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Tuition Assistance change

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class Sergio A. Gamboa
  • 325th Fighter Wing Public Affairs
TYNDALL AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. --  The military has recently updated their Military Tuition Assistance, and the Air Force has updated Air Force Instruction 36-2649.

Effective Oct. 1, 2014 one of the biggest change to TA is supervisor approval and the window to sign-up for it.

"There are several new policies for how to submit for tuition assistance and what you are allowed to do when submitting for TA," said Hannah Kaplan, 325th Force Support Squadron development and education education services specialist. "Airmen are still getting up to $4,500 every fiscal year and are only allowed to pursue one degree per level; one associates, one bachelors and one masters. These new changes affect how you apply now."

According to AFI 36-2649, MilTA must be approved prior to term start date on TA Form 1227.  If not, all unapproved documents in the system will be permanently deleted. 

Airmen now have to sign-up seven to 45 days before the class begins.

"Before the new changes Airmen could sign-up for TA whenever they wanted to as long as the class had not started, but now it is different," said Kaplan.

Another of the main changes is the approval process that was updated Jan. 31.

"When Airmen apply for TA, the first place it gets sent to is their supervisor now," said Kaplan. "After the supervisor approves it, it will be sent to one of the counselors here for final approval. Our job is to make sure that the class taken applies to the degree in pursuit. We want supervisors to be more informed about the process as well, so they should read the information they receive before approving anything to make sure their Airmen are able to take classes."

Following are the responsibilities of the supervisor, according to AFI 36-2649.

· Supervisors must review the Air Force Virtual Education Center supervisor training to completely understand the MilTA process and responsibilities. 
· Supervisors approve or disapprove all MilTA requests and can deny based on any criteria they believe will impede successful completion such as, (Upgrade Training, Temporary Duty, Permanent Change of Station, Professional Military Education, Course Load). However, if these same conditions contribute to course non-completion, a waiver will not be considered.
· Ensure that Airmen have no military responsibilities that will adversely affect their successful course completion.
· Explain to Airmen their financial liability (lump sum repayment) should they fail to successfully complete the course(s) or fail to comply with MilTA policy.
· Review all MilTA requests and approve or disapprove based on criteria outlined in the AFI 36-2649 para 6.2.9. 
· Supervisors will be notified regarding reimbursement action required for unsatisfactory grades or non-completion.

If approval does not get submitted by the supervisor the education center will not receive the request and the Airmen will not receive TA for their classes, Kaplan said.

"I think that bringing supervisors in on the process of applying for TA is a benefit," said Kaplan. "As a counselor, we had to use our best judgment in approving the tuition because we did not know if a class would have interfered with an Airman's job, but now we have the confidence that the Airmen requesting TA has time for the classes with their supervisors' approval."

Another thing the education center encourages is for Airmen to go to AFVEC and read the mandatory annual MilTA benefit training, which details all of the new AFI regulations.

For more information on the new changes, contact the education office at 283-4285.