Navy Tuition Assistance

The Navy’s Tuition Assistance program (TA) pays for up to 100% of the cost of taking college courses while on active duty.

Eligibility

Navy TA is available to both officer and enlisted active-duty members who meet the eligibility requirements; as well as reservists on continuous active duty. It’s also available to enlisted reservists ordered to active duty for 120 days; and to reserve officers ordered to active duty for two years or more. To qualify, members must:

1. Have served three years on active duty.
2. Not be in a training status.
3. Serve on active duty through the last day of the course; recipients with less than 16 years of active service must have six months left on their orders from the start date of the term.
4. Have passed the most recent physical fitness assessment or received a waiver.
5. Have taken their most recent advancement exam, if applicable, and be recommended for advancement or promotion.
6. Have at least a 3.0 on their most recent evaluation or fitness report.
7. As officers, be an O-3 or above; or have at least eight years of prior enlisted service to use it sooner.

Payments

Effective Oct. 1, 2021, eligible members are limited to 18 semester hours (or their quarter-hour equivalent) of TA per fiscal year. They may use TA to fund no more than two courses each quarter of the fiscal year. They are also limited to 120 semester hours for their entire Navy career.

You can be reimbursed up to 100% of the cost of the course, not to exceed:

• $250 per semester hour
• $166.67 per quarter-hour
• $4,500 per fiscal year

You must pay any back any TA you receive for:

• Undergraduate classes you get a D or lower in
• Graduate classes you get a C or lower in
• Any classes you get any non-passing or incomplete grade in

Application Process

Here’s how members of the Navy can apply for TA, according to the Navy College Program.

1. Let the chain of command know they intend to do so.
2. Complete the one-time Virtual Learning 101 training course in MyNavy Education.
3. For each TA-funded level of academic pursuit (certificate, associate, bachelor’s or master’s), get counseling from a Navy College education counselor.
4. Upload your unofficial education plan (UEP) or official education plan (OEP)/degree plan listing the required courses for your program. An evaluated OEP/degree plan contains the school name, student name, degree level, major, all courses required for certificate or degree completion, and transfer credits.
5. Submit a TA application in MyNavy Education. Applications may be submitted up to 120 days before the start of the term but no later than seven days before the start of the term. Submitting early allows time to resolve issues.
6. After the Navy College Virtual Education Center authorizes the application, forward the voucher to the school for payment.

Reminder: TA recipients must register for classes at their school. The TA voucher provides funding only. For more details on the TA program, visit the Official Navy College website.

— Additional reporting by Jim Absher

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