a commitment made as part of an admissions offer indicating that a student will not be charged for the cost of course enrollment. It is important for graduate students to understand that they will likely be required to enroll in credit hours even in a semester where they are not taking classroom courses, usually referred to as “research credit” or “residency credit.” Therefore, a tuition waiver will potentially cover costs throughout a student’s graduate training. Some schools roll the cost of a tuition waiver into the stipend offer. Even so, tuition waivers will not be delivered to the student as real funds – the tuition will never be charged to the student or, if it is charged, money will be paid directly to the school on the student’s behalf. Therefore, there is no way for students to acquire the funds other than as a credit towards their tuition.