Here to support you one-on-one, staff in these offices are dedicated solely to military-affiliated students to help them succeed. They’ll work with you to determine eligibility for the variety of education benefits available, help you start the benefits process, apply for financial aid, and order military transcripts. They also connect you to resources to support other student needs.

The SVA helps support veterans in their transition from the military to academia and into their chosen career field through a peer-to-peer network. In partnership with community organizations such as Disabled American Veterans, Veterans of Foreign Wars, Wounded Warrior Project, the SVA-MU participates in fundraising projects to assist local and national veterans.

Chi Delta Chi is the Honor Society for Veterans and Military family members — non-traditional students who have served their country and are attending MU while working full-time jobs and raising a family. Members are usually inducted in their sophomore or junior year.

Government-Based Education Assistance

Veterans and active-duty, guard, and reserve service members, as well as their spouses and dependents, can use a variety of GI Bills to help fund their education.

You can compare benefits easily by using the GI Bill Comparison Tool and viewing current payment rates.

Forever GI Bill®

The Forever GI Bill® expands the eligibility for and the amount of education benefits provided in the Post-9/11 GI Bill® as well as the length of time veterans have to use them. See Full Details >>

Post-9/11 GI Bill®

Get help with tuition and fees, money for housing, books, and supplies. If you’ve served on active duty after September 10, 2001, you may qualify for the Post-9/11 GI Bill (Chapter 33).

If you’re a member of the Reserves who lost education benefits when the Reserve Educational Assistance Program (REAP) ended in November 2015, you may qualify to receive restored benefits under the Post-9/11 GI Bill.

See Full Details >>

Montgomery GI Bill® — Active Duty

If you have served at least two years on active duty, the Montgomery GI Bill Active Duty (MGIB-AD) can help you pay for up to 36 months of education benefits. You must meet eligibility requirements in one of four categories. See Full Details >>

Montgomery GI Bill® — Selected Reserve

The Montgomery GI Bill® Selected Reserve (MGIB-SR) program offers up to 36 months of education and training benefits for members of the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps or Coast Guard Reserve, Army National Guard, or Air National Guard. If your obligation started after June 30, 1985, or for some types of training, after September 30, 1990, you may be eligible for this benefit. See Full Details >>

Veterans’ Educational Assistance Program (VEAP)

VEAP is a $2-to-$1 government-match program for educational assistance. If you entered the service for the first time between January 1, 1977, and June 30, 1985, and put money into your VEAP account before April 1, 1987, you may be able to continue your education by using part of your military pay to help cover the cost of school. See Full Details >>

Veteran Readiness and Employment (VR&E; Chapter 31)

Formerly referred to as Vocational Rehabilitation and Employment, this program helps you explore employment options and addresses training needs. In some cases, your family members may also qualify for certain benefits. See Full Details >>

Designed by the U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs, this program aims for the VA and degree-granting institutions to pay the difference between what is covered by GI Bill® benefits and the total cost of the program. The Yellow Ribbon Scholarship is automatically applied if your tuition costs exceed the maximum state cap for tuition reimbursement and if you are qualified for the Post 9/11 GI Bill® at the 100% rate. It does not apply for active-duty personnel, their spouses, or veterans receiving less than 100% of the benefit.

Methodist University will contribute 50% of the difference between the net tuition of the qualified student and the annual chapter 33 cap if needed to the Yellow Ribbon Program.

See Full Details >>

DoD Tuition Assistance (DoD TA)

Eligible military students may use state or federal TA to cover tuition, up to $250 per credit hour.

Visit your service branch for more information:

• Air Force
• Army
• Navy
• Marine Corps
• Coast Guard

Note: Some military sites have advanced security options and you may need to accept their security certificate before the site will load.

North Carolina National Guard Tuition Assistance Program (NCTAP)

The North Carolina National Guard Tuition Assistance Program (NCTAP) provides tuition assistance for active members of the North Carolina Army or Air National Guard. See Full Details >>

Military Spouse Career Advancement Accounts (MyCAA)

The MyCAA program provides up to $4,000 (over two years) of financial assistance for military spouses who are continuing their education by pursuing a license, certification, or associate degree in a portable career field and occupation. See Full Details >>

Post-9/11 GI Bill® Benefits

If you’re a qualified service member, you can transfer all 36 months or a portion of your Post-9/11 GI Bill benefits to a spouse or child. The DoD approves a transfer of benefits. Learn about transferring Post-9/11 GI Bill benefits

Survivors’ and Dependents’ Educational Assistance (DEA)

If you’re the child or spouse of a veteran or service member who has died, is captured or missing, or has a disability, you may be able to receive between 36 and 45 months of benefits to pay for school or job training through the DEA program — also called Chapter 35. See Full Details >>

Reduced Tuition

Tuition for active-duty and reserve component military students is $250 per credit hour for undergraduate programs, versus $400 per credit hour for traditional online students.

