Full Year Sabbatical Funding

Full Year Sabbatical Funding

For tenured faculty, IU funds a half year (one semester) at full pay and a full academic year (two semesters) at half-pay sabbatical leave. (For 12 months, this means 5 months or 10 months respectively).

For full year sabbaticals, faculty members can add salary support from grants to their IU half-base-pay, to achieve up to 100% salary during the sabbatical period. This is contingent upon: 

• Approval by the granting agency for the use of funds (school grant staff can check on this).

• The money must flow to IU and then to the faculty member via regular salary--not paid directly to the individual. In this case, IU benefits and service accrual will continue as before.

• Approval by the chair and dean.

Faculty may accept money paid directly to them for travel and research expenses. IU policy prohibits accepting external salary that adds to more than the regular IU salary (please see IU policy BOT-17 for details).

In an application for a full year sabbatical, be as clear as possible about the flow of funds from grants and from IU base salary, so that the faculty member and the school (dean, grant office, fiscal officer, and HRBP) have a solid understanding of salary expectations. 

Please note: If any full-year sabbatical will be overseas, please connect with Jeffrey Goetz (IU General Counsel) about advice. Foreign countries have immigration, work, and tax laws that may apply.  

Reviewed and revised: 2/2026.