Army Reserve Resumes Scholarship Program After Temporary Outage
In August 2023, the Army Reserve found itself out of funding for the Army Reserve Scholarship program some two weeks before school was supposed to start at many colleges and universities.
The Army Reserve used up its entire $20 million scholarship budget and, according to Military.com, failed to notify troops of the lack of funding.
Some troops found themselves unable to successfully enroll in new classes after the funding ran out, learning by accident about the problem.
The Army ran out of money for the current fiscal year, but more funds were scheduled for the new fiscal year beginning 1 October. However, that wasn’t enough to prevent people from being denied enrollment under the current fiscal year’s funding in August 2023 when class signup deadlines loomed.
Army Reserve Scholarship Fixes By The Army Reserve
The Army Reserve official site states, “The Army Reserve has resolved the temporary outage of the Tuition Assistance funding that impacted some of our Soldiers earlier this week,” noting that “Funding is available” and “there should be no lapse in any Army Reserve Soldier’s ability to register for courses and use their educational benefits.”
The statement does not detail how the tuition assistance program fixes were made or where the new funding came from.
That statement also includes an apology for the problem but, notably, not for the failure to inform Army Reservists about the issue.
Related: Ultimate GI Bill Benefits Guide
What Does the Army Reserve Scholarship Program Cover?
When the program is running normally, the Army Reserve Scholarship program offers up to $4500 per year and up to $250 per credit hour.
The scholarship program is offered above and beyond VA education benefits like the GI Bill, which some note has been harder for reservists to qualify for in an era where overseas deployments are lower than in past decades.
Other Reserve Component Issues
If this story sounds a bit familiar, it’s because the National Guard has also had its share of troubles offering education benefits to its troops.
The Army National Guard also paused its student loan debt repayment program in the summer of 2023 due to funding troubles. Both the National Guard and the Reserve are considered “reserve component duty,” but the scholarship programs and other education benefits are typically administered individually by the Guard and Reserve. The issues affecting the National Guard student loan repayment plan are separate from those affecting the Army Reserve Scholarship program.
Related: Ultimate GI Bill Benefits Guide
About the author
Editor-in-Chief Joe Wallace is a 13-year veteran of the United States Air Force and a former reporter/editor for Air Force Television News and the Pentagon Channel. His freelance work includes contract work for Motorola, VALoans.com, and Credit Karma. He is co-founder of Dim Art House in Springfield, Illinois, and spends his non-writing time as an abstract painter, independent publisher, and occasional filmmaker.
