Using Military Tuition Assistance
Armed Forces Tuition Assistance is a benefit paid to eligible members of the Army, Navy, Marines, Air Force and Coast Guard. The Department of Defense has directed a uniform tuition assistance fiscal policy across all military services. Currently, the established semester hour cap is $250, and each service member has an annual ceiling of $4,500. Military services will pay 100 percent of the tuition and authorized fees charged by a college up to the established semester hour cap and annual ceiling.
Each branch of the military handles Tuition Assistance a little differently. If you are in the Army, you will use GoArmyEd to register for courses and have Tuition Assistance applied. If you are in the Air Force, you will need to register through UBalt and then apply for Tuition Assistance through the Air Force Virtual Education Center. If you are in the Coast Guard, Navy, or Marine Corps, you will need to contact your Education Center to request a tuition assistance form.
Tuition assistance forms that are not received within the allotted semester (fall, spring, or summer) will not be posted. Exceptions will be made for deployed soldiers or corrections. If you are using Tuition Assistance and withdraw from a course prior to completing 60 percent of the course, you may be required to pay a portion of the tuition, in accordance with Department of Defense regulations.
The University of Baltimore will only enroll service members in the TA program after the service member has been approved by their Service. Service members will be solely responsible for all tuition and fees without this prior approval. You are entitled, however, to pre-register for a course (or courses), in order to secure a slot in a course. If you fail to secure appropriate TA funding, you are bound to adhere to normal University of Baltimore tuition refund procedures. See the UBalt Academic Calendar for information on drop/add periods and deadlines to withdraw from courses.
For more information, contact your military branch for details on your eligibility and the branch's process for submitting the tuition assistance forms.
- Air Force / Air Force Reserve / Air National Guard
- Army / Army Reserve / Army National Guard
- Coast Guard
- Marine Corps / Marine Corps Reserve
- Navy / Navy Reserve
- National Guard
- Air National Guard
- U.S. Public Health Services
- Commissioned Corps of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
Tuition Assistance Eligible Courses. Courses will be considered eligible for TA if they are:
- Part of an individual's evaluated educational plan; or
- Prerequisites for courses within an individual's evaluated educational plan; or
- Required for acceptance into a higher-level degree program, unless otherwise specified by Service regulations.
Administration of Tuition. The University of Baltimore will comply with DoD and Service-appropriate regulations and will follow these policies for the return of TA funds:
- Return any TA Program funds directly to the Military Service, not to the Service member
- Up to the start date, return all (100 percent) TA funds to the appropriate Military Service when the Service member does not
- Return any TA funds paid for a course that is cancelled by the University of Baltimore
- Will return any unearned TA funds on a proportional basis through at least the 60percent portion of the period for which funds were provided. TA funds are earned proportionally during an enrollment period, with unearned funds returned based upon when a student stops attending. In instances when a Service member stops attending due to a military service obligation, the University of Baltimore will work with the affected Service member to identify a solution that will not result in a student debt for the returned portion.
Submitting Tuition Assistance Forms
Fax your Tuition Assistance forms to the Office of the Bursar at 410.837.6532 or scan them and send them to ubbursar@ubalt.edu by the last day to drop and add for the semester. If you have unusual circumstances, contact us as soon as possible.
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The Bursar’s Office will report course enrollment, course withdrawal, course cancellation, course completion or failure, grade, verification o degree and billing information to the TA issuing Service’s education office, as outlined in the Service’s regulations and instructions. The University of Baltimore has a signed agreement with each Service, outlining those requirements. Those agreements can be found as part of the University of Baltimore/Department of Defense (DoD) Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), Voluntary Education Partnership.
Compliance
The University of Baltimore is in full compliance with the Veterans Benefits and Transitions Act of 2018. If you are a student using either the Post 9/11 GI Bill® (Chapter 33) or the Vocational Rehabilitation and Education benefits (Chapter 31), as long as you submit your certification through the School Certifying Official (SCO) for the appropriate academic term, and the VA is delayed in making your tuition payment, you will be exempt from the following:
- Late fees relating to unpaid tuition covered by the VA
- Holds on your account that prevent you from enrolling in classes in subsequent academic terms
- Denial of any school resources
- Being required to secure additional funding to pay tuition (loans, financial aid)
To reiterate, to qualify for any of these exemptions, you must certify your enrollment through the SCO and provide all the required paperwork. Failure to properly certify through the SCO may result in the denial of any of the above exemptions. If you need to contact the SCO, you may do so at veterans@ubalt.edu
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Waiver Eligibility
Students eligible for tuition waivers include:
- USM employees, their spouses and dependents
- senior citizens (law classes not eligible)
- graduate assistants
- Maryland National Guard (law classes not eligible)
Important Information
Tuition remission and graduate assistant waivers are applied only to tuition costs. If one waiver does not satisfy the full tuition cost, the other waiver will be applied to cover the remaining tuition balance. A waiver may not be applied to cover student fees. Any waiver submitted for a semester that has ended may not be eligible for processing.
Any waiver will not be applied until after the last day to drop and add for the semester has passed.
Compliance
The University of Baltimore is in full compliance with the Veterans Benefits and Transitions Act of 2018. If you are a student using either the Post 9/11 GI Bill® (Chapter 33) or the Vocational Rehabilitation and Education benefits (Chapter 31), as long as you submit your certification through the School Certifying Official (SCO) for the appropriate academic term, and the VA is delayed in making your tuition payment, you will be exempt from the following:
- Late fees relating to unpaid tuition covered by the VA
- Holds on your account that prevent you from enrolling in classes in subsequent academic terms
- Denial of any school resources
- Being required to secure additional funding to pay tuition (loans, financial aid)
To reiterate, to qualify for any of these exemptions, you must certify your enrollment through the SCO and provide all the required paperwork. Failure to properly certify through the SCO may result in the denial of any of the above exemptions. If you need to contact the SCO, you may do so at veterans@ubalt.edu
Something to that effect. Again, this is one of those cases where having the information public will prevent any compliance issues down the road. And, since this Act impacts Chapter 31 and Chapter 33 students, we definitely don’t want to run the risk of being suspended or withdrawn from the programs. Let me know what you think.
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Is Someone Else Paying Your Bill?
If an outside employer, agency or organization is paying your bill, bring, email or fax the third-party billing authorization form (available through the organization/employer paying your bill) to the Office of the Bursar by the last day to drop and add for the term. We must have this information so we can bill your employer/organization. Please note that until the payment is received in full, your account will be treated as your account. This means that if the payment is not paid by the date service indicators are being placed, your account will be subject to receiving a service indicator, which will prevent future registration and transcripts and/or degrees release, and your account will be subject to all collection activity, including being forwarded to the Maryland Central Collection Unit.
Documentation received after the last day to drop and add will be processed within 30 days of submission. Any holds will remain until the account balances are paid in full. We may not accept any third-party paperwork submitted for a semester after it has ended.
It is important to review your student account on a regular basis until payment is received in full.
Questions? Contact us.