Military Tuition Assistance Program

The Military Tuition Assistance Program (TA) is available to all Active Duty, National Guard and Reserve Component service members. All four branches and the U.S. Coast Guard offer financial assistance. The Tuition Assistance Program can be used to fund your college tuition and certain fees with the following limits:

• Not to exceed $250 per semester credit hour
• Not to exceed $4,500 per fiscal year, Oct. 1 through Sept. 30

Tuition assistance may be used for the following programs at CIU:

• Undergraduate programs
• Graduate programs
• Independent study
• Distance-learning programs

How to Request Tuition Assistance

The process for requesting Tuition Assistance is slightly different for each branch of the military, but the basic steps are outlined below. It is important to speak with your Educational Services Officer prior to enrolling at our university.

1. Visit your local Education Office or Education Center or go online to a virtual education center to ensure your eligibility for Tuition Assistance. Additionally, you may go to Military Benefit Finder page on the Military OneSource website and benefit that is applicable to you and view its application and procedures.

2. Follow your branch’s instructions for how to request Tuition Assistance for your course(s). In most cases you must be registered for your course(s) before you can apply for TA for those courses. Take note of the timeframe in which you must request your TA indicated by your specific branch.

3. The military approves your TA request.

4. Ensure the CIU School Certifying Official (SCO) – Laura McCall has received your approved TA request(s) for processing, unless your branch’s education department sends this for you, (you may submit this directly by email: laura.mccall@v-lanterna.com or Fax: (803) 223-2505). Please note, TA can be processed by the financial aid office after the semester starts, but the initial request must be put in by the student within the timeframes required by your branch.

5. When CIU receives the TA funds from your branch it will be applied to your account. The timeframes for processing and payment vary by service branch, but the Financial Aid Office can make accounting aware of your pending TA payments. You will still be responsible for paying the remaining portion of your education costs not covered by TA and/or other scholarships/grants and should make some sort of payment plan with the Accounting Department.

Course Dates

Military Tuition Assistance (TA) regulations require accurate start and end dates on all TA authorizations. Please reference the appropriate dates for each course in which you are enrolled. For invoicing purposes, each enrollment period (courses with the same start and end date) will need to be listed on separate Tuition Assistance authorization forms. For non-standard online students, you will have to submit a separate TA authorization form for each course since they each start and end at various times.

Degree Completion Plans

If you need a degree plan for your Tuition Assistance, you may contact Laura McCall in the Financial Aid Office to request a copy of your degree plan or to request that your degree plan be uploaded to your branch’s TA website depending on the requirements of your service branch.

Course and Cost Verification

Students are generally able to get system-generated course schedules and a copy of the account statement from myCIU once they are registered for classes, but if you need help obtaining these documents, please contact Laura McCall in Financial Aid.

Please note: Students are required to be accepted to their program and registered for their first semester before a degree completion plan or course/cost verifications can be generated.

Grades

All branches of the military require schools to submit grades for courses which have approved TA authorizations. CIU will submit grades within 30 days of the term end date.

Students will be responsible to repay any Tuition Assistance funds for grades that are not deemed successful. The following grades are acceptable:

• Undergraduate: C grade or higher
• Graduate: B grade or higher (- and + will be treated as just a letter grade).

 

TA Refunds

If you are approved for more TA than the amount being charged to your account, we will only post enough TA to cover your remaining eligible charges. Tuition Assistance is never refundable to the student.

Tuition Assistance and VA Benefits

Per the 2014 Department of Defense Memorandum of Understanding, Federal Tuition Assistance and Veterans Affairs benefits cannot be used to pay for the same course(s). There are currently 3 exceptions to this policy. Students using Post-9/11 GI Bill® are able to use their Veterans Education Benefits to cover the remaining balance for courses not completely covered by Federal Tuition Assistance. As of May 5, 2021, students using the Montgomery GI Bill-Selected Reserve Education Benefit (MGIB-SR or Chapter 1606) may also use their benefit concurrently with Federal Tuition Assistance when they are enrolled in a program of education that is half-time or greater. Concurrent use is not authorized under Chapter 1606 when students are enrolled less than half-time. The final exception to this policy is for the Montgomery GI Bill: Active Duty (MGIB or Chapter 30) under the use of Top-Up. The Top-Up benefit may only be used with Chapter 30 to receive from the VA those tuition costs that exceed, or are not authorized in, the amount of TA provided to the service member by his/her military branch.

Post-9/11 GI Bill recipients may be certified for $0 if Tuition Assistance is covering the full cost of their course(s). This $0 certification will generate a Housing stipend for the duration of the course (for those enrolled greater than half-time), as well as a Book Stipend payment. Students should keep in mind that Active-Duty students and their spouses are not eligible to receive a Monthly Housing Allowance from their GI Bill benefits. For more information about Chapter 33, please see the Post-9/11 GI Bill webpage.

Students eligible for Veterans Education Benefits will have their enrollment certified with the VA. If Federal Tuition Assistance is later applied toward a course that has been certified, the certification for Veterans Benefits will be either amended (Chapters 33 and 1606) to account for the Tuition Assistance or terminated (all other GI Bill chapters) in accordance with the 2014 Department of Defense Memorandum of Understanding.

CIU Policy regarding Tuition Assistance and Military Discount

Students receiving Tuition Assistance are also eligible for the CIU military scholarship. A copy of your most recent service papers or DD-214 showing honorable discharge will be required in order to get the CIU military scholarship. To get more information about the CIU Military Scholarship go to our Military page under Financial Aid.

CIU Financial Aid Contact:

Laura McCall
VA Benefits Coordinator/Online Financial Aid Counselor
803-807-5049
laura.mccall@v-lanterna.com