Educate Yourself with Navy Tuition Assistance

Are you interested in learning how Navy Tuition Assistance can cover your education costs? Local colleges are accepting these types of payments, but do you know how to get coverage?

If you are a member of the Navy, or want to learn more about how you can help somebody who is, then keep reading this article to find out how Navy Tuition Assistance can cover 100% of your education.

What Is Navy Tuition Assistance?

Navy Tuition Assistance is a way for members of the Navy to cover their entire educational costs. By applying for the program, you are eligible to have 100% of your education paid by the government, while learning what you want, when you want.

Am I Eligible for Navy Tuition Assistance?

Navy Tuition Assistance is available to both Naval Officer and Enlisted active duty personnel and Naval Reservists on continuous active duty. It is also available to enlisted Naval Reservists ordered to active duty 120 days and to Naval Reservist Officers ordered to active duty for 2 years or more.

To qualify, service members must:

• Be on active duty for the whole length of the course.
• Attend an institution accredited by a regional, national, or professional accrediting agency recognized by the Department of Education.
• Receive counseling from a Navy College Office
• Provide all grades from previously funded TA courses and reimburse all W and F grades. (Withdrawals for involuntary reasons may be granted with command verification.)
• Agree, if an officer, to remain on active duty for at least two years upon completion of courses funded by TA. This obligation runs concurrently with remaining obligated service time. Those who fail to serve the obligation must repay the TA funds expended on their behalf during the last two years of active duty on a pro rated basis.

How to Apply for Navy Tuition Assistance

Follow these instructions listed on the Navy’s website to help you get started on obtaining your tuition assistance:

• First, you need to contact your Navy College Office so that you can receive educational counseling in person, by phone or email. This will help you determine what courses you will be using the funding for.
• Next, you have to complete a TA Application form NETPDTC 1560/3 listing your course(s) and fee(s). Check with the institution you are applying at to make sure the amounts for tuition and fees that you list are correct. Allowable fees that can be funded under Tuition Assistance are:
  • Fees directly required for course enrollment may be combined with tuition. Navy will pay fees that are published, mandatory, and charged for course enrollment.
  • Mandatory non-reimbursable fees meeting the criteria listed above may be funded with TA. However, if the course is canceled and the tuition is refunded, the student is responsible for paying the non-reimbursable fee.
  • Sailors requesting payment of fees with tuition are responsible for providing accurate fee information to their Navy College Office when applying for TA.
• You should carefully read the second page of the TA Application, the Tuition Assistance Application Agreement, and complete the requested information at the bottom of the page. Your signature on this form indicates you understand the current rules relating to Tuition Assistance funding. Receive command approval signature to enroll in the course(s).
• Your command approved Tuition Assistance Application must be submitted to your supporting Navy College Office for processing.
• Once received by your Navy College Office and authorized, your supporting Navy College Office will prepare a TA Authorization Voucher for you to provide to the school. Keep a copy for your records.
• TA participants may submit a copy of a grade report obtained through their student account. The simplest way to submit a grade would be electronically as an attachment via email to SFLY_TA.NAVY@NAVY.MIL.  After submitting through email, wait 7 days then go to https://smart.navy.mil to verify the grade has been processed. Please wait the allotted time before taking any further action.

How to Use your Navy Tuition Assistance

Navy Tuition Assistance provides members of the Navy with an excellent way to fund their entire education by allowing them to use the NTA on any school that is regionally or nationally accredited.

Attending a college and university has been a popular choice in the past, but an increasing trend has been to use NTA for a trade school.

To help you make your decision, here are several things to consider when deciding where to use your NTA:

• Cost of Education – Are you willing to spend extra money or take out large loans to pay the extra amount of money needed to attend a top college or university?
• Time Spent in Program – How long will it take you to finish the program you are enrolling in? Will you be spending months or years in the program?
• Placement Rate – Does the school offer you services to help place you in a job after you graduate? What are the other career services that they offer their students?

A trade school offers many advantages over a four year program at a college or university. Attending a vocational school allows you to learn a valuable skill that is immediately applicable in the real world.

A trade school education also costs significantly less than a four year college or university, so you can be certain that your Navy Tuition Assistance will help you cover your costs.

Additionally, the time you will spend in a trade school will be significantly less than any other type of school, teaching you only the skills you want to learn and getting you out the door and into the real world quickly.

Sitting in a classroom and reciting Shakespeare may be an activity that some will enjoy, but learning a trade that you can put into use to help the world around you is a choice that many are making.

Most importantly, your entry into the job market will be remarkably easier than it would be with your other options. Alongside your military service, you will have training from professional tradesmen that will help you get ahead of the competition and started on a rewarding career.

Instead of spending four years to earn a degree in literature, you can learn a valuable skill that you can immediately put into use and start earning more money with a satisfying career.

Use your Navy Tuition Assistance and invest in your future with an education that will teach you what you need so that you can get the job that you want.