University Research

This report reviews tuition assistance costs being charged to the government for family members of employees of educational institutions doing government-funded research. GAO (1) compares U.S. policies for paying these expenses with U.S. policies for paying similar expenses incurred by commercial businesses, (2) provides information on the nature and the extent of tuition assistance, (3) determines the costs to the U.S. government and the federal agencies involved, and (4) determines the salary levels of the employees whose families are receiving tuition assistance.

GAO found that: (1) Office of Management and Budget guidance permits educational institutions performing government-funded research to charge for employee family members' tuition assistance costs; (2) federal acquisition regulations specifically prohibit commercial businesses from submitting such charges; (3) tuition assistance by educational institutions, charged to federal research contracts and grants, is a common practice among many universities; (4) four of the five universities visited have tuition assistance programs, but they vary widely in benefits and eligibility requirements; (5) during 1991 through 1993, the four universities charged $17 million, of their $53 million in tuition assistance costs for employee family members, to federal research contracts and grants; (6) federal agencies awarded research contracts and grants worth $2.5 billion to the four universities in 1993; and (7) 45 percent of the four universities' employees receiving tuition assistance benefits had annual salaries of $50,000 or less, 34 percent had annual salaries between $50,000 and $100,000, and 21 percent had annual salaries of over $100,000.