Tuition Assistance Slashed (if you are a Marine, it got destroyed)

[dcan]

So DoD has "as yet unannounced" new TA caps that just leaked all over the place.

Old caps: $250 per semester / $4500 per FY

New caps: $175 per semester / $3500 per FY

These are NOT yet in place. This leaked when the Marines announced they are drawing, quartering, and disemboweling their entire TA program, matching the "new" DoD standards of $175 per hour. But the Marines, always known to be "first", decided to one-up the DoD and cut their troops down to $875 per year -- that's only 5 credits per year!! I pity those guys, especially when the "new" DoD cap is four times higher than their cap. As one commenter to the story wrote, the Marines just made the decision to have less educated troops. Wow.

Jeezus this is getting crazy.

Source: http://militaryadvantage.military.com/20...e-reality/

[CLEP101]

Good news for the USMC despite the cuts in TA DOD wide.
Read this in the Army Times.

"The Pentagon, however, ordered the Corps to reverse the deep cuts, and on Oct. 26, the service announced that it was switching to the Defense Department's fiscal 2011 policy for tuition assistance."

[ryoder]

Sucks.
I get 5k per year and 7.5k per year for a masters from my employer as long as my reviews are moderately high.
How does this compare to the GI bill and the college fund? Are those post discharge only and this is while you are in the military?

[marianne202]

I work at a college and all I get is $250 per year, and that isn't guaranteed you have to apply and get approved, provided there is money available.

[dcan]

Being on the inside I take it for granted and don't always remember how amazing our benefits really are.

Tuition Assistance pays up to $250 (soon $175 apparently) per semester hour for one degree at each level up to master's degree, i.e. one 2-year, one 4-year, and one grad degree. Nothing post-grad, and no second degrees. Exception: For the Air Force, TA will pay for a Community College of the Air Force degree at any time, since it is required for promotion to the highest enlisted ranks. Having a PhD is nice, but no CCAF, no promotion, period. TA is only available while in service. Schools fight for our TA dollars so you'll often notice a "military rate" of, coincidentally, $250 per semester hour.

GI Bill info.

• 36 months of college covered (four 9-month "years").
  
• Tuition & fees up to $17,500 cap per year.
  
• $1,000 a year for books & supplies.
  
• Monthly housing allowance equal to the housing allowance for an E-5, zip code based on the location of the school. That's $1,800 per month for TESC, BTW.
  
• Can be used from day 1 of qualified service up to 15 years after discharge.
  
• Transferrable all or in part to one or more dependents (spouse, children).
  
• "Approved training under the Post-9/11 GI Bill includes graduate and undergraduate degrees, vocational/technical training, on-the-job training, flight training, correspondence training, licensing and national testing programs, and tutorial assistance."
  

Bear in mind there are a bunch of criteria for the above. For example, you have to be in a certain amount of time to even be eligible for the benefit. I think it's like 90 days or 6 months though, so most people who make it through training and are unlucky enough to get shot in the desert right after basic can still qualify. You have to be in at least 10 years to transfer though. Also, housing stipend is NOT payable while on Active Duty, with some exceptions for transfers to children who can draw it if they are using the benefit while you are still active. I work with a chief (E-9) who is using the GI Bill to send his son to school and having him live at home, and banking the housing allowance. After four years he plans to hand his son the whole $40,000 to start his life after he finishes his degree.

Also, being in the Air Force we get a few added benefits:

• The chance to earn an AAS from the Community College of the Air Force in our career field. Fully regionally-accredited, largest community college in the world, graduates nearly 20,000 students per year. And because you can change career fields throughout your career, you can qualify for a separate degree for each. I've known people with four of them.
  
• AAS doesn't transfer to a 4-year college? Solved! Air University Associate-to-Baccalaureate program is a partnership with schools who agree to accept a CCAF AAS degree in full and grant a minimum of 60 credits toward a specified degree program. My Computer Science AAS got me 60 credits towards the BSBA CIS: all tech courses, free electives, and some gen eds and leadership/management courses knocked out at once.
  

Also in the Air Force officers have the following:

• Air Force Institute of Technology -- master's degree and PhD available in highly technical fields. My commander has a PhD from here in Operations Research, major math guy. Some enlisted slots also now available.
  
• Air Command & Staff College and Air War College -- two year-long schools required for senior officers, can grant master's degrees
  
• Air University has a PhD program for officers as well
  

All of it regionally accredited through SACS.

Now that I write it all down... Damn that's a lot of nice bennies. Kicking myself for waiting 17 years to really get in gear.