Okay so Boot Camp is done, and you’re training for your next assignment, but you want to know what to do next. College is at the top of your list. Joining the Air Force and having them pay for your education was one of the benefits of signing up.

Knowing that if you wait it will get easier and easier to put your career on hold, you’ve decided to pursue your education, but now it’s time to see where you can get the money promised to get into college.

Well your brilliance has led you to this post so here are the nuts and bolts.

Pull out that trusty pen, or reach for that Ctrl +P combination and print this out for your records; and let’s get you the answers you need.

First of all here are the sites you’ll need.

https://www.my.af.mil/

AFVEC online TA process

Keep these handy, I’d recommend bookmarking them.

1. First, click on the top link; it’s your link to the Air Force Virtual Education Center. Here you’ll create a log in identity if you don’t already have one.

2. Next: Click on the second link, here you’ll walk through six steps to complete the AFVEC Tuition Assistance process.

Thirdly, notify the college you’re planning to attend about the completion of your this form needs to go to your Financial Aid Advisor, and Admissions Advisor if applicable. They’ll need to help you complete this with class registration.

What amount of money can you expect, well at the time of this post here are the current funds allocated for Air Force TA

Very Important! Ask your college if they provide any additional benefits, such as a tuition discount for you as well. No need to leave any money on the table.

• $250 @ Semester Credit Hour, or
• $166 @ Quarter Credit Hour, and
• $4500 @ Fiscal Year, beginning in October each year, not January.

Note: This is on a First come First Serve basis, so apply as close to October for this as you can. When the budgeted money is gone you’ll have to wait until the next military fiscal year.

Or here are a couple more another options for funding college outside of your TA:

The biggest question I received outside of how to set up the funding for college is whether you can use your GI Bill and your Tuition Assistance at the same time, and the answer is yes you can.

But what is not so very clear is that if you use them together the benefits coordinate, what that means is that if you use them together then you’ll have less money in the long run.

In other words if you use them together, the total amount you’re eligible for with your GI Bill is less when you use them together. Your TA amount is taken away from your GI Bill amount thus decreasing what you are eligible for.

What I would strongly recommend students to do who needed additional funding for their college is to apply for Financial Aid.

Now this is when I would often get a raised eyebrow or two, followed by this question. If I have tuition assistance why would I take out a FAFSA Loan?

Well with FAFSA you don’t have to accept everything you qualify for, the application tells you what you’re eligible for, what you can get if you want to.

Let’s say you want to use your TA to cover college but you know you’ll have several hundred dollars in books you’ll need and you know you need to get a new computer for school too. Well if you qualify for a Pell grant and perhaps a State grant, then you can use this money to get the books and computer. You can say ‘No thank you’ to the loans and just use the grants and the Tuition Assistance together.

What if your TA runs out? Now The TA is not an endless amount of money that you can use for college once you apply, the amount is caped you’ll want to talk to your Educational Advisor and find out what that amount is for you. If you’re not sure how to contact your Advisor, then ask your commanding officer where your unit reports to for Educational Advisors.

So if you run out of money for the year but you still have some classes you need to complete this year, then you have two options, either utilize the FAFSA loans you qualified for, or use some of your GI Bill to bridge the gap. Here is a video on how to navigate the FAFSA website easily http://www.sophiemaddox.com/2009/12/15/fafsa-video-1/

You don’t have to worry about the benefits coordinating if you have used all of the funds you have allocated for the year. You can use some of the money you have from your GI Bill just for those classes. Don’t reapply for the GI Bill after these classes, but keep in mind that when you return the next time to use your GI Bill there is a separate application for that, carefully search the site to make sure that you’re filling in the right application.

CCAF

I know you’re aware of the CCAF (Community College of the Air Force) A great educational asset for you; you can take classes through the CCAF even if you already have a degree. Your Tuition Assistance will be provided for this education, even if you already have a degree from the CCAF, or another two year college.

Great News! You do not need to have your supervisor’s signature to use your TA!

Word to the wise; be sure to let him or her know that you’re taking classes, this way they can support you.

Warning!! There are a few details to keep in mind when you’re planning to use your TA.

Here is what would prevent you from getting TA.

• You haven’t received your grades from courses completed and it’s been 60 days or more.
• Blank parts of your educational record, so demographic information like DOB, Phone, DOS, Your Unit, Office Symbol, address, e-mail, base current educational level etc. so be sure that you have each detail completed on your educational record!

Additional reasons you’ll not be granted TA.

• Your course starts more than 30 days in the future
• You’ve already begun your course
• The course is a lower division course and you’re an upper division student, (your classes are completed for your 100 and 200 level classes for your degree, but now you want to take a different 100 level class, you’ll be denied, unless this class is one at the CCAF).
• Your degree plan record is not in your records, once again be sure your educational file is complete and up to date.
• It would be so irritating to find out that you’re denied TA for something a little proof reading or double checking could correct.
• TA is not approved for courses taken (outside of the CCAF) for a second degree i.e. a second Associates degree

Now What If:

Okay so let’s say you’re in class and you realize that you have to drop the class.

Will you be penalized? Great question!

Communication is key; let your Education Center and the college you’re enrolled in know that you’re dropping the class so that this does not affect your TA.

Keep in mind you’re responsible for the tuition cost that applies for portion of the class you did attend.

Unless: You qualify for the waiver of tuition assistance reimbursement, ask your Education Office what the rules are for you on this. There can be a number of different scenarios.

Now depending on the rules of the particular college you’re considering you may have a low grade, but I’d petition the college to make sure that you’re grade is either an:

W- Withdrawal, the rules for this are typically within a given amount of time or…

I – an Incomplete, this typically will not be a part of your GPA. When asking for an Incomplete, make sure you have a convincing case so that the Administrator doesn’t just give you a low grade. Each college is different; find out what you need to do and who you need talk to so that this doesn’t affect you.

The fine print of an Incomplete: Find out what date you need to complete the course by on the Incomplete grade, typically the Incomplete is conditional on the fact that you need to complete the course in a specific amount of time, generally this is within 12 months from the end of the given session, or semester.

Unfortunately if you fail to get a grade within the amount of time allocated then you’ll owe money for the Tuition Assistance used to cover the class.

If you found this helpful please pass this on to every service member you know, reserves, or active duty. Please re-tweet it, let me know what you think, and Digg this post.

Let’s get this information out to everyone. I’ve come across so many Soldiers who are not sure how to get the money they were promised when they signed on the dotted line. I want to make sure that you know how very grateful I am that you’re willing to serve and protect our freedoms. Please take a copy of my free gift to you. See the panel on the right.

Sophie

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