Sequestration Hits Army Tuition Assistance

[d00ditsemily]

Earlier this week the Marine Corps moved to halt tuition assistance for new enrollees in response to the sequestration. On Thursday, March 7, 2013, the Army announced they will also suspend all tuition assistance enrollments

Comments

[alexvdl]

Yup. It's hard to find exact data, but this would be the first time in decades that TA has simply stopped instead of just reducing to 75 or 50 percent.

Total costs for a year are 323 million dollars.

A LOT of soldiers are pretty angry considering that we just announced giving $250 million dollars to Egypt, and started a $12 million dollar cosmetic revamp of the Washington monument.

I haven't really looked into either of those things, and therefore have no real opinion on them, but am upset about losing my TA.

[bananainpyjamas]

The "cosmetic revamp" just started on the Washington monument is meant to repair the damage done in the DC earthquake. And it's not like foreign aid to a country that just underwent a democratic revolution is such a worthless cause.

Basically everything took a hit, it's not constructive to be like "why are they spending money on X when they cut Y" when the real issue is "why did Congress let the sequester happen in the first place?"

[alexvdl]

As I said, I haven't looked into either of those things in more than passing, but those are both concerns of service members that I have talked to. Cursory glance through Google does show human rights organizations with grave concerns as to how aid money is being given to Egypt and where it's being used, though. I'm aware that spending in one place, doesn't translate to loss of funding in other places,a nd that most of the times these projects ahve been on the backburner for months or even years, politics, etc. etc

[roseofjuly]

They didn't say it was worthless. I think our servicemembers deserve to let off a bit of frustration when they give so much and are getting important benefits cut off - especially when a lot of these benefits were promised to them and were part of the reason they signed up in the first place. And I don't think it's at all unconstructive to question why our money is being spent the way it is, sequester or not.

[bananainpyjamas]

ETA: Whoops sorry, meant as reply above.

[pimmie]

I'm glad this was posted here. My husband noticed the change when he went to register for classes this term. I know it's useless to bitch about spending cuts for X when Y is still being funded, but defense spending is always like this. Useless programs continue to be funded while cuts like this end up being made arbitrarily (so it seems).

With all the fuss about vets not being able to find jobs when they get out, this will have a huge impact on their economic viability if they're unable to finish their degrees. I know that with the GI Bill, many of our friends have already passed it on to other family members so it's no longer an option. :/

Not much to be done about it except . . . BOOO! And hope this nonsense can be fixed SOON. I'm pissed off and sick of it, but what can I do about it aside from phone calls and letters that seem to make no difference.

[kitschaster]

Of all the FUCKING THINGS to start cutting you cut educational assistance? That's why this country is going straight to fucking shit right fucking now. Am I angry? Yes, I'm fucking pissed. It's bad enough my fiance's time and training in the army basically meant piss-all for him, that the VA does little to nothing to help vets and help keep them up-to-date and informed on their benefits, that half the time the VA is hard to even reach and isn't in every city, that looking for jobs out of the army through the VA is basically useless unless you wanna work for FEMA, and FEMA is seasonal and moves you all over the place

[alexvdl]

The "for profit" colleges like DeVry, ITT Technical Institute, University of Phoenix, while not anywhere near prestigious as most colleges, are still solid options with accredited degree programs. I know that one of the reasons that soldiers and sailors pick those colleges to get their degrees through is that they are usually much more flexible than others. Wanting to make a profit means that they'll put more effort into making themselves accessible.

Just my two cents. Of course, the one I use isn't, but that part didn't really enter into the equation. It was just the one that would give me the most credits for the training I'd gotten.

[thecityofdis]

For-profit colleges are not solid options, they are scams, and the degrees are virtually worthless. When I'm hiring, I don't consider somebody who received a degree from a for-profit college to meet the minimum eligibility requirements of a BA, and I don't know a single person who does, either. (This sucks for the applicants, and I feel for them. But the universities are paper mills, at best.)

I am usually pretty happy-go-lucky capitalist, but for-profit colleges are predatory scams and should be completely illegal. (But not before they all get sued into the ground.)

[alexvdl]

That's straight fucked up, and probably illegal.

I'm sorry that not every one has the money and the ability to go to colleges that you feel meet the minimum requirements of a BA. But if the school is properly accredited, who the fuck are you to decide the degree isn't acceptable? There are people whose job it is to figure out of it those degrees are "paper mills". For example, the University of Phoenix, DeVry, is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission. The US Department of Education and the Council for Higher Education Accreditation both recognize the HLC as a regional accrediting organization.