{"id":34560,"date":"2018-03-27T22:31:27","date_gmt":"2018-03-27T22:31:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/uncategorized\/2018\/03\/27\/on-deployment-dod-might-make-it-easier-for-you-to-use-ta\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T05:07:46","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T05:07:46","slug":"on-deployment-dod-might-make-it-easier-for-you-to-use-ta","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/news\/2018\/03\/27\/on-deployment-dod-might-make-it-easier-for-you-to-use-ta\/","title":{"rendered":"On deployment? DoD might make it easier for you to use TA"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The Defense Department may ease tuition assistance rules for deployed service members to make it easier for them to take classes, a DoD official said Tuesday.
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\u201cThey have extra time on their hands, in some cases, and they want to do more,\u201d said Dawn Bilodeau, chief of DoD Voluntary Education.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The DoD tuition assistance program, commonly called TA, sets caps on how many courses students can take at a time \u2014 and how much in tuition costs it will pay.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But for deployed troops, DoD officials are rethinking of the current TA cap of $250 per semester hour and $4,500 per fiscal year. They are also considering whether to pay fees, as well as tuition \u2015 only tuition is covered now \u2015 and waive a time-in-service requirement used by some service branches.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Speaking at the annual Council of College and Military Educators held in San Diego this week, DoD officials outlined several other education-related changes that the department is developing or considering.
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Career Path DECIDE<\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This interactive web tool, currently in the final testing phase, will help service members identify the steps they\u2019ll need to take to pursue a specific career field after the military.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBasically, it takes a bunch of federal data sources from Department of Labor to the College Navigator that the Department of Education has, and it makes that information consumable for our service members,\u201d Bilodeau said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Users will be able to input information such as their branch of service, rank and military occupational specialty to see potential careers that most closely align with their in-service experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt also allows them to see what they\u2019re good to go for right now but gives them aspirations for higher-level, intermediate, senior-level jobs in that same career field and tells them … what\u2019s their best next step,\u201d Bilodeau said.<\/p>\n\n\n\t