Troy University Master's - $250/credit for military

[PreLawCoastie]

Hey All!

I'm finishing up my BA in Political Science at Penn State World. I'll have met all the requirements for the degree this semester, after only a year (a long time for this forum, but pretty good for a name-brand state school without any distinction between campuses, looking at you PUG!) I'm knocking out minors in Sociology and History over the summer (just two UL classes in each, got ll history classes through CLEP and ASU ULC and taking ll Soc courses at ASU online) because I'm trying to get my GPA up for law school admissions. I'm also considering doing a semester at UMPI before I leave for a different unit in June, but it looks like I missed the deadline.

But, I still have a year before I can apply for law school through my military branch, and two years if they don't accept me into the program and I have to wait for my contract to end! So I'm considering a masters, probably in International Relations/Affairs. I'm mostly looking at King's College London's online IA program or SOAS's Diplomacy program, but those are about 20,000 pounds, so I wanted to tell you all about my fallback - troy University

Some of you might recognize them from their six free undergrad RA credits they offered a few years back, but they actually offer a ton of grad programs at about $400/credit. The kicker is: if you're in the military it's only $250 a credit for a Master's degree at a state school! 


https://www.troy.edu/online/

[bjcheung77]

It does look good... Here's another thought, if those of you are 'active and in service', you really need to research institutions of choice. Most institutions will have undergrad and graduate studies at the same price point. It's getting into the program of your choice that makes the final decision, not the price tag that should hold you back. Find comparable programs and decide which one of your shortlist matches what you're looking for...

[PreLawCoastie]

It does look good... Here's another thought, if those of you are 'active and in service', you really need to research institutions of choice.  Most institutions will have undergrad and graduate studies at the same price point.  It's getting into the program of your choice that makes the final decision, not the price tag that should hold you back.  Find comparable programs and decide which one of your shortlist matches what you're looking for...

I can't seem to find that... Do you mean programs with funding? I absolutely agree - my parent's got their PhDs funded, but I've never been able to find a funded program I could do online in while on active duty. Do you have a jumping off point?

[sarahmac]

It does look good... Here's another thought, if those of you are 'active and in service', you really need to research institutions of choice.  Most institutions will have undergrad and graduate studies at the same price point.  It's getting into the program of your choice that makes the final decision, not the price tag that should hold you back.  Find comparable programs and decide which one of your shortlist matches what you're looking for...

I can't seem to find that... Do you mean programs with funding? I absolutely agree - my parent's got their PhDs funded, but I've never been able to find a funded program I could do online in while on active duty. Do you have a jumping off point?

I think he is likely referring to the fact that many universities offer 250 a credit to military-affiliated students because they know it is the TA cap. 

Unfortunately, that isn't true at the grad level. The 250 per credit active duty tuition rate at the vast majority of schools only applies at the undergraduate level. There are some, but it is nowhere near as common, and many are TA grubbing hell pits like AMU that are best avoided. 

Some offer close to it at 350-400 a credit though, which isn't the end of the world if you claim tuition costs on your taxes that reimburse a percentage. Can bring down OOP costs to 1200 or so a year based on 15 cr.

[bjcheung77]

Oh snap, that's correct, my mistake, I was reading that tuition for undergrad (even though it was mentioned for Masters)... Anyways, you did bring up a valid point, funding for PhD and probably other options for scholarships, etc, to bring the costs down even further. I would again suggest looking at degrees and institutions of choice, make a shortlist and apply for the ones that fit.

[PreLawCoastie]

Yeah, that's the main thing about Troy, they're one of the few schools that offer that rate (colloquially we call it "matching TA) that is actually an accredited brick and mortar school.

Here's the list that gets passed around (on reddit) if anyone's interested. Troy is the best one that actually offers a decent diversity of degrees, but lots of you might be more itnerested in MBA or CS degrees and there are better schools for that. Standouts (for me anyway) are FIT, University of Charleston, and University of Louisville, but again limited degree options.

Angelo State University - $250 Per Semester Hour https://www.angelo.edu/content/news/9173-three-online-masters-programs-nationally-ranked http://www.angelo.edu/dept/veterans/active_duty_.php
Aspen University - $250 Per Semester Hour http://aspen.eduhttp://www.aspen.edu/payment-methods
Austin Peay State University - $250 Per Semester Hour http://www.apsu.edu/military/admissions http://www.apsu.edu/military/admissions#tuition
Florida Institute of Technology - $250 Per Semester Hour http://es.fit.edu/military.php http://online.fit.edu/veterans/
Northern Arizona University - $250 Per Semester Hour http://nau.edu/GradCol/Admissions/Application/ http://nau.edu/SDAS/Tuition-Fees/Fall_Tuition/Fall_Extended_DOD/
Troy University - $250 Per Semester Hour http://www.troy.edu/military/veteransbenefits.html http://www.troy.edu/sfs/tuition-fees-online.html
University of Charleston - $250 Per Semester Hour http://www.ucwv.edu/Military-Partners/
University of the Incarnate Word - $250 Per Semester Hour http://military.uiw.edu/ http://military.uiw.edu/tuition
University of Louisville - $250 Per Semester Hour http://louisville.edu/online/military http://louisville.edu/online/military/military-tuition-discounts
University of Management and Technology - $250 Per Semester Hour (National Accreditation) http://www.umtweb.edu/TandFA.aspx
Upper Iowa University - $250 Per Semester Hour http://www.uiu.edu/future/military-veterans/tuition-discounts.html
Waldorf University - $250 Per Semester Hour http://www.waldorf.edu/military/active-military
Western Carolina University - $250 Per Semester Hour https://ccnt3.wcu.edu/learn/academic-services/military-student-services/index.asp
Western Kentucky University – $250 Per Semester Hour http://www.wku.edu/veterans/ http://www.wku.edu/veterans/wku_special_tuition_rate.php

[bjcheung77]

Thanks for sharing this list, I wonder if Columbia Southern University does anything similar to their sister university (Waldorf).

[PreLawCoastie]

Thanks for sharing this list, I wonder if Columbia Southern University does anything similar to their sister university (Waldorf).

I know someone going right now, but I gave it a miss because it's only NA I believe, but they waive a good chunk of the tuition.

[bjcheung77]

Actually, Columbia Southern recently received RA status and withdrew their DEAC/NA as well... If they do a payment and pricing scheme like Waldorf does, I think they'll attract more students, it really depends on how they play their pricing game with the tuition fees and all. Link: https://www.columbiasouthern.edu/About-C...-licensure

[Jonathan Whatley]

Columbia Southern University achieved regional accreditation with SACS in late 2022, and has been RA since.