory tuition (currently $50/credit hour for undergraduate, $80/credit hour for graduate).

No. LEAP benefits apply only to mandatory tuition and fee charges excluding statutory tuition.  Additionally, there are sometimes scholarships associated with study abroad that are internally funded.  These scholarships reduce LEAP and typically do not apply towards the study abroad trip.

No. LEAP stands for Lumberjack Education Assistance Program and can only be utilized at SFA by qualifying recipients.

LEAP benefits will be administered in the following ways.

LEAP will be reduced if tuition and fees are paid by:

• Third party or contract
• Exemption or waiver 
• Internal student financial aid 
• Externally funded scholarships (even those administered by SFA)

LEAP will not be reduced if tuition and fees are paid by:

• PELL grant
• FSEOG (Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant)
• Outside scholarships
• Loans

LEAP benefits will be administered in the following ways.

LEAP will be reduced if tuition and fees are paid by:

• Third party or contract
• Exemption or waiver 
• Internal student financial aid

LEAP will not be reduced if tuition and fees are paid by:

• PELL grant
• FSEOG (Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant)
• Outside scholarships
• Loans
• Externally funded scholarships (even those administered by SFA)

If you would like to drop a course or withdraw for the semester and LEAP is on your account, your LEAP benefit will be re‑reviewed and adjusted based on your updated enrollment. Please contact sbs@sfasu.edu as soon as possible.

Important notes:

• LEAP applies only to eligible courses in which you are enrolled. If a course is dropped, the associated LEAP funding for that course may be reduced or removed.
• Dropping a course may result in a balance due on your account, depending on the timing of the drop and other aid applied.
• LEAP adjustments occur after enrollment changes are processed and eligibility is confirmed. If LEAP is reduced after a drop, you remain responsible for any remaining charges on your account.
• You are responsible for monitoring your account and making payment arrangements by published deadlines to avoid late fees, holds, or course drops. 

If you are considering dropping a course or withdrawing for the semester, it is recommended that you contact Student Business Services and Financial Aid before making enrollment changes to understand potential impacts to your account.