The following is a guest post by The Happier Husband. During his 22 year military career he has earned 3 degrees and numerous certifications most of them for free thanks to the educational benefits provided to him by the military.
The steady pay and medical coverage are clearly the biggest immediate benefits one gets when they sign up to put themselves in harms way as a service member, but I believe the biggest long term benefit and the most under-utlilized is the educational package offered to our active duty folks. Let me write that in another way – If you or your spouse is active duty and you aren’t using your educational benefits, you’re losing out on several thousand dollars a year worth of long term benefits.
The military does a great job of training its members to do the job they’ve been hired to do. This training sometimes is transferable to civilian employment, sometimes not. An accredited degree will always be an asset and will never leave your resume. U.S. service members have signed on to leave home with no notice, possibly go in to the most dangerous places in the world, and perhaps not be able to tell anybody the details when they get back. Take advantage of the benefits you’ve been offered. The military will get what they need out of you so get what you can while you can.
Enough of the soapbox – What are the details?
The first and most obvious benefit is Tuition Assistance (TA). Depending on your branch of service, you can get $3,500-$4,500 of college classes 100% covered. This is huge. If you are willing to get a regionally accredited degree from an online or local school you can tack on big numbers on your salary once you get out or apply your degree to your military career in terms of faster enlisted advancement or a commission/promotion. The degree is a prerequisite for most commissioning programs and, although it doesn’t guarantee advancement/promotion, it make you more competitive with your peers for the next rank up.
This is a huge deal. I consistently talk to my sailors about using these benefits and the great majority of them are not in programs. There are very few acceptable excuses for not starting. Life will always give you roadblocks. Your job is to make your way over or around them so you can make a better future for you and your family. Have your military transcripts evaluated and you may find that you’re closer to a degree than you imagined. Find a school (again, regionally accredited) that will take your military credits and give you a head start on your degree completion. With so many colleges and universities offering online classes there is no excuse for not pursuing some sort of degree.
If traditional college isn’t your cup of tea, consider using TA for a certificate program. TA can be used to obtain computer certifications, a real estate license, or other non traditional course as long as they are approved and accredited.
Over a 20 year military career not using your Tuition Assistance benefits could cost you 90,000 dollars in educational benefits! What are you waiting for?
Tomorrow, or sooner, contact your base education office and get started on something that can change your life. Get your bachelor’s and then start your masters degree – for free!
Coming up next: How I earned 27 undergraduate credits free in one day and how you can too.
This post is part of the series, Making it in the Military, dedicated to helping service members and their families make the most out of their time in the service. You can find the rest of the articles here.
Miranda says
Great Post, I love how my husband earned an associates, and only actually took about 5 actual colllege courses, most of them were PACE courses. And is now earning his BS for nothing OOP! That is also another wonderful way to earn your degree while out to sea,(even on a Submarine!) many people don’t realize that is possible! I’ll never understand why so many service members do NOT take advantage of all the education at thier fingertips!
Serenity says
I really enjoyed reading this article. My father retired from the Air Force 12 years ago. He went in as a 17 year old and retired 23 years later with a bachelors and 2 masters. Almost all of which the Air Force paid for 🙂
My grandfather was in the Air Force over 50 years ago and the AF sent him to Yale to learn Chinese which he now uses in mission work. I’ll bet the Air Force had no idea their Chinese translator would turn into a missionary later 🙂
Thank you for letting people know about the awesome educational benefits!
Jen says
Wow! Thanks for this. I knew that TA was for the servicemember, but I had no idea that spouses could use it too. That’s fantastic! As soon as I have this baby I’m going to get started on a degree online. Jason’s got his eyes on a local college that has flex hours for the local Coasties. Before his 20 years are up in another 12, we should both be able to get a Bachelors and Masters each.
TheHappyHousewife says
Jen-
I think you might have misread the article, TA is for the active duty member. But the new GI bill can be used by family members so that is definitely something to look into.
Jen says
Hmm, what I read was “If you or your spouse is active duty and you aren’t using your educational benefits,…” since the rest of the post is about TA instead of the new version of the GI Bill I thought I was on the right track. However, I just found another article regarding how the Coast Guard sometimes has different benefits because they are not Dept. of Defense. Since they’re under the Dept. of Homeland Security things are sometimes the same, but sometimes different.
Here’s the article I found which gives me the impression that spouses of DoD servicemembers can perhaps access TA but Coast Guard spouses are instead eligible for this special 50% grant from Columbia College. An interesting and quick read: http://www.columbiamissourian.com/stories/2009/09/15/columbia-college-offer-coast-guard-spouse-grant/
Kate says
Jen,
As an Army wife, I am eligible for $3000 for a year of classes, and can extend that to a second year ($6,000 total) in tuition assistance completely separate from the GI Bill. There are several other programs specific to the spouses that help us earn diplomas or certificates. I don’t know about the Coast Guard, but it can’t hurt to look into it. Militaryonesource.com might be a good place to look for an overview
The Happier Husband says
Sorry for the vagueness of that very important sentence. I’ll do my best to research options available for spouses and family members of active duty and get back with all of you.
Thanks,
TH Husband
The Happier Husband says
Jen,
Sorry for the delay – I did some more research into the Military Spouse Career Advancement Account program and it provides $6000 each year for spouses of DOD (sorry no Coast Guard – they are DHS) active duty. That’s more than the servicememeber gets! It is quite a deal and requires registering a degree/career plan. Post soon to follow.
Thanks,
TH Husband
Amanda says
Great post…I agree we all need to take advantage of this..I am interested to hear more 😛