Are You Tracking? 

📣  NEW: Update to GI Bill: Impact of Rudisill & Perkins Supreme Court Decision on Veterans' Education Benefits

Description:  You may be eligible for additional benefits if you waived all or part of your MGIB CH 30 benefits so you could use PGIB benefits.  
You will not be required to request a review to find out if you're eligible for additional benefits as a result of the Rudisill or Perkins decisions. VA will automatically evaluate your file and inform you if additional action is required. 

By law, PGIB and MGIB eligibility is limited to a maximum of 48 months of combined benefits.  Federal law prohibits the use of these benefits at the same time.  There is no deadline to apply. The VA is updating their systems to automate eligibility reviews and issue determinations. 

IMPACT

1. BEFORE: 

  • Veterans eligible for both MGIB and PGIB were required to waive MGIB eligibility to begin using PGIB benefits. 

NOW: 

  • Veterans impacted by either Rudisill or Perkins are no longer required to waive MGIB eligibility to use PGIB benefits when applying. 

2. BEFORE:

  • PGIB entitlement was limited to the amount of remaining MGIB entitlement.

NOW:

  • PGIB entitlement is no longer limited to the remaining MGIB entitlement, but Veterans are still subject to the 48-month limit of combined benefits under multiple programs.

3. BEFORE:

  • Previous elections to waive MGIB could not be revoked.

NOW: 

  • Previous elections to waive MGIB in order to use PGIB can be revoked. 

For more information and answers to your questions, visit:  https://www.va.gov/contact-us/ask-va/introduction   OR  https://www.benefits.va.gov/gibill/

📣  Update to Credentialing Assistance (CA) 

 Description: Pursuant to ALARACT 102/2025, Changes to Voluntary Education Policy, please note the following updates to the Department of Army's Credentialing Assistance Program:

1) CA is capped at $2,000 and 1 credential per fiscal year;

2) Soldiers who receive CA funding for training must take and pass the examination associated with the training or face recoupment charges;

3) CA is capped at 3 credentials per 10 years of service. Will be retroactive to Soldier's Basic Active Service date.  Previously funded will be included in the cap. 

4) Soldiers must complete the Army IgnitED training and Milgears Decision Support Tool (upload results into Army IgnitED) prior to requesting CA for the first time. 

For more information visit the link below:

https://myarmybenefits.us.army.mil/Benefit-Library/Federal-Benefits/Army-Credentialing-Opportunities-On-Line-(COOL)?serv=123

 

📣  Get College Credit for your Military Training or Occupation (MOS)

Description:  A Military Evaluation can provide college credit for military training and/or experience.  A review translates training, MOS and experience into academic credit recommendations.  These evaluations could save you time and money by applying credit to your degrees and reducing your tuition cost. There are two types of military reviews:  

1) Military Course Review

2) Military Occupation Review

For more information visit the link below:

https://www.acenet.edu/Programs-Services/Pages/Credit-Transcripts/Military-Evaluations.aspx

📣 Attention:  New Federal Tuition Assistance (FTA) Users! 

Description: New Requirements

1) Mandatory Training: First-time FTA/CA users must complete the Army IgnitED 101 Training before requesting funding.  Soldiers who have previously used ArmyIgnitED to receive FTA are exempt from this requirement.  

2) Decision Tool: Users must utilize the Career Path Decide decision support tool prior to submitting a request. 

Submission Timeline: TA requests must be submitted no later than 7 days before the course start date. 

 Watch the training on Army share point (Needs CAC) :  

ArmyIgnitED 101 Training Link

📣 New Resource for College Planning,  “My Texas Future”

Description:  The Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board (THECB) has launched a new tool to help Texans with their college planning.  Information is available on the Financial Aid process, college support programs, services and more.

For more information, visit:

https://www.mytexasfuture.org/

📣 Financial Aid Deadlines

 Applications for the upcoming school year open 1 October every year.  Financial Aid, determined by your college campus, is awarded on first-come, first-served basis. 

Texas Application for State Financial Aid (TASFA), State financial aid priority deadline:  January 15. For more information, visit:

https://www.highered.texas.gov/students-families/tasfa/

Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA), Federal financial aid deadline:   June 30

https://studentaid.gov/h/apply-for-aid/fafsa

Don’t delay, visit your campus Financial Aid Office today! 

📣 2026–27 FAFSA® Form Now Available!

Date/Time: Spring 26 

Description: Use the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA®) form to apply for financial aid for college, career school, or graduate school.

For more information, visit: https://studentaid.gov/h/apply-for-aid/fafsa

 

Education, the Force Multiplier

 

Education is much more than earning a degree, a credential or learning a new skill set. It’s the foundation for readiness and resilience, strengthening critical thinking and problem-solving, gaining new perspectives and finding your community and support network.                   
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  —E I OIC, LTC Sheri Glenn

“As long as you live, keep learning how to live.”                                —Seneca

"The value of higher education is not the learning of many facts but the training of the mind to think."        —Albert Einstein

Does a bachelor’s degree provide a strong Return on Investment (ROI) in today’s job market?    

