Army Tightens Tuition-Assistance Access

The Army is making it harder for soldiers to take advantage of its tuition assistance (TA) program. Beginning Jan. 1, the service will require all active, National Guard and reserve soldiers to complete a full year of service after they finish their initial entry training in order to become eligible for tuition assistance, the National Guard Association of the United States reported Dec. 10. The new regulations also limit each soldier to 16 semester hours per year – down from 18 semester hours. Also, soldiers who use tuition assistance to earn bachelor’s degrees will have to finish 10 years of service before they can use it again to pursue and complete higher degrees. Service officials attribute the changes to the current “fiscally constrained environment,” according to NGAUS.