Air Force tuition assistance implements change

by Airman 1st Class Victoria Taylor
633 Air Base Wing Public Affairs

2/12/2013 - LANGLEY AIR FORCE BASE, Va. -  -- The U.S. Air Force Tuition Assistance program altered its guidelines Jan. 3 to emphasize the new requirement of maintaining a grade point average of at least 2.0, on a 4-point scale.

"By adopting these changes, the Air Force is falling in line with the federal government and the schools sharing GPA guidelines," said Bertram Hardnett, the education and training services chief at Langley Air Force Base, Va. "This causes the member to act and think more responsibly when signing up for courses."

The changes affect policy concerning waivers, missing grades and maintaining a cumulative GPA of 2.0 for undergraduates and 3.0 for graduate-level students.

To help students with the new TA process, colleges in the area are getting involved with Air Force programs, making course and degree information simple to access.

"Colleges are on-board with the Air Force Academic Institution Portal, which is the institutional side of our Air Force Automated Education Management System," Hardnett said. "Schools are loading college degree plans, course schedules and degree completions, as well as providing grades and invoicing in the system."

This partnership helps to eliminate mistakes on TA applications, payments and reimbursements. The student can load a degree plan into their record without emailing or bringing one to the education office.

If students are not signed up for this, a hard copy of grades must be taken to the education office within 60 days after the class ends to avoid paying out-of-pocket for the course.

"The new changes will be more beneficial to the Department of Defense, Department of Education and all of the higher educational institutions that are streamlining the process for students," Hardnett said.

The Air Force provides $4,500 a year in tuition assistance to active-duty personnel and activated members of the National Guard and Reserve. Members are eligible to use TA for Community College of the Air Force courses, an associate's degree, bachelor's degree, master's degree and a one-time certification in any academic area they want to pursue.

For more information, contact your local Education Office.