NFL Collective Bargaining Agreement

Article 56
Tuition Assistance Plan

Section 4
Eligibility and Former Player Benefit

The Tuition Plan shall be amended to provide that:

(a)

To be eligible for reimbursement, the player must have earned at least one Credited Season prior to the beginning of the Plan Year and be on the Active, Inactive, or Reserve/Injured roster for at least one game of the NFL regular season during the Plan Year in which the course or courses commence. A player who does not have a Credited Season prior to the Plan Year, but who earns a Credited Season during the Plan Year and is on the Active, Inactive, or Reserve/Injured roster for at least one game of the NFL regular season during the Plan Year shall be eligible for reimbursement for courses commencing after the Season but within that Plan Year. The requirement that a player must be under contract when he incurs the reimbursable expense shall be eliminated.

(b)

A player, who (i) is not eligible for benefits under Section 4(a) above, (ii) and (ii) has at least two (2) Credited Seasons under the Bert Bell/Pete Rozelle NFL Player Retirement Plan, shall be eligible to be reimbursed based on the number of his Credited Seasons up to the aggregate amounts set forth below:

Credited Seasons2020-2025 Plan Years2026-2030 Plan Years
2$25,000$30,000
3$45,000$55,000
4$65,000$80,000
5+$85,000$105,000

(c)

The Plan shall be amended effective for the 2020 Plan Year, such that a Practice Squad player who is on a Practice Squad for three weeks in a Season shall earn $5,000 for that Season (increasing to $7,500 beginning with the 2026 Plan Year) to be used toward reimbursement under this Article 56. A Practice Squad Player must use the amount earned for tuition reimbursement during a Season before the end of the Plan Year in which the player earns the benefit. However, if a player does not use his benefit earned during the Season by the end of such Plan Year, and the Season is the last Season in which the player is on a Practice Squad roster for three weeks and he does not otherwise qualify for reimbursement under Section 3(a) or 3(b), he shall have until the end of the following Plan Year to use the benefit. A Practice Squad Player shall be deemed to have used the benefit as of the date he incurs the reimbursable expense (defined under the Plan as the date he pays the expense), and not the date he first satisfies the requirement to be reimbursed. If a Practice Squad player becomes eligible for the benefit under this Article 56 by satisfying the requirements under Section 3(a) he shall not be eligible for the Practice Squad benefit for any Plan Year in which he is otherwise eligible under Section 3(a). If the player has used some or all of his Practice Squad benefit in a Plan Year, and then becomes eligible for reimbursement under Section 3(a), the player’s aggregate benefit for such Plan Year shall not exceed $20,000 (or $25,000 beginning with the 2026 Plan Year).