Tuition Reimbursement

Ottawa County provides benefited employees with tuition reimbursement to support their continual learning and development.  This benefit is available to employees after one year of service.

Please review the tuition reimbursement policy and FAQ sheet for more information.

Tuition Reimbursement Policy Tuition Reimbursement FAQ Tuition Reimbursement Process

Quick Facts

  • TUITION AMOUNT: Ottawa County will provide benefited employees up to $5,250 of tuition reimbursement per calendar year.  The reimbursement cannot exceed Grand Valley State University’s tuition cost.
  • COURSES: The course must be applicable to the employee’s current position or any position at Ottawa County.
  • SCHOOL: Any accredited college or university may be attended.  Columbia Southern University provides Ottawa County employees and their immediate families with a 10% tuition discount.  More details are below.
  • GRADE: The employee must achieve grade letter ‘B’ or higher (not ‘B-‘). The scale used to make determinations in shown below:

  • REIMBURSEMENT: After the completion of the course and achieving reimbursement criteria, the course will be reimbursed to the employee through payroll.
  • SERVICE REQUIREMENT: Reimbursed employees must remain employed with Ottawa County for two years after the completion of the course.  Employees who leave prior to that date must pay back a pro-rated amount of the reimbursement.

Next Steps

  1. Submit Tuition Reimbursement Form 1 to Human Resources prior to beginning the course.  Please be sure to attach verification of tuition costs and financial aid, along with a course description.
  2. Complete the course and achieve a grade letter ‘B’ or higher.
  3. Submit Tuition Reimbursement Form 2 to Human Resources after grades have been released. Please be sure to attach official grades to the form.  Also be sure to attach tuition costs and financial aid verification, if requested to do so.
  4. If approved, receive reimbursement within your regular bi-weekly payroll.

Partnership School

Columbia Southern University provides Ottawa County employees and their immediate families with a 10% tuition discount.  To receive the tuition discount, please mark that your organization is a CSU Learning Partner on the application or notify your CSU representative.  CSU has many online degree programs and is accredited through DEAC.  Please view the CSU website, or contact Christie Ball at 1-800-344-5021 or christie.ball@columbiasouthern.edu, to learn more.

CSU provides employees and their immediate families the following benefits:

  • 10% tuition discount
  • Waived application fee
  • Textbooks provided at no cost
  • Exclusive scholarship opportunities
  • Complimentary evaluation of previously earned educational credits and training/professional certifications for consideration of transfer credit
  • Complimentary access to Writing and Math specialists through the Student Success Center

Click here to view the CSU flyer.

Questions

Please contact Erin Rotman in Human Resources by emailing erotman@miottawa.org or calling 616-738-4805.

Forms

Tuition Reimbursement – Form 1 Course Approval Tuition Reimbursement – Form 2 Payment Request