Army, Marine Corps tuition assistance program suspended

INDIANA (WLFI/WANE) - U.S. soldiers and Marines looking for help paying for higher education just got a blow to their wallets thanks to budget cuts.

The Army and the Marine Corps have canceled tuition assistance programs, according to the Department of Defense .

The Secretary of the United States Army has approved the suspension of tuition assistance for the U.S. Army effective March 8.

The Marine Corps stopped new enrollments for tuition assistance programs the same week.

According to the fact sheet on the Army suspension "[the] suspension is necessary given the significant budget execution challenges caused by the combined effects of a possible year-long continuing resolution and sequestration." Soldiers will no longer be permitted to submit new requests for tuition assistance.

The Marine Corps, which falls under the Navy Department, also canceled its program due to spending-cuts under the sequestration.

Soldiers and Marines will no longer be permitted to submit new requests for tuition assistance. However, those currently enrolled in courses approved for tuition assistance are not affected, and will be allowed to complete current course enrollments, according to Lt. Col. Tom Alexander, spokesman for the Army’s personnel chief.

At IPFW, around 200 military students utilize the benefits from the program, and there are around 115 students that will be affected at the 122nd Fighter Wing in Fort Wayne.

"Our office is very much accustomed to helping students with those applications, and right now, it's at a complete stop," said Jo Vaughan, the coordinator of Military Student Services at IPFW.

Vaughan said Indiana has one of the highest numbers of National Guard students in the country, so the damage from these cuts could be vast. On average, National Guard members said military students receive around $4500 yearly, or around $250 per credit hour. Vaughan said losing this money is very bad news.

"It threatens graduation rates because if students don't have the tuition money, they can't enroll, and therefore, they stop, and once a student stops out of college, it takes a lot more effort to get them back in," Vaughan said.

This change in the Army Tuition Assistance program applies to all soldiers, including the Army National Guard and Army Reserves.

“The Army understands the impacts of this decision and will re-evaluate the decision if the budgetary situation improves,” GoArmyEd.com officials said.

Vaughan also said the Indiana National Guard Supplemental Grant has also been depleted, so military students would not even be able to pull resources from that. Many students only options will become getting more loans, receiving a Pell Grant if they qualify, or pick up more jobs.

In the meantime, the Army said soldiers can continue to access their GI Bill benefits, if applicable, either the Montgomery GI Bill (MGIB) or the Post 9/11 GI Bill, or use other funding sources (grants, scholarships, or Army National Guard Soldiers using state Tuition Assistance where available). The G.I. Bill benefits will also still be available to Marine Corps members, according to the Stars and Stripes.

Soldiers should contact their local education centers with questions and to get updates.