Reconciliation Bill Adds $100 Million For Military Tuition Benefit

Forbes

5 days ago

The recently passed reconciliation budget bill contains an additional $100 million for the Military ... More Tuition Assistance program.
For the first time in over 20 years, the U.S. military could be poised to increase the reimbursement it offers to active members of the armed services and National Guard to help pay the tuition for college courses they take during their service obligation.
As part of this year's reconciliation tax and spending bill, Congress authorized '$100,000,000 for tuition assistance for members of the Army, Air Force, Navy, Marine Corps, and Space Force pursuant to title 10, United States Code.'
That new funding would enable the armed service to increase what it pays for college tuition from the current $250 per credit hour to $300 per hour.
The tuition benefit has long been seen as a recruitment and retention tool for the armed services as well as a means for promoting soldiers' personal development. According to a Department of Defense spokesperson, more than 230,000 service members, or about 25% of active military personnel, use the tuition benefit, taking over 665,000 courses each year. Many recruits report that the program is a key factor in their decisions to enlist.
However, higher education advocates have repeatedly suggested over the years that the program was losing its impact because the reimbursement caps that have been in place for years have not kept pace with real educational costs.
Here's how the tuition assistance program works. Currently, the Department of Defense will fund service member's college tuition and fees up to $250 per semester credit hour or $166 per quarter credit hour, with a cap of $4,500 per fiscal year.
To be eligible for the benefit, individuals must be enrolled for coursework at a regionally accredited college or university that's signed DOD's Voluntary Education Partnership memorandum of understanding. The benefit pays for certificate, associate, bachelor's, independent study and master's level courses.
According to a 2023 Congressional Research Service report, between 200,000 and 300,000 military service members have taken part in the program annually.
The authority for DOD to pay tuition for voluntary education courses was codified decades ago as part of the Department of Defense Authorization Act, 1985. In 2000, Congress expanded the program to allow payment of all tuition, but the service branches have placed reimbursement caps on the benefit.
The problem with those caps is that the average college credit hour now costs $490. At four-year private nonprofit colleges, the average is about $1,280 per credit hour, and in-state students pay $325 at the average public 4-year university. On-line courses average $547 per credit hour.
As a result, institutions participating in the tuition assistance program either have had to accept the military's $250 per-credit payment, or require service members to pay the balance between that amount and charged tuition. While colleges and universities once actively recruited soldiers to their campuses because of the guaranteed tuition payments, that's gradually become less common because of the benefit's decreasing purchasing power.
Faced with that problem, members of the Presidents Forum, a nonprofit organization of college and university presidents and chancellors of institutions that cater to adult students, including members of the armed services, approached Congress with a request for sufficient funding to increase the credit hour reimbursement cap.
The Presidents Forum includes predominantly online institutions such as Western Governors University, Excelsior University in New York, Purdue Global, Southern New Hampshire University, National University and the University of Maryland Global Campus. All these schools enroll significant numbers of active military service members and veterans.
David Schejbal, president of Excelsior University and a member of The Presidents Forum governing board told me, 'the tuition assistance program is a great benefit for service members, but it has not kept pace with higher education costs. Consequently, you see a lot of schools that formerly educated a substantial number of soldiers no longer making it a priority."
Schejbal added, "at $250/credit hour, they lose money unless they require the soldiers to make up the difference between the reimbursement and the tuition costs.'
Now that may change. Colleges could soon be jumping back into the enlisted personnel market as a result of a possible increase in the tuition benefit, a budget addition that received bi-partisan congressional support and now awaits Department of Defense implementation.
In an email to me from the office of Representative Jack Bergman (R- Michigan), Chairman of the House Armed Services Subcommittee on Readiness, Bergman said his "focus has always been making sure our servicemen and women have every opportunity to succeed - both in uniform and after they hang it up. That's why I fought to secure $100 million for Military Tuition Assistance in the 'One Big Beautiful Bill' and added strong protective language in the House-passed FY26 National Defense Authorization Act to make sure that funding does exactly what it's meant to do."
'This isn't just about dollars - it's about priorities,' added Bergman. 'Military Tuition Assistance is one of the smartest investments we can make in both our national defense and the future of the men and women who serve.'
Rep. Bergman cited four reasons why he thought Congress was ready to add more support for the Military Tuition Assistance program:
1. Readiness and Development. Tuition Assistance helps soldiers grow, adapt, and lead in an increasingly complex world.
2. Recruitment and Retention. Meaningful educational benefits help attract top talent — and keep them.
3. Transition to Civilian Life.'When the uniform comes off, education can open doors. Tuition Assistance helps Veterans find good jobs, build careers, and continue contributing long after their service ends.'
4. Keeping Our Word. Service members put everything on the line. "Making sure they have access to quality education is one of the ways we keep our promise to them and their families.'
This additional investment in higher education for soldiers needs to be understood in the context of addressing safety and security considerations. 'As Schejbal told me, 'greater investment in the tuition assistance program will be money well spent in the larger interests of the nation.'
However, he added that although the additional money is desperately needed and welcome by higher education, it is not enough. 'Congress should allocate additional funds for the next two or three years to get the military tuition reimbursement rate up to the average credit hour cost and then index further increases to the rate of inflation. Otherwise, servicemembers will continue to be limited by which schools they can attend, and the recruiting power of the tuition benefit will not reach its full potential,' Schejbal said.