As you are a United States military veteran, a military member serving on active duty, or a military family member, we are particularly pleased that you are a part of the Fletcher community. There is a long history of distinguished military personnel affiliated with Fletcher, and we are proud to count you among their ranks.
To read more about the military student experience in GBA, see the spotlight on 3 students here.
Your primary contact for military benefits will be Nora Moser McMillan, Associate Director of Veterans Affairs. Along with other veteran related duties, Nora serves as the VA School Certifying Official (VA-SCO) for The Fletcher School.
This page serves as a starting point for your VA benefit questions and processes.
Processing Your Benefits
To initiate your benefit process, there are two steps that you will need to complete:
- Submit a copy of your Certificate of Eligibility from the VA. Please send a copy of this certificate to either (or both) nora.mcmillan@tufts.edu and/or to Fletcher-VASCO@tufts.edu
- Prior to each semester, complete Fletcher’s VASCO Enrollment Form. Information on this form is used to both confirm your desire to use your GI benefits for the upcoming semester and to help us determine the amount of provisional credit that we can add to your SIS account.
Once we have both of these items, we will begin our process of 1) adding a provisional credit on your SIS student account based on the number of credits that you indicate for our enrollment and 2) perform the first certification of enrollment on the VA system. Please note that these credits represent a provisional certification only. Your official certification on the VA system will occur approximately one week after this term’s add/drop period has ended, which is about one week after live sessions begin. At that point, the benefit amount is subject to adjustment if your course enrollment level changes from the amount indicated above. This adjustment could result in a change in amount of the tuition you owe for this semester. Depending on the type of benefits you are receiving, the actual funds will take four to six weeks to disburse to your account.
Benefit Amounts
The majority of our students fall under Chapter 33 – Post 9/11 GI Bill. Fletcher also works with those who are in Chapter 31 (VR&E), Chapter 35 (DEA), Chapter 30 (Montgomery GI Bill – active duty) and MGIB 1606. Each of these chapters have different payout structures. For those using Chapter 33, from August 1, 2022 – July 31, 2023, veterans at the 100% eligibility level for the Post 9/11 GI Bill (Chapter 33) received an education benefit maximum of $27,140.05 from the Veterans Administration.
In support of the Yellow Ribbon program, Fletcher awards $8,000 in scholarship aid per academic year for 100% eligible candidates. This $8,000 award is matched by the VA. Currently, Tufts does not have a cap on the number of veterans who can receive the Yellow Ribbon benefit. Please note that if you received a scholarship award from Fletcher, that scholarship counts towards or as your $8,000 Yellow Ribbon award.
Please consult with your military branch specialist to see if you are eligible for any other branch-specific benefits, such as the tuition assistance programs for the Navy, Air Force, Army, Marines, or Coast Guard.
Additional Resources
The veteran’s section of the Fletcher website covers general information for active duty personnel and veterans including eligibility, benefits, and information about other Fletcher Veterans.
The GBA website includes information more specific to your enrollment in the online GBA. Please also be sure to review this GBA-specific VA Benefits presentation that goes into even greater depth on these benefits.