Air Force suspends tuition assistance for active-duty personnel

RALEIGH, N.C. — The U.S. Air Force joined other military branches Tuesday in suspending tuition aid that thousands of active-duty service members rely on to pay for college classes.

More than 2,500 active-duty airmen at Nellis Air Force Base and 400 members of the Nevada National Guard who attend colleges in the state or take online classes will be affected by the decision.

Air Force spokeswoman Lt. Col. Laurel Tingley said airmen were notified by email that new applications for tuition aid won’t be accepted because of the $85 billion in automatic federal spending cuts that went into effect March 1.

The U.S. Army, U.S. Marine Corps and U.S. Coast Guard quietly suspended their aid programs last week. A decision by the U.S. Navy is pending.

The tuition aid programs pay up to $250 per semester hour for active-duty personnel, as much as $4,500 per year. Payments already approved under the program will still be paid, but the changes are expected to leave military personnel scrambling to figure out how to pay for classes for the summer and fall semesters.

Service members may still qualify for aid under the G.I. Bill, which has not been affected.

Col. Barry Cornish, commander of 99th Air Base Wing at Nellis, said Tuesday the suspension of military tuition assistance is one of the “difficult choices to preserve readiness” that the Air Force has had to make.

Review-Journal writer Keith Rogers contributed to this report.