Online Degrees and CLEP and DSST Exam Prep Discussion
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help funding school - ffdpsoldier - 01-10-2012

I'm about exhaust my post 9/11 gi bill and there is no extensions. I get my BA in april. Buti want to start my masters in the summer and finish by the end of fall when I get my commission.

I can't use my gi bill for the summer because I need it for the fall, so I need a way to pay for the graduate classes and help pay my bills,

I'm in the michigan national guard.... I've been told I can't use any other gi bill once using post 9/11 ... I don't know if the guard TA would help any but I still need a way to pay bills while I attend full time at school. I plan on duel enrolling inorder to get 100% bah from 9/11
I was told I can get my MA in criminal justice in time when I commission in dec.
After that ill use the active duty TA and go for a Dr or second masters.


help funding school - cookderosa - 01-10-2012

ffdpsoldier Wrote:I'm about exhaust my post 9/11 gi bill and there is no extensions. I get my BA in april. Buti want to start my masters in the summer and finish by the end of fall when I get my commission.

I can't use my gi bill for the summer because I need it for the fall, so I need a way to pay for the graduate classes and help pay my bills,

I'm in the michigan national guard.... I've been told I can't use any other gi bill once using post 9/11 ... I don't know if the guard TA would help any but I still need a way to pay bills while I attend full time at school. I plan on duel enrolling inorder to get 100% bah from 9/11
I was told I can get my MA in criminal justice in time when I commission in dec.
After that ill use the active duty TA and go for a Dr or second masters.

Couple thoughts: first pick an affordable school. Unless you're going to a top school, there is NO REASON to pay the insane tuition charged by many schools. In addition to the APUS system (which is my #1 fav) the New Mexico system is excellent. Either degree will cost you under $10,000 There are others too, but between these two, they offer a good number of choices.

Secondly, a student loan is the obvious answer, but I wouldn't borrow more than I needed. In the mean time, why not start saving now while your GI bill is in effect and by summer you'll have a good start.

I'm a "cash" person. Our family has made a commitment to living a debt-free lifestyle, so in my case, that means selling something-having a yard sale- babysitting here and there- cutting something, all of which help pay my tuition. I paid for most of my CLEPs selling stuff on ebay and both my Harvard grad classes were the fruit of huge garage sales and craigslist purges. I also keep a coin jar that is ONLY for tuition. I empty it whenever I need to enroll and it's always got a couple hundred bucks.

I'm also frugal big time.


help funding school - dcan - 01-10-2012

You can't get a PhD on DoD Tuition Assistance even for Active Duty -- we are limited to only master's degrees under TA, and it doesn't pay full tuition at that. I just looked up the Guard TA program and it is even more limited -- you can get a master's degree funded provided funding is available for the program. It apparently explicitly states it is not a guaranteed benefit. Are you sure they will pay for a second master's? I don't know that Active Duty TA will pay for that, it's not clear to me when they say they won't pay for a second one if they mean they won't pay for two or they just won't pay at all if you already have one.

I recommend trying to get TA to pay for it. They should pay for it regardless of you being enlisted or commissioned, unless they restrict it due to funding? The site below says first-come/first-served, but it wouldn't be the first time I've seen that kind of bias... 10 years ago the AF Institute of Technology was trying to fill its open student slots because not enough officers were applying, so the CMSgt of the AF suggested they open it up to enlisted. They almost had heart attacks. Sad

National Guard Tuition Assistance | Military.com


help funding school - ffdpsoldier - 01-13-2012

I'm going to use federal TA its 250 per credit hour however amu graduate credit hr cost 325$ just need a way to pay for the rest.


help funding school - rebel100 - 01-13-2012

I don't see how you are going to finish an MA in 2 semesters. Am I misreading something?

Since AMU has a very liberal transfer policy you might be able to reduce your overall cost by taking some of your courses at a cheaper school like WNMU. A 3 credit 500 level course there works out to about $550 total with fee's. You could then transfer these back to AMU. WNMU has quite a lot in Criminal Justice. Note that the tuition discount is for a max of 6 credits/semester, though there might be a policy to waive that for the military.

http://192.136.110.30:8080/webtm/sched.jsp


help funding school - dcan - 01-13-2012

ffdpsoldier Wrote:I'm going to use federal TA its 250 per credit hour however amu graduate credit hr cost 325$ just need a way to pay for the rest.

Right but my point is that Active Duty TA explicitly states it will not fund anything beyond a first master's degree.

I did however coincidentally hear today that apparently one state provides TA for doctorate level work, but I don't know what state it is. But that is only one state providing it for guard students. Active Duty doesn't at all.

Unless you found a loophole? I'm all ears. Smile


help funding school - ffdpsoldier - 01-15-2012

So I can get my masters with the TA, but can I get a second bachlors after the MA if I got my 1st BA with the gi bill


help funding school - CLEP101 - 01-15-2012

ffdpsoldier Wrote:So I can get my masters with the TA, but can I get a second bachlors after the MA if I got my 1st BA with the gi bill

Once you have a degree on record, TA will not pay for another one of the same level. You should have used TA for the Bachelors, and TA for the Masters and paid the difference in Tuition with the GI Bill Top Up program. TA will not pay for two Masters, just one. However, they will pay for 1 Masters and 1 Graduate Certificate. The route I'm taking is getting the Grad certificate in History and a Masters in Public Administration using TA, then turning the Grad Certificate into another Mastes using the GI Bill alone. I'll be able to transfer in 12 SH out of the 18 from the certificate.


help funding school - ffdpsoldier - 01-15-2012

has anyone have any experience with Fort Hays State university, there degree cost per credit hour is 235$ so federal TA could pay for 100% of it til the 4,500 cap is met about 6 -3credit classes....


help funding school - ffdpsoldier - 01-15-2012

or california coast university, cost is 230$ per graduate credit hour....
veterans/ active duty gets 10% discount
anyone experience with this college