Vermont National Guard Tuition Benefit Program

Title 16, section 2857 creates an entitlement rather than a scholarship competition. A member of the Vermont National Guard who meets the eligibility requirements is entitled to the tuition benefit for up to full-time attendance. What is paid depends on where you go. At any Vermont State College institution or the University of Vermont, the benefit is that institution's in-state residence tuition rate. At an eligible Vermont private postsecondary institution, it is the in-state tuition rate charged by UVM. At an eligible training institution offering nondegree, certificate training, or continuing education programs, it is the lower of the institution's standard tuition or the UVM in-state rate. The fourth case is the one the summaries leave out. At a non-Vermont postsecondary institution approved for federal Title IV funding, the benefit is the UVM in-state rate, available only where the degree program is not available in Vermont. A Guard member whose field has no Vermont program is not confined to Vermont schools. 2025 Act 72, section 11, effective June 27, 2025, changed who can use it, and the change is larger than the act's summary suggests. Enrollment under subdivision (c)(1)(C)(i) now reaches a program leading to an undergraduate certificate, an undergraduate degree, or a graduate degree. And subdivision (c)(1)(D), which had excluded anyone who had previously earned an undergraduate bachelor's degree, was repealed outright. Before that date a Guard member with a bachelor's degree was shut out. Since that date they can use the benefit for a master's. Any account describing this program as undergraduate-only is describing the pre-June 2025 version. There is a lifetime ceiling and it is stated as a multiple rather than a dollar figure. A member may receive more than one certificate, degree, or credential under the program, provided that the cost of all of them does not exceed twice the full-time in-state tuition rate charged by UVM for completion of an undergraduate baccalaureate degree. Two bachelor's degrees worth of tuition, spent however the member chooses. Eligibility runs to an active member of the Vermont National Guard, whether a resident or nonresident, who has successfully completed basic training, continually demonstrates satisfactory academic progress, and submits a statement of good standing to VSAC signed by their commanding officer within 30 days before the beginning of each semester. The federal-benefits-first rule has seven exceptions and they are the useful part. The member must have used available post-September 11, 2001 tuition benefits and other federally funded military tuition assistance, but that requirement does not apply to benefits the member has not yet fully earned, to Montgomery GI Bill benefits, to post-9/11 housing allowances, to federal educational entitlements, to National Guard scholarship grants, to loans under section 2856, or to other nontuition benefits. A member holding Montgomery GI Bill entitlement is not required to burn it first. It is described elsewhere as a forgivable loan and the mechanism is worth stating accurately. VSAC pays the tuition. The member signs an interest-free promissory note. Nothing is repaid unless the member fails to complete the service commitment or the benefit is terminated. The commitment is two years of Vermont National Guard service for each full academic year of attendance, and for less than full-time attendance it is one month of service per credit hour, capped at 12 months for a single semester. Termination other than for good cause as determined by the Vermont National Guard triggers pro rata repayment. Termination by the Adjutant and Inspector General's office is possible on three grounds: the commanding officer revokes the statement of good standing after an investigation or disciplinary action, the member is dismissed from the institution for academic or disciplinary reasons, or the member withdraws without good cause. That brings repayment of tuition already paid, pro rata responsibility for the current semester, and ineligibility for future benefits. The whole program is subject to the appropriation of funds by the General Assembly specifically for this purpose, so the entitlement is an entitlement against a line item. One drafting error survives the 2025 rewrite. Subdivision (e)(1)(A) refers to the statement of good standing "submitted pursuant to subdivision (c)(7) of this section". There is no subdivision (c)(7); the statement of good standing is required by (c)(1)(G). Nothing turns on it, but a reader chasing the cross-reference will not find it.