The Department of Defense (DoD) Tuition Assistance (TA) program provides financial assistance to Service members for voluntary off-duty education programs in support of professional and personal self-development goals. TA is available for courses that are part of an approved academic degree or certificate program. The courses must be offered by schools that are recognized by the U.S. Department of Education and are signatories to the current DoD Voluntary Education Partnership Memorandum of Understanding (DOD MOU).
Eligible Service members are directed to speak with their Educational Services Officer (ESO) or counselor within their Military Service prior to being enrolled at Carson-Newman University.
Per DoD MOU paragraph 4.d. Approved Courses. If an eligible Service member decides to use TA, educational institutions will enroll him or her only after the TA is approved by the individual’s Service. Service members will be solely responsible for all tuition costs without this prior approval. This requirement does not prohibit an educational institution from pre-registering a Service member in a course in order to secure a slot in the course. If the Service member enrolls before the appropriate Service approves Military TA, then the Service member could be responsible for the tuition. All Military TA must be requested and approved prior to the start date of the course. The Military TA is approved on a course-by-course basis and only for the specific course(s) and class dates that a Service member requests. If a military student “self-identifies” their eligibility and the Service has not approved the funding, then the Service member will be solely responsible for all tuition costs, not the Service.
In general, eligible Service members can receive TA at a rate of $250 per semester hour cap with an annual ceiling of $4500. The Services are authorized to establish Service specific eligibility criteria to manage TA funds. For Service specific TA policies and procedures, visit their voluntary education websites below:
Air Force TA Army TA Navy TA
Marine Corp TA Coast Guard TA Space Force TA
The Tennessee STRONG Act is a reimbursement program for members of the TN National Guard/TN Air National Guard to obtain funding towards a first bachelor’s or master’s degree while actively drilling.
As a last-dollar reimbursement, the amount of state tuition reimbursement is offset by any other funds received. This includes any other state and federal aid including FTA, Pell, TSAA, HOPE scholarship and any other tuition-specific scholarship; institutional or otherwise.
The tuition reimbursement will be made to the educational institution on behalf of an eligible member for no more than 120 credit hours toward a first-time bachelor’s degree or 40 graduate credit hours toward a master’s degree.
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