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.
