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Working at Cornell

Apply for the Cornell Children's Tuition Scholarship

What to Know

The Cornell Children's Tuition Scholarship (CCTS) program has been assisting employees' children in reaching their higher education goals since 1966. CCTS provides the children of eligible employees a partial scholarship for study at Cornell or other accredited institutions.

What to Do

  1. Verify your eligibility

    Generally, employees are eligible after four years of full-time service. If both parents work for Cornell and meet the eligibility requirements, only one employee may claim the student during any given semester.

    For full eligibility details visit Understand Your Benefits: CCTS.

  2. Check to see if your student's school is accredited

    Search for your school on the Database of Accredited Postsecondary Institutions and Programs.

  3. Complete an application each academic year

    Fill out our online application and select all terms your student will be attending for the academic year. Please note that the collection of the student's social security number is necessary in order to track the history of usage by the student within our database. It is never shared outside of the database. If you don't have an active NetID, fill out our paper application and email it to ccts@cornell.edu.

  4. Next steps once approved

    If your student will be attending Cornell, no further action is required for that academic year

    The CCTS program coordinator will notify Cornell Financial Aid with the award amount for the academic year to credit to the student’s account.

    If your student will be attending another institution, you must complete a certification each semester

    You will receive an approval email with a blank certification form. Complete the top portion and submit the certification to the school your student is attending, for completion. Once the school sends the completed form back to you, submit the certification form to the HR Services and Transitions Center. The certification form must be completed each semester, and cannot be submitted in advance of a semester, i.e., you cannot submit both fall and spring certification forms simultaneously.

  5. Payment of awards 

    If your student will be attending Cornell

    The CCTS award will be posted to a student's Cornell bursar account once they are enrolled for at least six credits.

    If your student will be attending another institution, a CCTS payment is always made directly to the institution.

    Once the certification form is received and payment has been approved, you will receive an email confirming the amount that will be sent to the school. As indicated in the email notice, please allow 2-4 weeks for the school to receive the award. The CCTS plan does not provide direct reimbursement to you or the student; however, the student’s college will reimburse the student after it has received payment from Cornell if there is a credit on the student’s account.

E-mail ccts@cornell.edu with any status changes (eg. the student changes schools or a change in parent information). Do not complete another application.