The Navy has announced that Sailors planning to use Tuition Assistance (TA) for college classes in 2017 are required to have their TA requests approved by their command a minimum of 14 days prior to the term start date.
According to NAVADMIN 219/16, TA requests that are not command approved at least 14 days before the term start date will be automatically disallowed in the Navy's MyEducation portal. Also if you try to submit a TA Application within the 14 day window, the system will not let you create a new application.
This means that college terms starting on January 2, 2017, TA requests must be submitted and approved by December 19, 2016.
January 9, 2017 starting terms have a cutoff date of December 26, 2016; January 16, 2017 terms have a cutoff date of January 2, 2017; January 23, 2017 terms have a cutoff date of January 9, 2017 and January 30, 2017 terms have a cutoff date of January 16, 2017.
With the change in regulations and the holiday period the Navy is reminding Sailors to act on their TA applications early to prevent disapproval and disappointment down the road.
"This is a major change for service members that were used to the old TA application requirements," said Ernest D'Antonio, Navy Voluntary Education Program director. "With the holidays coming up, it's critical to understand that for classes starting in early January, TA requests need to be in the pipeline no later than the middle of December."
"First-time TA users are also required to complete the DoD Higher Education Preparation Training Course, WebTA Training and receive education counseling through the Virtual Education Center or a Navy College Office," added D'Antonio. "Those service members should start the process even earlier to make sure they are able to complete the process by the deadline."
See our "Navy Tuition Assistance" page for details.
The Navy College Program website is www.navycollege.navy.mil.
