Our office reviews each application to determine whether an applicant meets all the qualifications for a State TA award and to determine the qualifying amount for reimbursement. The review process focuses on 3 categories of information. An applicant must get a GO in all 3 in order to be approved to receive a State TA award. The 3 categories are:

1) Military Service qualifications. We reach out to a representative for your component to verify certain military criteria. The verification is done by the TXARNG Education Office Counselors for Texas Army National Guard members, by the TXANG BETM Offices for Texas Air Guard Members, and by the TXSG T1 office for Texas State Guard members. 

2) Financial Eligibility. This is NOT the same financial requirement as in qualifying for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). We do not use income or living expenses to determine eligibility. We only look at the amounts charged for tuition and fees and the financial aid each applicant receives to calculate a qualifying amount for reimbursement.

Priority at this point is given to undergraduate students first. All undergraduates will be reviewed for financial eligibility first. After all undergraduates have been assigned an award, then post-baccalaureate applicants will be reviewed for award eligibility, if funds are still available in our budget. Click the "More Information" on this page and the link "How Much Can I Get" for more on how the qualifying amount is determined.

3) Scholastic Eligibility. The official transcript that applicants turn in at the end of each semester will show the final grades for each class and the cumulative GPA. State TA awards can only reimburse for classes that are successfully passed (no F, W, or I grades). Applicants must maintain a minimum cumulative GPA of 2.0. If a transcript shows that an applicant has not met one or more of these minimum standards, a State TA award may be reduced or cancelled out. 

Click on the “More Information” link below to find more information about the review process.

More Information

Application Instructions: 

There are 3 basic steps to complete a request for State TA. If you apply before the beginning of the Fall semester, you can request aid for the whole school year, in other words for both the Fall and Spring semesters. This will save you a step in completing your request for the Spring semester. To do this you must attend classes at the same school, working on the same degree, for the whole school year. If you plan on transferring schools for the Spring term, or if you start a new degree program in the Spring, then you will have to start with submitting an application form again for the Spring semester.

   Follow these 3 steps to apply for State TA. 

Step 1.   Complete The State TA Application Form

• There is a mobile-friendly, web-based application form. You can use a desktop, laptop, or mobile device to complete this web-based application form. It is recommended that you use a touch-screen device, electronic pen/pencil, or an external signature device in order to electronically sign the form. If you use a touch-screen device, you can sign using your finger. Click SUBMIT when you're done to automatically send it in to our office.
•  Click here to access the new web-based form. 
• NOTE: This form may not work on an RCAS network computer. If you are on a government computer and cannot connect to the application form, try using a non-government computer. This application form is mobile friendly, so you can easily complete the form using your smart phone or tablet.
• If you have problems with the online application itself, email our office at ng.tx.txarng.mbx.trp@mail.mil.

Step 2.   Send in Supporting Documents.

• Our office will email you a Document List once the semester begins listing the documents needed.
• 3 basic items required of ALL applicants: 1) a tuition statement, 2) class schedule, and 3) financial aid information.
• Other documents may also be needed, depending on each specific situation.
• Do NOT send anything before the beginning of the semester. If you get your statement too early it will possibly be missing some important information as well as changes that could occur right at the beginning of the semester.

Step 3.   Submit an Official Transcript AFTER the end of the semester.

• When the semester is over, come back to this website and see the section "How Do I Submit My Transcript?"
• You will also want to check out the "Due Dates/Deadlines" section of this site.

Due Date/Deadline Summary for the 2021-2022 Academic Year:

Award Funding Limitations

In general, award amounts are based on:  1) available funding, 2) the number of eligible applicants for a given semester and 3) the successful completion of courses. More information on award calculation can be found in the section of this site, "How Do I Qualify". The following explains how our award upgrades work.

All eligible applicants that are approved for a State TA award will first be assigned an award amount of up to $1,000 worth of tuition and mandatory fees charged by the individual college. Applicants with more than $1,000 in qualifying charges per semester will be considered for an award upgrade at the end of the semester IF there are available funds remaining in our semester budget.

Award upgrades increase an award up to 12 credit hours of tuition and mandatory fees, not to exceed $4,500. Undergraduate students in the Early Commissioning Program or in a STEM degree program have top priority for being approved for an upgrade. Approval is subject to the availability of funds. Upgrade approvals are not guaranteed under any circumstances. Limited funds usually prevent the approval of all upgrade requests in any given semester. 

If an applicant receives financial aid from sources other than State TA, it is possible that this applicant will not qualify for an upgrade. A State TA award can be approved only for the charges not paid by other grants and scholarships. The intent of State TA is to help reimburse some or all of the out-of-pocket expenses for qualifying tuition and fee charges.

