An educator may apply for tuition reimbursement under the following criteria:

Reimbursement is dependent upon the amount of legislative funding granted.

Reimbursement is limited to the cost of tuition, registration and other required fees only for appropriate college or university coursework used for license renewal or for an additional endorsement in a verified shortage subject area. The term "fee" refers to any mandatory cost associated with tuition, as assessed by the college or university, excluding payment for books and supplies.

Reimbursement for an educator who has prior approval to attend an out-of-state institution of higher education as described in W.Va. Code 18A-3-3a(d)(2), or a private institution of higher education may not exceed the amount of the highest corresponding tuition charged at a West Virginia state-supported college or university. Reimbursement for courses completed toward certification renewal is limited to fifteen (15) semester hours of courses for any teacher. An educator may be reimbursed for an unlimited number of hours when working on an additional endorsement in a verified shortage area. The educator must have completed the appropriate college or university coursework with a minimum 3.0 GPA.

Beginning with the 2005 fiscal year (July 1, 2004), applications for tuition reimbursement will be processed during one (1) of three (3) annual processing dates:

The schedule for application processing will follow the West Virginia college and university term schedule.

A request for tuition reimbursement must be received by WVDE no later than June 15th for course work completed during the current fiscal year (July 1st through June 30th).

Title I teachers of core academic subjects may be reimbursed for tuition for course work to become highly qualified under the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) to teach those core academic subjects. The Title I five percent (5%) set aside funds must be utilized to ensure that all Title I teachers of core academic subjects meet the highly qualified standard (i.e., all teachers in a school-wide program and those paid with Title I funds in a targeted assistance program). After those teachers meet the requirements, the County may use any remaining portion of the five percent (5%) set aside for teachers of core academic subjects in a targeted assistance school who are not paid with Title I funds. At no time may these five percent (5%) set aside funds be used for any teachers in schools that do not receive Title I allocations. To avoid a supplant issue, Title I funds may be spent for tuition reimbursement only after teachers apply for and are denied funding from the Office of Professional Preparation, WVDE, because of a lack of funds.

Title II funds may be used to pay tuition reimbursement only after teachers apply for and are denied funding from the Office of Professional Preparation, WVDE, because of a lack of funds, or in the case of Title I Schools, only after the County Title I annual five percent (5) set aides fund is exhausted and there still exists a need for tuition reimbursement.

W.Va. Code 18A-3-3a
The No Child Left Behind Act
W. Va. Board of Education Policy 5202