Sequester Impacts: Army, Marines Suspend Tuition Assistance

The American Association of State Colleges and Universities (AASCU) recently reported about another impact of the across-the-board automatic federal budget cuts known as the “sequester" that is likely to be of significant Interest to many EDUCAUSE member institutions. AASCU has learned that the Army and Marine Corps “have suspended active duty tuition assistance programs indefinitely as a result of sequestration.” (It is not yet known whether the Air Force and Navy will follow suit.) On the positive side, this suspension only impacts new tuition assistance awards; existing or already approved awards are not affected. However, should the elimination of new tuition assistance awards persist for a significant period of time, colleges and universities that serve large numbers of active-duty military personnel from these branches may expect to see drops in their enrollments and tuition revenue.