America’s military personnel and veterans deserve the utmost respect. They perform invaluable services for America and many other allied countries worldwide. For their sacrifices, it’s only fitting that they have access to unique financial aid, scholarships, and tuition assistance opportunities. In this guide to military financial aid for college, the full breadth of financial aid benefits available to active duty service members and veterans will be discussed from scholarships to tuition assistance.
Article Navigation: Military Financial Aid for College – The Benefits for Service Members | Things to Remember as an Active-Duty Military Member or Veteran | Financial Aid Options for Active-Duty Military Personnel and Veterans | Government-Funded Financial Aid for Military Service Members | Private Organization Military Financial Aid | College-Specific Military Financial Aid | Scholarships for Military Spouses | Get Your Education Today with the help of Military Financial Aid for College!
Military Financial Aid for College – The Benefits for Service Members
The financial aid packages and offers available to past and current military members have a lot of benefits. In many cases, these financial aid offers are better than the offers available to civilians.
Low or Limited Interest Rates
For starters, many military-focused loans have very low or limited interest rates. This is true for both government-funded loans and loans from private institutions like banks or credit unions. Limited interest rates mean that military members won’t pay as much for the loans over their terms.
That’s a great thing for any military member who wants to save money while going to school. The odds are that, given the price of higher education, most students will need to take out at least one loan in addition to grants. The lower interest rates ensure that military veterans don’t need to worry about not being able to pay back their loans after graduating.
Student Loan Payment Deferment
Most military members can defer their student loan payments if they take advantage of federally funded financial aid opportunities. That means they don’t have to pay back their student loans until sometime after graduating.
This deal is most common for GI Bill beneficiaries who enter the military after completing college. These graduates are typically officers in one of the US military branches. They can wait to pay back their student loans until after they exit the military and get another job.
This option is a great way to save cash and build a nest egg for many US military members. They continue to earn money from their jobs and save their money. Then they can pay back their loans when they are financially stable.
No Interest Accrual
While many financial aid opportunities for veterans have low-interest rates, some don’t accrue interest. That’s right; some military-specific loans don’t have interest rates whatsoever. That means veterans only need to pay back the principal balance for their loans, not extra money in interest.
Note that these loans are few and far between. Most loans for military members have interest rates of some type. Still, it might be beneficial to look for loans with no interest to save even more money on the path to higher education.
All in all, each of these benefits means that military members should first look for military-specific financial aid. After taking advantage of any military financial aid opportunities, military students should look into other scholarships or loans.
Things to Remember as an Active-Duty Military Member or Veteran
While there are many different ways to pay for college as an active-duty military member or veteran, there are also vital things to keep in mind.
Distance Education Can Be Beneficial
First, distance education is the name of the game for many military veterans. Military tuition assistance programs pay for many online school courses with regional or national accreditation. Distance education is beneficial since it allows students to complete their education:
- While they are in the military service
- At any partnered university, regardless of distance
Distance education is rapidly becoming the go-to choice for college students worldwide. It’s flexible, often asynchronous, and can be just as rigorous and educational as in-person college.
Not All Credits Transfer Equally
Not all credits earned from one school may transfer to other schools. Because of this, students should be careful where they begin earning credits for their college education. The type of accreditation an institution has can have a major impact on your future studies. For example, imagine that a military student earns credits at a nationally accredited college. They then try to transfer those credits to a regionally accredited college.
Depending on the regionally accredited college’s policy, some or none of the credits may transfer over. If possible, it’s best to attend all of one’s education at the same school to ensure that credit transfer problems don’t arise.
Residency Matters
In addition to accreditation issues, servicemembers must beware of academic residency requirements. Many top schools have residency requirements that force students to take a certain number of credit hours from that school to earn a degree. It can be easy for service members to miss this requirement accidentally. They might split up their schooling between multiple colleges, then find that they don’t have enough credits at any one university to receive a degree. If a student gets financial aid or tuition assistance for college, it’s best to complete college at a single school.
Servicemember Opportunity Colleges
For the best results, military students should look into Servicemember Opportunity Colleges or SOCs. These schools partner with the military. The schools have an agreement to accept any online course transfers from other member colleges in the same group. This agreement makes it easy for military members to switch schools if needed.
Beware “Nontraditional” Credits
All military students should be careful not to rely too much on credits from nontraditional schools for sources. Nontraditional credits can include any credits earned from:
- Assessment or placement tests
- Career achievements or life experience
Many colleges don’t accept nontraditional credits, such as feats performed during one’s military service. For example, Columbia College of Missouri only accepts 60 nontraditional credit hours for any online degree. This amount is about half of the credits required for a bachelor’s degree.
Similarly, the University of Alabama only allows students to transfer 45 semester hours’ worth of nontraditional credits toward a degree. Therefore, military students should consider that most of their credits need to come from traditional school sources.
