by COL Phil McNair
If you are a habitual procrastinator like me, sometimes you need a little nudge to get moving, even when you know doing so is in your best interests. The current issues surrounding the suspension of the military’s tuition assistance program should be the impetus for military students to avoid procrastinating about getting a college education.
The services generously provide up to $4500 (the Navy’s cap is $4000) each year for active military members to pay for college, through the tuition assistance program administered by the Department of Defense and the individual services. Hundreds of thousands of members take advantage of this benefit, though many others do not, and some don’t use their full benefit annually.
Recent political maneuvering on Capitol Hill associated with the federal budget resulted in funds being sequestered for a variety of federal programs and departments, including the DOD. In turn, officials in the Army, Air Force and Marine Corps determined that the tuition assistance program would be one area they would de-fund to pay for cuts mandated by the sequestration, and they canceled their TA programs for the rest of FY 2013.
Thousands of military students were left holding the proverbial bag as their college plans were placed on hold. Those who were in the rhythm of taking classes, fitting homework into their complicated lives and advancing towards earning their degrees were suddenly thrown into uncertainty. Interruptions in college schedules can result in classes being unavailable, study habits going cold, and loss of critical momentum for busy military students.
Fortunately, once the impact of the TA cancellation was recognized by lawmakers (largely through the efforts of military support organizations and military-friendly schools), legislation was passed quickly to exempt the tuition assistance program from sequestration cuts. Service officials were directed to find other programs from which to meet their funding obligations.
While it has taken the services time to jump-start the tuition assistance program after putting on the brakes, TA funds were reinstated for Army students as of April 10th, and the Air Force and Marine Corps followed soon after. The Navy had never halted its program, thus Sailors were not affected.
This issue should provide ample evidence that benefits promised by the government are only as good as the funds available to pay for them. Given the state of the country’s economy any benefit may find itself the subject of review in the interests of reducing deficits, balancing budgets, or paying for programs the government or the military determines are more important to the overall mission.
I recommend that military members who have been waiting for the right time to begin or continue their college studies step forward and start taking advantage of the tuition assistance program benefits now. Not six months from now, not next year, but today. Find a school and program that meets your needs and apply, get accepted, register for classes, and get started. Register for as many classes in the future as you can logical plan for, because future registrations in many cases were honored during the recent program suspension.
In short, don’t let your natural tendency to procrastinate put you in the unfortunate position of losing valuable benefits, which can be fleeting. Exploit what’s offered as a result of your military service and use it to your advantage to make your life better. Earning a college degree is a sure-fire way to become more marketable for higher paying jobs when you eventually leave active duty. Don’t ignore your Uncle’s offer to pay your tuition; sometimes his wallet is not open as wide as it is today.
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