Major General David F. Wherley, Jr. District of Columbia National Guard Retention and College Access Program

The District's Guard tuition program is named for Major General David F. Wherley, Jr., the former commanding general who was killed in the 2009 Metrorail crash and who had asked for it to stop Guard members leaving for units in Maryland and Virginia that paid for college. How it is funded. There is no District statute creating it. Congress funds it each year in the District of Columbia title of the Financial Services and General Government appropriations. The Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2026, H.R. 7148 of the 119th Congress, provides "For a Federal payment to the District of Columbia National Guard, $600,000, to remain available until expended for the Major General David F. Wherley, Jr. District of Columbia National Guard Retention and College Access Program." Bills to authorize it permanently have been introduced in several Congresses and none has passed, so the program lives from one appropriation to the next. What it pays. The program's site and the Army benefits library agree on up to $20,000 per year for tuition and up to $500 per year for eligible fees. It is not a reimbursement: the request goes in at least 30 days before the course starts and the District pays the school, which must be registered in the District government's vendor portal. It can be used for certificates, associate, bachelor's, master's and doctoral degrees, prerequisites and licensure programs, alongside Federal Tuition Assistance and the GI Bill. The Army benefits library says one degree at each level. Who qualifies, and a disagreement. A current member of the District's Army or Air National Guard in good standing, with no flag or pending adverse action. The program site requires "at least two (2) years of service remaining from the last day of the funded course"; the Army benefits library says one year. Plan on two. The program site also asks for a Federal Tuition Assistance summary or proof of ineligibility, because the District money is meant to cover what federal aid does not. District residence. D.C. Code 49-807, the only District statute on the subject, says any funds "contributed by the District of Columbia" to the Guard's tuition program may be used "for all members or for new recruits; provided, that the member or new recruit is a resident of the District of Columbia". That condition reaches District money, not the federal payment, and neither the program site nor the Army library imposes it. Most of the District's Guard members live in Maryland and Virginia. Apply through the District Guard's education office: [email protected] for the Army Guard or [email protected] for the Air Guard.