Student Accounting

Military Tuition Assistance

Military Tuition Assistance is a U.S. Department of Defense program. Tuition Assistance rules vary by branch of service and even vary between different units within the same branch depending on whether the unit is active, reserve, or National Guard. Tuition Assistance funds will be applied to tuition costs only.

Military Tuition Assistance Recipients

Military Tuition Assistance (TA) is awarded to a student under the assumption that the student will attend school for the entire period for which the assistance is awarded. When a student withdraws, the student may no longer be eligible for the full amount of TA funds originally awarded. To comply with the U.S. Department of Defense policy, USF will return any unearned TA funds on a proportional basis through at least 60% portion of the period for which the funds were provided. If a service member stops attending due to a military service obligation, USF will work with the affected service member to identify solutions that will not result in a student debt for the returned portion.

Withdrawals and Potential Return of Funds

A student’s official withdrawal date is used as the last date of attendance and to calculate earned percentage of TA. A student’s official withdrawal date is determined by using the last date of attendance that is documented and submitted to the Office of the Registrar.

Once the last date of attendance has been determined, USF will recalculate a student’s TA eligibility based on the following formula:

 Military Eligibility Formula

The amount of TA funding that is earned is determined on a pro-rata basis. For example, if a student completed 30% of the course, s/he earned 30% of the TA funds that s/he was originally scheduled to receive. The remainder of the unearned funds (70%) would be returned to the TA program. If this results in an unpaid tuition balance, payment would be the responsibility of the student. Once a student has attended at least 60% of the period for which TA funds were approved, the student is considered to have earned 100% of the TA funds.