{"id":330877,"date":"2024-12-10T23:00:00","date_gmt":"2024-12-11T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/?p=330877"},"modified":"2024-12-12T08:01:02","modified_gmt":"2024-12-12T08:01:02","slug":"army-approves-tuition-assistance-increase-adjusts-credentialing-program","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/?p=330877","title":{"rendered":"Army approves tuition assistance increase, adjusts credentialing program"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"editor-image single\">\n<figure class=\"photo cur-photo\">\n          <span class=\"centered-image\"><br \/>\n            <span class=\"img-container\"><br \/>\n              <a class=\"rich-text-img-link\" href=\"https:\/\/api.army.mil\/e2\/c\/images\/2024\/12\/09\/2f4d9e7e\/original.jpg\" target=\"_blank\"><\/p>\n<p>              <\/a><br \/>\n                          <\/span><br \/>\n          <\/span><figcaption>\n                        <span class=\"image-caption\"><br \/>\n              <span class=\"caption-text\"><br \/>\n                The Army announced policy updates Dec. 11, 2024, for the tuition assistance and credentialing assistance educational programs for active-duty, Reserve, and National Guard Soldiers. The changes include increased semester hour and dollar amount caps for TA and a reduction in the dollar amount cap for CA.<br \/>\n                <span class=\"caption-author\"> (Photo Credit: U.S. Army photo by Nell King)<\/span><br \/>\n              <\/span><br \/>\n              <a href=\"https:\/\/api.army.mil\/e2\/c\/images\/2024\/12\/09\/2f4d9e7e\/original.jpg\" title=\"View original\" target=\"_blank\">VIEW ORIGINAL<\/a><br \/>\n            <\/span><br \/>\n          <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>WASHINGTON \u2014 The Army announced today policy updates to\u202fa pair of\u202fvoluntary education programs for active-duty, Reserve, and National Guard Soldiers.<\/p>\n<p>The new guidance includes a $500 increase and two semester-hour increase for tuition assistance, and changes to the credentialing assistance program.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe Army recognizes the value of the tuition assistance and credentialing assistance programs, both of which support our Soldiers\u2019 professional development and readiness levels,\u201d said Christine Traugott, policy manager for Soldier education and transition with the office of the Assistant Secretary of the Army for Manpower and Reserve Affairs.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe changes we are making to these programs will help ensure their long-term sustainability, will bring the Army\u202finto closer alignment with\u202fhow other services execute voluntary education\u202fprograms\u202fand will preserve the benefits for Soldiers who need them the most,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n<p>The Army will implement these changes in two phases. First, with a message released to the force Dec. 11.  Second, with an updated Army regulation, projected to be released in 2025.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Phase 1 changes:<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Tuition Assistance<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Increase annual cap from $4,000 to $4,500<\/li>\n<li>Increase semester hours from 16 to 18<\/li>\n<li>Require Soldiers who are first time users of TA to take ArmyIgnitED training\u00a0prior to requesting TA<\/li>\n<li>Require Soldiers to use the decision support tool prior to requesting TA.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Credentialing Assistance<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Decrease the annual cap from $4,000 to $2,000<\/li>\n<li>Limit Soldiers to one credential a year and a max of three in 10 years<\/li>\n<li>Require Soldiers to take associated credential\u202fexam\u202for recoup the cost\u00a0of the course work\/training<\/li>\n<li>Limit Aviation credentials to $1,000 per year for all Army components.<\/li>\n<li>Require Soldiers who are first time users of CA to take ArmyIgnitED training\u00a0prior to requesting CA<\/li>\n<li>Require Soldiers to use the decision support tool prior to requesting CA.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Phase 2 changes:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Suspend CA and TA for Soldiers with two recoupments (TA and CA combined) in a year<\/li>\n<li>Preclude commissioned officers from using CA.<\/li>\n<li>Require command approval for TA and CA requests.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>This policy update\u202f\u202ffollows\u202fa review of both programs.\u202fTraugott said since its launch in 2020, the Army Credentialing Assistance Program has nearly doubled in cost\u202fevery year.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhen you have a program increase exponentially over\u202fa four-year period, you\u202fare eventually going to\u202fblow your budget to the point where it won\u2019t be available to anyone,\u201d she explained.<\/p>\n<p>She said the changes ensure the Army and the Soldiers get a return on their investment.<\/p>\n<p>According to the office of the Assistant Secretary of the Army for Manpower and Reserve Affairs, the average cost of a credential is $1,700\u202fwhile Soldiers\u202ftake an average of 1.5 credentials a year. The\u202fArmy anticipates the reduction in CA will have minimal impact on Soldiers, she added.<\/p>\n<p>The increases in tuition assistance\u202fbrings\u202fthe Army in line with the Navy and the Air Force. It also allows Soldiers to take more classes each year, giving them an opportunity to earn a degree faster.<\/p>\n<p>When applying for educational benefits, Soldiers need enough time left in service to complete the program they submit for. Active-duty\u202fofficers\u202fand warrant officers above warrant officer two incur a two-year service obligation for tuition assistance, while reserve-component officers have a four-year obligation.<\/p>\n<p>There is no service obligation when using credentialing assistance.<\/p>\n<p>Requests for both programs must be submitted and approved before the course start date using\u202f<a href=\"https:\/\/www.armyignited.army.mil\/student\/public\/welcome%22%20\/t%20%22_blank\" target=\"_blank\">ArmyIgnitED<\/a>. The new policy guidance brings the service members\u2019 leadership into the approval chain to help streamline the process.<\/p>\n<p>\u201c[These programs] are a way for Soldiers to improve professionally and personally,\u201d Traugott said. \u201cI think for both TA and CA, they increase your skill set while you\u2019re in the Army and improve your employability when your time in service ends, whether that\u2019s after one enlistment term or an entire career.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>RELATED LINKS:<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.army.mil\/article\/234389\/army_launches_voluntary_credentialing_assistance_program\" target=\"_blank\">Army launches voluntary credentialing assistance program<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.army.mil\/news#army_news_service\" target=\"_blank\">ARNEWS Archive<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Army announced policy updates Dec. 11, 2024, for the tuition assistance and credentialing assistance educational programs for active-duty, Reserve, and National Guard Soldiers. The changes include increased semester hour and dollar amount caps for TA and a reduction in the dollar amount cap for CA. (Photo Credit: U.S. Army photo by Nell King) VIEW [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":330879,"comment_status":"close","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-330877","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/330877","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=330877"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/330877\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":330880,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/330877\/revisions\/330880"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/330879"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=330877"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=330877"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=330877"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}