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STRONG Act Tuition Reimbursement — 100% of In-State Tuition, After Federal Aid
The state reimburses a serving member of the Tennessee National Guard 100% of the maximum resident in-state tuition rate, as a last-dollar payer after federal aid. Since 1 July 2025 course and programme fees are reimbursed up to $3,500 a fiscal year for undergraduates and $7,500 for graduates.
Verified August 23, 2026
What this benefit is
The state reimburses a serving member of the Tennessee National Guard 100% of the maximum resident in-state tuition rate, as a last-dollar payer after federal aid. Since 1 July 2025 course and programme fees are reimbursed up to $3,500 a fiscal year for undergraduates and $7,500 for graduates.
What it's worth: 100% of maximum resident in-state tuition after federal aid, plus fees to $3,500 or $7,500 a fiscal year
- The military department states the programme provides 100% of the maximum resident undergraduate or graduate in-state tuition after all federal aid is deducted, as a last-dollar payer.
- Effective 1 July 2025 the course and programme fee reimbursement caps are $3,500 per fiscal year for undergraduates and $7,500 per fiscal year for graduates.
- Coverage extends to one degree at each level — associate, bachelor’s and master’s — with maximums of 130 undergraduate semester hours or 40 graduate semester hours. Army ROTC cadets may receive up to 30 additional military science hours.
- A member attending a private institution is reimbursed at the average cost at a public institution rather than at the private rate.
- The veterans department’s own page describes a narrower framing — no more than 120 credit hours or eight semesters toward a first-time bachelor’s degree — so confirm which limit the programme is applying to you before enrolling on the strength of either.
Who is entitled to it
- You are a currently serving member of the Tennessee National Guard.
- The reimbursement is paid on the member’s own enrolment.
- You are studying, or about to.
- Your home is in Tennessee.
Not sure whether that describes you?
Answer a few questions about this benefit specifically — we only ask what this one actually depends on, and we stop as soon as we know.
How to claim it
Deadline: Transcripts or final grades within 45 days of the last class- 1Register for federal tuition assistance first if you are eligible for it. The military department requires you to use federal tuition assistance, and the state money is last-dollar behind it.
- 2Enrol at an approved Tennessee institution — a college of applied technology, a community college, a public university, or an eligible private school.
- 3Check the degree-level rule before enrolling. Coverage runs to one degree at each of associate, bachelor’s and master’s level, and you must not already hold the level you are pursuing.
- 4Hold the grade standard: a minimum 2.0 grade point average for undergraduate programmes, 3.0 for graduate programmes, and for vocational programmes a 2.0 or good standing under the institution’s own standards.
- 5Stay in good standing and unflagged with the Guard at the time you submit. The department tests both.
- 6Submit the completed reimbursement request with a transcript and a billing statement to the State TA Managers.
- 7Get the transcript or final grades in within 45 days of the last class. That is the deadline that most often costs a member the money.
- 8Remain serving when classes end. The department states the member must still be serving at that point, which makes a separation mid-term a reimbursement problem as well as a career one.
- Form
- TN STRONG Act reimbursement request, with transcript and billing statement
- File with
- State Tuition Assistance Managers, Tennessee Military Department
- Each term
- Claimed per academic term.
CorrectionTwo Tennessee agencies publish different submission windows for this programme — 45 days from the last class on the military department’s page, 90 days from course completion on the veterans department’s. Work to the shorter one and ask the State TA Managers to confirm in writing.
CorrectionDeclining federal tuition assistance does not increase the state payment. It removes it: the military department conditions the reimbursement on using federal tuition assistance where you are eligible.
Worth knowingThe fee caps are annual, not per term. A member front-loading a heavy fee semester in the autumn can exhaust the fiscal year’s fee allowance before the spring.
Known gapPublic Chapter No. 216 is named on the military department’s page but its text was not read this session, so the statutory framing of the pilot — including how long it runs — is unverified here.
Sources
- authority · published policyTennessee Military Department — State TA / TN STRONG Act (a currently serving member of the Tennessee National Guard who remains serving when classes end, in good standing and not flagged at submission; must not have attained the degree level pursued; attends an approved Tennessee institution — TCAT, community college, public university or eligible private school; must use Federal Tuition Assistance if eligible; minimum 2.0 GPA undergraduate, 3.0 graduate, vocational 2.0 or good standing; "100% of the maximum resident undergraduate or graduate in-state tuition" after all federal aid is deducted, as last-dollar payer; effective July 1, 2025 course and programme fee reimbursement caps of $3,500 per fiscal year undergraduate and $7,500 per fiscal year graduate; one degree at each of associate, bachelor’s and master’s level, with maximums of 130 undergraduate semester hours or 40 graduate semester hours, and up to 30 additional military science hours for Army ROTC cadets; unofficial transcripts or final grades to be submitted within 45 days of the last class; Public Chapter No. 216)
- operating · published policyTennessee Department of Veterans Services — STRONG Act (a pilot programme providing eligible members of the Tennessee National Guard tuition funding toward a first time bachelor degree; admitted to and enrolled in an eligible Tennessee institution; minimum 2.0 GPA; must apply for and use federal tuition assistance; in good standing while actively serving; reimbursement applications within 90 days of course completion; last-dollar reimbursement with private institution attendees capped at the average public institution cost; coverage of no more than 120 credit hours or eight semesters toward a first time bachelor’s degree)
This finder provides an informational match, not a government eligibility determination. The responsible agency decides your application.