The MU Match Military Appreciation Scholarship

Active-duty military students who have used all 16 credit hours of their DoD TA during the fiscal year and need financial assistance to attend additional classes are eligible to receive up to nine credit hours (no more than one course per term) while attending MU.

Military-Friendly Policies

Methodist University allows service members and reservists to be readmitted to a program if they are temporarily unable to attend class or have to suspend their studies due to unanticipated service requirements, and we will take additional steps to accommodate short absences due to service obligations, provided that satisfactory academic progress is being made by the service members and reservists prior to suspending their studies. Communication between the military student, Instructor, Registrar and Office of Veteran Services and/or MU’s Fort Liberty Office is important and necessary to ensure punitive actions are not taken.

For help in identifying and using your military benefits, contact Randy Smith, director of veteran services, at randys@methodist.edu or at 910.630.7174.

Transfer previous college credits and earn credit for your military service or career experience so you can save time and money earning your degree.

• Undergraduate Degrees: You could transfer up to 93 credit hours between previous college experience and credit for your military career.
• Graduate Degree: You may transfer a maximum of nine credit hours.

See CLEP and Advanced Placement Credit Guidelines

• Advanced Placement Credit (PDF)
• CLEP and DANTES Exams (PDF)

Order Your Military Transcripts

• Joint Service Transcripts (Army, Navy, Coast Guard, Marine Corps)
• Air Force Transcripts

The ASA offers three scholarship programs to active duty, veterans, and dependent family members. See Full Details >>

We’ve found the Minnesota Department of Veteran Affairs has an impressive list of more than 50 military scholarships. While some are state-specific, much of this list contains national scholarships available to veterans, active military, or their dependents or spouses. You can learn more about the scholarships, their eligibility requirements, and award amounts here.

Active-duty military, veterans, and their families can find scholarship opportunities with the following organizations.

Paralyzed Veterans of America (PVA)

Paralyzed Veterans of America is proud to offer funds to PVA members and their immediate family members through our Educational Scholarship Program. You need to be a PVA member, the spouse of a member, or an unmarried, dependant child to be eligible. See Details and Application >>

Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW)

The VFW’s “Sport Clips Help A Hero Scholarship” provides active military and veterans with the financial assistance they need to complete their educational goals with a scholarship award of up to $5,000. See Details and Application >>

There are a number of federally based scholarship programs designed to meet the needs of the spouses and families of veterans. In addition to the list here, please also review the additional scholarship opportunities on this page.

Fry Scholarship

If you’re the child or surviving spouse of a service member who died in the line of duty on or after September 11, 2001, or a member of the Selected Reserve who died from a service-connected disability on or after the same date, you may qualify for the Marine Gunnery Sergeant John David Fry Scholarship (Fry Scholarship) which grants you up to 36 months of benefits including money for tuition, housing, books, and supplies. Learn more about the Fry Scholarship

Iraq and Afghanistan Service Grants

If you are a child of a U.S. military service member who died due to military service in Iraq or Afghanistan after 9/11, you may be eligible for this federal grant which awards between $5,983.34 and $6,495 depending upon your eligibility. See Full Details >>

Veterans United Foundation Scholarships

If you are a surviving spouse or child of a deceased service member from a service-related death or of a veteran with a 100% service-connected disability, you could be eligible for a $2,000 scholarship from the Veterans United Foundation. See Details and Application >>

We’ve made a good-faith effort to curate a shortlist of free, external scholarship search sites.* Many times, simply searching on the “military” or “veterans” categories on these sites can bring up a list of additional resources.

U.S. Department of Labor

Search more than 7,500 scholarships, fellowships, grants, and other financial aid award opportunities with their free scholarship search tool.

CollegeScholarship.org

An ad-free, open-access scholarship search engine that does not require registration. They list more than 20,00 award programs offering more than $85 million in funding. Search CollegeScholarship.org now.

Unigo

Unigo offers a number of ways to search for a scholarship and facilitates matching your profile to scholarship opportunities. If you’re not ready to set up a profile, you can still search through thousands of scholarships using their category filters. Search their categories now.

UniversityHQ

An independent education organization, UniversityHQ provides students with the necessary resources to prepare and plan their career path in their chosen field. You can search for scholarships, financial aid, grants, and loans here.