Tuition assistance while you serve

Each branch runs its own program

Military Tuition Assistance is paid by your service branch rather than the VA, and each branch has its own portal, forms and rules about who may use it and when. The Defense Department sets a cap per credit hour and a yearly cap, and the branch applies them. Your installation's education center is the place to start, in person or online.

Most branches require a first visit with an education counselor, an education goal on file and a degree plan from the school. Some ask that you have served a set time or finished training first, and your commander may have to sign off. Guard members should also ask their state about tuition programs it runs for its own Guard.

Approval comes before the class

Request Tuition Assistance for each class through your branch's portal before the class begins, by the deadline the branch sets. A class taken without approval in place is generally not paid afterward. The school must also have an agreement with the Defense Department to accept Tuition Assistance, which the education center can confirm.

Keep a copy of every approval. If the school bills you before the branch pays, show the approval to the student accounts office and ask it to hold the charge until the payment arrives.

A class taken without approval in place is generally not paid afterward.

Grades, withdrawals and repayment

Tuition Assistance carries conditions after the class too. Failing a class or withdrawing for personal reasons usually means the branch asks for the money back, and an incomplete that is not finished in time can turn into a debt as well. A withdrawal caused by orders, a deployment or another military reason is treated differently when your command documents it.

Some branches also ask you to serve for a period after the last class they paid for. Read the agreement you accept in the portal, and ask the education counselor about it before you plan to separate.

Using it beside the GI Bill and federal aid

Tuition Assistance does not use any GI Bill months, which is why many members save the GI Bill for later. When a class costs more than the Tuition Assistance cap, Top-Up lets the Montgomery or Post-9/11 GI Bill pay the difference, though it spends entitlement to do so.

Filing the FAFSA can add a Pell Grant for books, fees and other costs Tuition Assistance leaves out. Active-duty members answer the form as independent students.