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Education Assistance: Top-Up

This program can be used to pay the balance of tuition and fees not covered by the Montgomery GI Bill and federal tuition assistance.

Service members must be approved for tuition assistance by the military and be eligible for GI Bill — Active Duty benefits.

The Top-Up program is not available for service members who are eligible for GI Bill —Selected Reserve benefits.

The benefit is payable for up to 36 months and is available for all courses.

Top-Up entitlement is based on the calendar year, and is not adjusted by training time or course load. The entitlement is reduced by the length of the course, not the payment amount. A three-month course, for example, reduces the entitlement to 33 months, whether the payment is $1,950 or $50.

A copy of the tuition assistance authorization form, signed by an authorized military official, is required when applying for Top-Up.

People who have not requested GI Bill benefits before also should submit a VA Form 22-1990 to establish eligibility, along with the tuition assistance form.

All forms should be clearly marked to specify you are requesting “Tuition Assistance Top-Up.”

Contact: (888) 442-4551; http://www.gibill.va.gov/pamphlets/tatu.htm.