Subscribe
TWENTYNINE PALMS, Calif. - Tuition assistance is one of the many educational benefits granted to military members for their service. It can be used during active service and does not take anything away from the GI Bill. Marines are encouraged to use their TA during service and their GI Bill after separating from the Marine Corps to optimize the greatest benefits as students.
Many Marines decide to use this financial assistance and take courses online or in class after work to obtain a degree, but these are not their only options.
TA can be used for a number of vocational courses, taking Marines out of the classroom and teaching them a useful trade for a career after Marine Corps.
“You don’t have to have a degree to make a good living. A trade can offer you the same. I think the more skills you bring to the table the better opportunities you have in becoming employable,” said Jeffrey Fourier, branch head, Lifelong Learning. “There are a lot of welders, a lot of auto mechanics out there that make more money than teachers who have master’s degrees.”
Courses can teach Marines to become anything from certified pilots or scuba diving instructors to mechanics, nurses or personal trainers. Many of the schools offering vocational classes can be found online or within a commutable distance from the Combat Center.
Although there are thousands of vocational training courses, Marines can only choose to use TA for one per career. You can never use TA for a second vocational program. Cancelling a program half way through would mean having to reimburse the Marine Corps for the TA that had been paid. However, Marines are allowed to switch from a vocation program to earning a college degree still using their TA.
Vocational programs must also be accredited by an agency approved by the Department of Education to be eligible for TA funding.
“Any school that is listed as an approved or accredited institution, we can pay tuition to that school,” Fourier said. “There are a lot of businesses out there that say they are accredited and they’re not.”
Accredited schools can be found on the DOE’s website at http://ope.ed.gov/accreditation/Search.aspx.
To start using TA, Marines must first take the College 101 brief at the education center offered Tuesdays at 1 p.m. or Fridays at 11 a.m. All TA payments made to accredited institutions are handled by the education center.
Stipulations for using TA for a vocational school are the same as for a college degree. TA will pay up to $4,500 annually to these schools with a limit of $250 per semester hour or $166.67 per quarter hour of credit.
For more information about TA, call the education center at 760-830-6881.
| Date Taken: | 11.16.2012 |
| Date Posted: | 11.18.2012 19:51 |
| Story ID: | 98072 |
| Location: | TWENTYNINE PALMS, CA, US |
| Web Views: | 80 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, TA helps Marines get education, by Cpl Ali Azimi, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
LEAVE A COMMENT