Financial Aid Options for Active-Duty Military Personnel and Veterans
Both active-duty military personnel and retired veterans have a wide range of financial aid options. America’s government and most of its high-quality universities take educating military personnel quite seriously.
They know that it’s challenging to acquire a college degree while deployed in the military or even after leaving the military and becoming a civilian. In total, active-duty military personnel and veterans can pursue financial aid through:
- Government-funded scholarships, grants, and programs
- Private organizations, which sometimes offer scholarships and grants to certain military members
- School-specific financial aid, like single university scholarships or tuition reductions
Let’s look at each of these financial aid forms in detail.
Government-Funded Financial Aid for Military Service Members
The government is the most common form of financial aid utilized by military members. This type of financial aid includes the GI Bill. Many military members have used it to further their education after leaving active duty.
Government-funded financial aid is frequently the best choice for students to pursue at first. The government prioritizes active-duty and veteran military members over other financial aid recipients. Thus, if there is a lot of competition for a given school year, veterans might get more financial aid from the government than from other sources.
FAFSA Financial Aid
First and foremost, all active-duty and veteran military members must fill out the FAFSA to receive any federal financial aid. This financial aid application is the same application that civilian students have to fill out if they want financial aid from the federal government.
The FAFSA qualifies veterans to receive a variety of grants and scholarships. The most common of these is the Pell Grant. However, Pell Grants are only available for undergraduate education and only to military members who demonstrate financial need. If a military veteran wants to pursue a graduate degree, they will not qualify for the Pell Grant.
The main benefit of the Pell Grant is that it does not need to be repaid like a loan except under a few specific circumstances. The Pell Grant may award up to a maximum of $6,895 at the time of this writing. Veterans receive up to this amount based on:
- The cost of attending their chosen school
- The expected family contribution
- Their status as a full-time or part-time student
- Whether they plan to attend school for an entire academic year or less time
Extra Pell Grant Funds
In addition to the primary Pell Grant, active-duty and veteran military members may receive additional Pell Grant funds when they fill out the FAFSA. This further assistance may total several extra thousand dollars that do not need to be repaid.
Generally, extra Pell Grant funds are awarded to military members who have to put off their bachelor’s education for one reason or another. For example, if a military member is in the reserves and is called to active duty, they may receive more Pell Grant funds later.
Reserve Officer Training Corps Scholarships
The federal government provides other forms of financial aid for active-duty military members and veterans alike. These include ROTC or Reserve Officer Training Corps scholarships. These scholarships are only available to military members who participated in the ROTC program. The ROTC program typically takes place in high school or undergraduate education.
ROTC scholarships can add up to hundreds or thousands of dollars depending on many of the same factors described above.
The GI Bill
The GI Bill is the ultimate federal financial aid award veterans receive. Any veteran attending a private or foreign school qualifies. The details of the GI Bill are as follows:
- Veterans may receive up to $26,042.81 per academic year.
- The GI Bill pays money based on an academic year lasting August 1 to July 31.
- The GI Bill, since 9/11, also pays a monthly housing allowance. This allowance is based on the Basic Allowance for Housing for an E-5 with dependents.
- Veterans receive up to the total tuition and fee coverage based on their Post-9/11 GI Bill entitlement percentage. This amount, in turn, is based on how many months a veteran serves on active duty after September 10, 2001.
- For instance, if a veteran serves 24 months of active duty after that date, they’ll receive 80% of the GI Bill maximum.
All military veterans or active-duty military members should investigate the GI Bill when looking for financial aid. Depending on the program one pursues, the GI Bill alone may cover all or most of the cost of higher education.
Private Organization Military Financial Aid
While the federal government provides the lion’s share of financial aid to veterans, there are other options. Many private organizations offer scholarships, grants, and other benefits to active-duty military members and veterans alike. Here are some examples:
- The American Legion is a private organization dedicated to helping servicemembers and their families in many ways. This organization offers a variety of scholarships for veterans and many family members. These include the Legacy Scholarship, which is dedicated to the children of post 9/11 veterans, and a general scholarship based on national finalists for an oratorical contest.
- AMVETS offers Generation T scholarships to veterans and spouses who want to advance their careers in any skilled trades industry.
- The Paralyzed Veterans of America is an organization with several financial aid options for veterans with one or more disabilities. Students may qualify for scholarships of $1000 for part-time students or $2500 for full-time students.
- The Veterans of Foreign Wars organization offers a scholarship of up to $5000 to veterans who have already completed basic training and currently hold a military rank of E-5 or lower.
However, note that most of these financial aid opportunities require applicants to be part of the private organizations offering them. For example, if one wants to take advantage of the American Legion scholarships, one needs to be a member of the Legion. This requirement does somewhat limit application availability. However, many veterans might consider joining these organizations, given their social benefits.
