Army Tuition Assistance

Tuition Assistance is financial support for voluntary off-duty education programs in support of a Soldier’s professional and personal self-development goals. All TA requests and funding must be processed through ArmyIgnitED. For more than a month, the Facebook page for Army tuition assistance has been filled with complaints from soldiers who say they can’t use the program because of a technical glitch. In exchange for a service commitment, Army Tuition Assistance (TA) pays up to 100% of tuition costs and fees. Army TA is available for all active duty Soldiers and is separate from the GI Bill. Current policy limits TA to 130 semester hours or a baccalaureate degree and 39 semester hours of graduate studies or a master’s degree.

All TA requests are processed through GoArmyEd, the Army education portal. For more information, contact your on-base education office. In addition to the GI Bill, many other programs and benefits are designed to make higher education accessible and affordable for military service members and their families. These include the Yellow Ribbon Program, which allows universities to contribute additional funds toward education expenses that exceed the maximums of the GI Bill, and scholarships and loan forgiveness programs that provide further financial support. National University is proud to be a part of these programs and help make the cost of higher education manageable for our military service members.

How to Submit an Army Tuition Request?

You can enroll in courses with your active duty Army tuition assistance (TA) if you’re a soldier. TA is not a loan but separate from the Montgomery GI Bill. You can use it to pay for courses and degrees at accredited schools. You can only use TA for degree programs at colleges and universities that are regionally or nationally accredited by accrediting agencies recognized by the U.S. Department of Education. TA only covers tuition and fees that are associated with specific course enrollments. For example, a course’s technology, lab, and textbook fees would be eligible for TA. Tutoring, student activity fees, and application fees are not.

You can submit a TA request through ArmyIgnitED, which is your online educational portal. Your station’s Education Center can help you set up your account. You can also use the GoArmyEd portal for drop/withdrawal requests, submitting TA Reimbursement Request Forms, and more. The appearance of DoD visual information does not imply or constitute DoD endorsement.

Army TA Rules

With budgets tightening from all sides, the military services have taken a hard look at how they offer education benefits to their members. The Army has developed a system called ArmyIgnitED that automates many of the paper-based processes Soldiers used to conduct with their education counselors. Soldiers can use this system to request TA for classroom and distance learning college courses.

TA is only provided for courses that will lead to an associate’s degree, bachelor’s degree, or a master’s degree. The TA program also provides a test-out option for some introductory classes, allowing a student to earn full credit by passing an exam. CLEP and DANTES exams are covered by TA as well.

If the cost of a course exceeds $250 per semester hour or $4,500 annual rate, the Top-up program will make up the difference. The school must sign the Top-up form and show that it is an Army Tuition Assistance claim.