Federal tuition assistance

The Federal Tuition Assistance (FTA) program provides tuition assistance for voluntary off-duty education programs for Active Duty, National Guard, and Reserve component service members. FTA is available for courses that are part of an approved academic degree or certificate program.

Your service branch pays your tuition directly to the school. The Department of Defense (DoD) has directed a uniform per credit cap of $250 for tuition assistance (TA) and a fiscal year annual ceiling of $4,500. Note: Army students have a branch specific annual ceiling of $4000.

Each service branch has its own criteria for eligibility, obligated service, application process, and restrictions. This money is paid directly to the institution by the individual services. To find out how to get started, visit your unit’s Educational Services Office (ESO), or go online to your branch specific virtual education center found in the steps below.

Steps to use FTA

  1. Connect with your unit’s Education Services Office (ESO) and apply for your education goal in your branch’s virtual education center.
    • All virtual education centers require a CAC reader for access.
    • If your desired program or any of your courses are not displayed in your virtual education center, please follow up with our office at [email protected].
  2. Once your education goal and courses have been approved by your ESO, apply for Federal Tuition Assistance funding.
  3. Provide the Third-Party Billing office with your FTA funding approval paperwork by emailing it to [email protected].
  4. Inform University Veterans Services if you are combining FTA with other GI Bill benefits because some require coordination.