Taxation of Cincinnati Graduate Awards

The university maintains a position that all income, from whatever source, is taxable and may be subject to withholding. The IRS maintains final authority on the taxability of all stipends, and in all cases, the university cannot guarantee that any stipend is tax-exempt. The Graduate College will not review an individual award nor provide legal advice to individual students. In addition, students (not the university) are responsible for the withholding information that they submit on their W-4 forms at the time of appointment. Those students who receive a stipend during any academic semester and are not enrolled for at least half time will have Medicare tax and Ohio Public Employee Retirement System (OPERS) payments deducted from their checks. If a student is enrolled half time or more, they may apply for an exemption from these fees in their program office. No taxes are withheld from fellowships, but students may still have a tax liability and should consult a tax advisor.