MOAA State-by-State Assessment

Benefits Criteria Military Family

Educational assistance: Federal legislation was passed last year (see “About In-State Tuition”) allowing veterans and their spouses and chil- dren using VA educational benefi ts to receive the in-state tuition rate at public colleges and universities. Many states also off er some form of educational assistance to spouses and children whose military members died in the line of duty. Other states provide educational assistance to spouses and children of veterans with a VA disability rating. A limited num- ber of states include National Guard

family members in these benefi ts. A green dot indicates a state off ers additional educational assistance to students in the indicated category. A black outline to a green dot in- dicates the benefi t extends to depen- dents of National Guard members. Red indicates a state does not off er additional educational assistance.

Military student identifier: About 1 million children in military families attend U.S. public schools, but accord- ing to the Government Accountability Office, “There is no data available on

About In-State Tuition

The Veterans Access, Choice, and Accountability Act of 2014 included a provision granting in-state tuition rates to recent veterans at any public college or university that receives federal funding through the GI bill. The law applies to veterans enrolling within three years of discharge from a period of at least 90 days of active duty service and covers their spouses and dependent children as well as those of deceased veterans meeting certain criteria.

It was intended to go into ef-

fect July 1, 2015. However, for a variety of reasons, some states or schools still are not in compliance with the act.

VA Secretary Robert

McDonald announced in May he would push back the deadline, giving schools more time to comply before forfeiting their GI bill funding. The new deadline for state compliance is Jan. 1, 2016.

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these students that could be used to assess the academic achievement or educational outcomes, or determine where funding needs are the greatest.” A unique military student identi-

fi er would facilitate better moni- toring of their progress and yield information on the challenges they face. Learn more at www.usa4mili taryfamilies.dod.mil; click on No. 9 under “10 Key Issues.” A green dot indicates a state as- signs a unique identifi er to military children in its educational systems; Red indicates it does not.

Medicaid waiver: Certain “exception- al family members” of servicemem- bers are eligible for assistance through TRICARE’s Extended Care Health Option. When their sponsor transi- tions out of the military, they lose that coverage. Medicaid services can help fill the gap, but families who relocate often end up at the bottom of their state’s waitlist for services. A green dot indicates a state has

policies reducing barriers to ser- vicemembers accessing Medicaid benefi ts for their special needs de- pendents;

red indicates otherwise.