Halt of Army Tuition Assistance Funding Affects Bragg

Army News Service

WASHINGTON (Army News Service, March 8, 2013) -- Beginning Friday, funding for tuition assistance ceased and soldiers cannot submit new requests for TA, according to Lt. Gen. Howard B. Bromberg, deputy chief of staff, G-1.

Approval for the tuition assistance, also known as TA, stoppage came from Secretary of the Army John McHugh, and affects soldiers from both the active and reserve components.

Those currently enrolled in courses approved for TA are not impacted and will be allowed to complete their funded coursework, however.

The education center at Fort Bragg could not comment on the exact numbers affected, but they are working a report. The program provided $250 per credit hour with an annual cap of $4,500 for each student enrolled.

"This is a quick-moving train," Fort Bragg spokesman Ben Abel said Friday in a Fayetteville Observer report. "We just found out about this yesterday."

This suspension in funding "is necessary given the significant budget execution challenges caused by the combined effects of a possible year-long continuing resolution and sequestration," the G-1 public affairs office wrote in a released statement Friday.

The suspension "will remain in effect until the fiscal situation matures," Bromberg said in the statement. "The Army understands the impacts of this action and will re-evaluate should the budgetary situation improve," he added.

TA funding, derived from the Army's budget, is the only education funding affected at this time. Soldiers can continue their education using alternate methods.

GI Bill funding, which is derived from the Department of Veterans Affairs, is available, and soldiers can continue their education using this benefit. The GI Bill includes the Montgomery GI Bill, Post 9/11 GI Bill and several other education programs listed on their website: http://www.gibill.va.gov/benefits/index.html.

Also, National Guard soldiers may be eligible for state-funded TA benefits. Federal loans or grants are another option for all soldiers, as well as their families.