The overwhelming evidence says YES! Prime-age workers with a Bachelor’s degree earn 70% more at the median than workers with a high school diploma alone.  Additionally, those with a bachelor’s degree face much lower unemployment rates.                            

Source: Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce

 

       Let's Talk Numbers

State Tuition Assistance Impact

$11.5M

Amount of State TA funds reinvested in Texas colleges & universities over the past 5 years.

89%

Increase in the number of requests for State Tuition Assistance from FY 2023 to FY 2025.

16%

Increase in the number of members that extend their TMD service to retain the State TA benefit for educational, professional and career advancement.

5,281

Total # of requests for State Tuition Assistance from FY 24-26.

3,004

Total # of TMD Service Members who received State Tuition Assistance in FY 24-25.

$4,001

Average Award Amount of State TA in FY 26.

 

 

Ethical Enigmas & Curious Contradictions

Written by: Yvette Gonzalez, Education Branch Manager, TMD/ TXARNG Education and Incentives Office and Orrin Spence, Webmaster, TMD Public Affairs Office

 

 Artificial Intelligence (AI) is transforming the higher education experience for administration, faculty and especially for students.  Students receive accelerated answers, detailed outlines, a writing editor and a great study buddy with its ability to anticipate possible test questions. This rapid ascent of the paradoxical AI invokes anxieties about the security or insecurity of personal data, the cognitive decline from the dependence on technology and the incessant drive for efficiency over ethical concerns. What are we willing to give up in exchange for this compelling convenience?    While indisputable that AI is a valuable tool of discovery, if we outsource our education to AI, then how will students develop critical thinking, problem-solving and communication skills?  Humans are still the source of creativity and innovation that drive progress.  It’s the human experience, not AI, that can teach the essential life lessons of discipline and discernment that grow from the ashes of pain, struggle and hardship. What does this algorithm-driven tool know about humility, compassion and resilience? AI lacks moral reasoning, empathy, and essentially the human emotion. It is devoid of a conscience, academic integrity and a sense of humor.  AI coded responses will validate fed assumptions but know nothing about hope or the human condition, both vital concepts in leading ethical progress. While students’ mastery of AI can certainly help them become employable and efficient subject matter experts in their field, it is a moral imperative to connect that learning with purpose and our individual and collective values that strengthen humanity.  Humanity is at the very core of partnerships, collaboration and retention.  Ultimately, AI remains a tool to support and enhance human potential, not replace it. Let us proceed with cautious and mindful optimism as active participants, rather than witnesses, in shaping the future we wish to inhabit and leave our children.

Here are 6 Books on Artificial Intelligence-How to Educate Yourself About the New Tech Sector:

 

  1. "AI 2041: 10 Visions for Our Future," Authors: Chen Qiufan, Kai-Fu Lee
  2. "A World Without Work: Technology, Automation and How We Should Respond n 2020," Author: Daniel Susskind
  3. "The Alignment Problem: Machine Learning and Human Values," Author:  Brian Christian
  4. "2084: Artificial Intelligence and the Future of Humanity," Author: John Lennox
  5. "A Brief History of Artificial Intelligence: What It Is, Where We Are and Where We Are Going," Author: Michael Wooldridge
  6. "Artificial Unintelligence: How Computers Misunderstand the World," Author: Meredith Broussard.

 

 (This was written without the use of AI.)

 

Research Fuels Readiness

 

70% of recent public university graduates began to see a positive return on their college investment within the first 10 years after graduation.                                                                                                               Strada Education Foundation October 2025

Education Benefits are a primary driver for joining the military. 48% of youth ages 16-21 join the military to pay for future education.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         JAMRS Youth Poll July 2025

By 2030, more than 62% of all jobs in Texas will require education beyond high school.      
 
Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce 
 

Events & Deadlines

MARCH
  • 11- AFCT Testing
  • 25-DLPT/DLAB Testing
aPRIL
  • 8- AFCT Testing
  • 22- DLPT/DLAB Testing
MAY
  • 13- AFCT Testing
  • 27- DLPT/DLAB Testing

Contact Us

 

2200 West 35th Street, Building 15
Camp Mabry, Austin, TX 78763-5218
Main: (512)782-5515
Hours of Operation: 8am-4pm

Bonus/Incentives:

ng.tx.txarng.mbx.incentives@army.mil

(512) 782-5515


GI Bill, Federal Tuition Assistance, Credentialing Assistance:

ng.tx.txarng.mbx.education@army.mil

 (512) 782-5078


State Tuition Assistance:

ng.tx.txarng.mbx.trp@army.mil 

(512) 782-5270


Testing (AFCT, DLPT, DLAB):

ruth.l.kaster.mil@army.mil 

(512) 782-1998

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