(LifeWire) - Coast Guard Tuition Assistance Basics:
Even if Coast Guard personnel are already receiving educational loans, they're still eligible for tuition assistance for college, including distance learning, for up to $250 per semester credit hour and $166 per quarter credit hour. The limit is $4,500 a year. Courses may be taken for academic or technical reasons. Remember that the institution must be accredited by a Department of Education-approved authority and that classes must be taken during off-duty hours. Most payment is made up front, except for classes longer than 18 months. Tuition assistance may also fund developmental courses in English and and math that are prerequisites for certain freshman courses.
Qualifying for Coast Guard Tuition Assistance:
Eligibility extends to Coast Guard active duty, select drilling reserve members, civilian employees and Coast Guard-aligned public health service workers. Officers carry a one-year obligation of further service after taking a class funded by tuition assistance. Civilian employees qualify by logging at least 90 consecutive days of Coast Guard service and by agreeing to remain with the Coast Guard for an additional month for every credit hour taken. Temporary civilian workers require a year of Coast Guard employment and are obligated to sign on with the Coast Guard an additional month for each credit hour. What the Coast Guard calls non-appropriated funded personnel and contractors do not qualify.
Online Colleges Approved for Coast Guard Tuition Assistance:
Among the colleges approved for Coast Guard assistance are Baker College, Columbia Southern University, DeVry University, Excelsior College, Florida Tech Online, Liberty University, National University, Penn State University World Campus, Saint Leo University Center for Online Learning, University of the Incarnate Word, and Upper Iowa University.
Applying for Coast Guard Tuition Assistance:
An application for tuition assistance goes through the U.S. Naval Education and Training Professional Development and Technology Center in Pensacola, Fla., but the Coast Guard does the approving. Applicants need to fill out form CG-4147, which can be downloaded at http://images.military.com/Resources/Forms/CG_4147.pdf, with command certification. Upon approval, would-be students receive the CGI-1560, the authorization permit that the applicants are to submit during school registration. The college bills the Navy for the federally funded share of the tuition assistance.
