The Sequestration Cuts Education Benefits for Active Duty Military Personnel

The first major casualty of sequestration has hit the Army and Marine tuition assistance programs. Earlier this month, Navy Secretary Ray Mabus released a statement saying that the program would be closed until to new enrollees until further notice. On Thursday, the Army followed suit, saying in a statement that

Due to the current fiscal challenges, the Secretary of the Army has approved the suspension of Tuition Assistance (TA) effective 1700 EST Friday, 8 Mar 13. The suspension applies to all components and will remain effect until the fiscal situation matures. Effective 1700 EST 8 Mar 13, Soldiers will no longer be permitted to submit new requests for Tuition Assistance through the GoArmyEd portal.

The tuition assistance program allows active-duty military personnel to obtain vocational training, college education, and high school equivalency programs on their own time. The Air Force is considering taking the same action.