Bottom line up front: I live in a region that is one of the most densely populated with public colleges in the nation.

The proportion of student reservists and veterans at some of these schools is surprisingly high.

And yet, not a single one of these schools has a certifying official / VRC finance admin that knows how to process Federal Tuition Assistance properly. Nobody in school admin or finance has any clue how the process is supposed to go either.

Many of them never even signed the Memorandum of Understanding to be onboarded for Federal Tuition Assistance, not through Army Ignite Ed or any of the systems. Not a single department coordinator or director has a clear answer for why I cannot use Federal Tuition Assistance at their school.

I contacted the Federal Tuition Assistance specialist / counselor assigned to my state by way of the National Guard Bureau, and they cordially let me know that I'm Sufficiently Out of Luck if the school itself is incapable of completing the necessary processes on their end.

One simple trick will entice nearly all eligible 18-24 years of age folks to join, but until then almost nobody believes what recruiters are selling cause the whole system of benefits is broken to this day.