The State TA program will reimburse Service Members for the out-of-pocket expenses incurred from qualifying tuition and mandatory fee charges. Students are responsible to the school for all charges at the beginning of the semester, according the the college's own payment schedule. If the Service Member completes all application steps for requesting State TA, then after the semester is over an award payment is sent to the school. The school will either apply the funds to new charges or refund the amount to the student.

Figure 1 shows a simplified model of the 5 Phases of the State TA process for each semester. Phase 1 centers on the submission of the application form to request State TA. Phase 5 concludes with issuing the award payment. 

Status updates are sent to all applicants throughout all 5 phases as they occur during each semester. At a minimum, the completion of each of the 5 phases in this model will be announced to the applicant in a status update email. All 5 phases are completed for the Fall semester, then all are repeated for the Spring semester, assuming the applicant is requesting aid for both semesters. 

The general process is detailed a little more fully with some specific steps in the “How To Apply” section.

• STATE TA awards are based on: 1. available funding, 2. number of eligible applicants and 3. successful course completion. Since any one of these factors can change from one semester to the next, an award amount received one semester may not be the same as one received another semester even for the same person.
• Applicants will receive multiple email status updates throughout the semester. If you are not receiving status updates, contact the Education Office to ensure that your application was received and is being processed. See the section on “How It Works” for a list of expected status updates.
• The tuition award will only reimburse classes that are successfully completed. Classes that are withdrawn, incomplete or failed will not be reimbursed. Official transcripts are required to confirm grades.
• This program does not pay until after the end of the academic semester. Therefore, it is the applicant’s responsibility to work with the school to satisfy the payment requirements at the beginning of the semester. Most schools will not defer charges based on your application for State Tuition Assistance. 
• Schedule changes should be reported by submitting an updated course schedule and fee statement to the Education Office.
• The State TA award will be issued at the completion of the academic semester and only after an official transcript is received in the Education Office.
• By Texas State law, this program is only authorized to issue payments directly to a college or university in Texas. We cannot issue payments to out of state institutions or to individual persons.
• Payments are sent as a bulk payment that includes all awards for all award recipients at a given school. Schools may take 7-10 days from the date the payment is received in their accounting system to process the payment. It may take additional time for the school to update the student’s account.
• If the STATE TA payment creates a positive balance on the student’s account, then the school may issue a refund of the appropriate amount. The school may offer other options to handle the positive account balance.

The last step to complete a Tuition Assistance request is to send in your official transcript AFTER the semester is over. Only OFFICIAL transcripts will be accepted. Unofficial versions or screen shots of your grades will NOT be accepted. See the "Due Dates/Deadlines" section for the transcript deadline.

PLEASE NOTE: Send in your official transcript AFTER your grades have posted. If you send in your transcript without the grades showing, you will have to order another transcript.

The general rule is to send your transcript to our office in an electronic/digital format. Most schools now provide an electronic PDF version that can be ordered online and sent electronically to our office. If this option is available to you, this is the method you should use.

Electronic transcripts.

Find the online transcript order site for your college/university. On the transcript order page, enter our information as the recipient: 

• Name: Texas Military Dept. State Tuition Assistance
• Email address: statranscripts@gmail.com 

Non-Electronic transcripts

If your school does not offer electronic transcripts, order a paper copy for yourself. Pickup in person or have it mailed to YOUR OWN ADDRESS. Once you have it, scan it and email a copy of ALL pages to our office.

Once we receive your transcript, we will record your grades into our system and then email you a confirmation. At certain points it may take a few days from receiving the transcript to update the grades. Please be patient, but if a week passes or the deadline approaches with no confirmation from our office please send an email to confirm if we received your transcript.

MISSION:

In alignment with the TMD Strategic Plan 2021-2025, The State Tuition Assistance Program supports TMD’s overarching goals of Retention, Building Resiliency and enhancing Community Support. 

GOALS

• Recruitment and Retention of highly qualified Soldiers, Airmen and State Guard Members.
• Increase the number of TMD Members who complete an undergraduate degree. 
• Promote postsecondary education which accelerates military readiness and resiliency as well as personal and professional development. 
• Improve and expand upon the quality of services offered to the state’s workforce and community. 
• Increase representation in the STEM disciplines such as cyber space security, computer science, natural or biological sciences, education, engineering, mathematics, physics, public health and the sciences.  
• Develop a cadre of future leaders for Texas and America by facilitating the completion of higher education. 

VALUES

• Military Service
• Scholastic Eligibility
• Successful completion of classes
• STEM Degrees that increase employee knowledge and skills that contribute to the TMD Agency and Mission. Applicants meeting the criteria for an award upgrade and pursuing STEM degree will be prioritized for an upgrade above other degree programs.