Service programs — Coast Guard Reserve - Education, college, training - Air Force Times

Service programs — Coast Guard Reserve

Most Coast Guard reservists drill at active-duty sites and have access to nearly all educational programs available to active-duty members.

Coast Guard Institute. The institute assists the American Council on Education in converting Coast Guard military training and experience into college credit.

It has a library that offers college courses on video and audiocassette to help prepare students for college-level exams. It also offers professional in-rate correspondence courses, many worth ACE-recommended credit.

The Coast Guard Institute in Oklahoma City coordinates all voluntary education programs for the Coast Guard Reserve.

Contact: Call the Academic Development Division Institute, (405) 954-2437, (405) 954-1360 or (405) 954-0072, or visit www.uscg.mil/hq/cgi/ index.html.

Coast Guard Reserve members are also eligible for the new Educational Assistance Benefits Program. Created in 2005, the program provides educational assistance to reservists mobilized under Title 10. Benefits are based on the length of mobilization and are a percentage of the GI Bill active-duty rate.

Under this program, reservists mobilized for more than 90 days but less than one year are eligible for 40 percent or $413.60 per month for full-time tuition.

Reservists mobilized for 365 to 729 days are eligible for 60 percent or a maximum of $620.40 per month. Reservists mobilized for more than two years are eligible for 80 percent or $827.20 per month.

To qualify, members of the Selected Reserve must return to the Selected Reserve and members of the Individual Ready Reserve must return to the IRR or Selected Reserve. This benefit is an addition to the Tuition Assistance Program, which has a cap of $4,500 and a semester hour cap of $250. The benefit is also an addition to the GI Bill, Selected Reserve and GI Bill, Active Duty.

Contact: For more information, visit www.uscg.mil/hq/cgi/index.html;click on Funding Sources.