Military Financial Aid and TA

As part of our commitment to providing excellent service to military students who utilize Military Tuition Assistance, St. Joseph's University is a signatory of the Department of Defense Voluntary Education Partnership Memorandum of Understanding (DoD MOU).*

Tuition Assistance (TA) is a government benefit offered to current service members of all branches of the Armed Forces to assist with the cost of tuition. We provide a team of professionals and resources to assist you with your TA funding.  

If you are an eligible service member utilizing TA, we will process your enrollment AFTER your TA is approved by your military service branch. You must contact your designated education service officer (ESO) or military service branch counselor prior to enrollment.

Financial Resource Tools

1. College Scorecard is a consumer-planning tool and resource to assist prospective students and their families as they evaluate options in selecting a school.
2. College Navigator is a consumer tool that provides school information, such as tuition and fees, retention and graduation rates, use of financial aid, and student loan default rates. It also features a cost calculator and school comparison tool. 
3. Financial Aid Shopping Sheet is a model financial aid award letter designed to simplify the information that prospective students receive about costs and financial aid so they can easily compare institutions and make informed decisions about where to attend school.
4. Paying for College is a webpage that can be used by prospective students to enter the names of up to three schools in order to receive detailed financial information on each one. It can also be used to enter actual financial aid award information.

Financial Aid Support

Before offering, recommending, arranging, signing up, dispersing or enrolling service members for private student loans, we provide service members access to an institutional financial aid adviser who will make available appropriate loan counseling, including, but not limited to:

1. Providing a clear and complete explanation of available financial aid, including Title IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965, as amended.
2. Describing the differences between private and federal student loans to include terms, conditions, repayment and forgiveness options.
3. Disclosing the institution's student loan Cohort Default Rate (CDR), the percentage of its students who borrow and how its CDR compares to the national average. If the institution's CDR is greater than the national average CDR, it must disclose that information and provide the student with loan repayment data.
4. Explaining that students have the ability to refuse all or borrow less than the maximum student loan amount allowed.

Return of TA Funds

The University shall:

1. Return any TA Program funds directly to the military service, not to the service member.
2. Up to the start date, return all (100 percent) TA funds to the appropriate military service when the service member does not:
   • begin attendance at the institution, or
   • start a course, regardless of whether the student starts other courses.
3. Return any TA funds which paid for a course that is cancelled by the institution.
4. Return any unearned TA funds on a proportional basis through at least the 60-percent portion of the period for which the funds were provided. TA funds are earned proportionally during an enrollment period, with unearned funds returned based on when a student stops attending. In instances when a service member stops attending due to a military service obligation, the institution will work with the affected service member to identify solutions that will not result in student debt for the returned portion.

Schedule of Return of Unearned TA Funds

 *Tuition charged to a service member will in no case exceed the rate charged to non-military students, unless agreed upon in writing by both the institution and the service.

Requesting Military TA

Visit the MilitaryOneSource website for more information on how to use the military tuition assistance program.

Use of Financial Aid with TA

1. “Top-Up” eligible active duty DoD personnel may use their Montgomery or Post-9/11 G.I. Bill benefit in conjunction with TA funds from their service to cover the cost of courses to the service member that exceed the amount of TA paid by his or her service. RC members who qualify for Montgomery G.I. Bill benefits may use those benefits concurrently with TA. RC members who have earned entitlement for the Post-9/11 G.I. Bill can use both VA education benefits and TA, but VA will only pay for the portion of tuition not covered by TA; therefore, the combination of VA education benefits and TA will not exceed 100 percent of the actual cost of tuition.
2. DoD personnel are entitled to consideration for all forms of financial aid that institutions make available to students at their home campus. Educational institution financial aid officers will provide information and application processes for Title IV student aid programs, scholarships, fellowships, grants, loans, etc., to DoD TA recipients.
3. Service members identified as eligible DoD TA recipients who qualify for Pell Grants through ED's student aid program will have their TA benefits applied to their institution's account prior to the application of their Pell Grant funds to their account. Unlike TA funds, which are tuition-restricted, Pell Grant funds are not tuition-restricted and may be applied to other allowable charges on the account.

Financial Aid Contacts

A qualified Military Financial Aid Counselor is always available to discuss your financing options.

Brooklyn Financial Aid

Long Island Financial Aid

Amy Thompson, Director, Office of Financial Aid - [email protected]

St. Joseph's University NY: FY2019 three-year Cohort Default Rate (CDR) is 1.1.%

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* Per DoD MOU paragraph 3.j.(2), institutions are required to, “Refrain from providing any commission, bonus, or other incentive payment based directly or indirectly on securing enrollments or federal financial aid (including Tuition Assistance funds) to any persons or entities engaged in any student recruiting, admission activities, or making decisions regarding the award of student financial assistance.”

* Per DoD MOU paragraph 3.j.(3) institutions are required to, "Refrain from high-pressure recruitment tactics such as making multiple unsolicited contacts (3 or more), including contacts by phone, email,  or in-person, and engaging in same-day recruitment and registration for the purpose of securing Service member enrollments.”