MARINE CORPS BASE CAMP LEJEUNE, N.C. -- Thinking about enrolling in college classes as an active-duty service member? Recent changes to the tuition assistance application process make it easier to apply.
Service members, domestic and abroad, can now apply for tuition assistance online through a new program called webTA.
The transition from a paper application to the online application makes it easier for both service members applying and the chain of command, said Gery Boucher, the education branch manager at the Education Center aboard Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune.
The new online procedure started July 1 for troops abroad, and begins Aug. 1 for troops stateside.
Service members can now track their application through each step in the online approval process. For commanders, it cuts out a paper trail and makes it easier to check and approve, as well as keep records of who is going to school, said Dayna Gibbs an education technician at the Education Center.
Service members are granted up to $4,500 per fiscal year for classes but the money cannot be spent on books.
Service members who have no previous college are highly encouraged to take a college 101 class at the education center to learn the benefits and the types of degrees they can earn. After the class, it is the service members responsibility to look into schools to attend and complete the application process. After he or she gets a class schedule then they would complete the webTA application and send it up the chain of command via email.
“It is definitely an easier process, and I think our number of requests for tuitions assistance will increase from both deployed Marines and Marines serving at home as they get used to this new system,” said Boucher.
For more information, contact the Base Education Center at 451-3091 or at LejTA@usmc-mccs.org.