College-Specific Military Financial Aid
Then there is school-specific financial aid. Many universities have scholarships, grants, and even tuition discounts for military members and their families. On the downside, a student must attend those specific schools to use these financial aid options. Still, these means of financial aid can be beneficial if students know which schools they want to attend. For example, if a student knows they want to go to a specific college, they can check that school’s scholarship page for potential opportunities.
Examples of School-Specific Aid for Military Students
Many schools offer specific scholarships or financial aid opportunities to specific demographics of military members or families. For example, some scholarships are only available to military spouses. Others are only available to active-duty military members rather than retired veterans.
School-specific financial aid is available to active-duty military members and for distance learning only. There are some exceptions; be sure to research what every school offers before signing up for an online learning program so you can take full advantage of any financial aid available.
Western Governors University Military Scholarships
For example, Western Governors University has many scholarships perfect for active-duty military members. These include:
- The WGU Reservists and National Guard Scholarships. Each scholarship is worth up to $1500 and is intended for members of the Military Reserves or National Guard. The scholarships can be used for online students working to attain bachelor’s or master’s degrees in information technology, healthcare, teacher education, or business.
- The WGU Recognition for Military Sacrifice Scholarships. Each of these scholarships is worth up to $2000 and is intended for injured service members and their spouses. They are also available to spouses of service members who were killed in action. The funds can be applied to any WGU online degree program.
- The Troops to Teachers Supplemental Scholarship. This awards up to $5000 for eligible students learning classes toward teacher certification. Those who accept this scholarship must agree to teach for three years in high-need areas. Those who get the scholarship receive another $10,000 stipend if they teach in a low-income neighborhood.
- The Military Spouses to Graduates Scholarship. This distance learning scholarship is available for military spouses who want to earn a WGU degree in information technology, education, health, or business. It’s worth up to $1500.
- The spouse’s to Teachers Supplemental Scholarship. This pilot program awards up to $600 in total financial assistance for certification exam costs and is available to military spouses across 14 states.
Southern New Hampshire University Tuition Discounts
Southern New Hampshire University also offers a variety of tuition discounts for active-duty US service members. Note that these discounts are available both to full-time and part-time US servicemembers. Even better, the same discounts are available to spouses of any service members on active duty. These discounts include:
- $225 per credit hour rate for any undergraduate courses
- $470 per credit hour rate for any graduate courses
- Up to a 30% tuition discount for any registered spouse members of the National Military Family Association
- Up to 10% discounts for graduates of schools who have active Student Veterans of America chapters
Of course, Southern New Hampshire University accepts any other VA education benefits and tuition assistance via MyCAA.
Scholarships for Military Spouses
Many of the best financial opportunities for veterans also apply to their spouses. For example, spouses should look into the National Military Family Association. This Association awards several $500-$1000 every year. Many are only available to military spouses, including those of veterans or National Guard members. This scholarship can cover the costs of professional certification education. Therefore, joining the military doesn’t just benefit one person. It also helps the service member’s family members as they complete their own postsecondary educational goals.
Financial Aid for Children of Active Duty or Veteran Servicemembers
Specific grants and scholarships are available to the children of active duty or veteran service members. In many cases, these scholarships are only available to first-generation descendants (i.e., sons and daughters, not grandkids). Here’s an example of a military grant tailored toward servicemember children.
Iraq and Afghanistan Service Grant
The children of deceased military veterans should investigate the Iraq and Afghanistan Service Grant. This grant provides money directly to college or career school students who need help paying for education. This grant has distinct eligibility criteria, however. It’s only available to children of veterans who:
- Aren’t eligible for the federal Pell Grant because of their expected family contributions
- Still meet all other federal Pell Grant eligibility requirements
- Had a parent or guardian in the US Armed Forces who died from military service in Iraq and Afghanistan after 9/11
- Were under 24 years old or were enrolled in college at least part-time at the time of their parent or guardian’s death
The Iraq and Afghanistan Service Grant may provide up to the same amount of money as a federal Pell Grant for the award year. However, the total amount of funds cannot exceed the student’s cost of attendance. This grant is another means of financial aid for military veterans’ kids if they don’t qualify for traditional means of assistance.
Get Your Education Today with the help of Military Financial Aid for College!
All in all, active-duty and retired military members have a lot of military financial aid for college opportunities to consider. If you join the military at any point, college will be more affordable for you in some way. It’s just a matter of finding the grants or scholarships and applying for them.
If you’re active-duty or interested in online education, GetEducated.com can help. We have a detailed list of all the best online schools. Many of these online schools include military-specific grants or scholarships, as detailed above. Check out our catalog of online schools today, or contact us for more information!