Coast Guard College Education Resources and Special Programs

Master of Science in Management and Leadership: Military Leadership Concentration

A Graduate Degree Created Specifically for Servicemembers

Our online Master of Science in Management and Leadership with a concentration in military leadership allows you to save time and money by applying your graduate-level military leadership training as prior learning credit toward up to 4 courses.

An Accelerated Degree Path for All Coast Guard Ratings

Purdue Global recognizes the remarkable skills and dedication that enable you and your fellow U.S. Coast Guard officers to serve our country so admirably. To acknowledge and reward the experiences you’ve achieved in service, we are proud to announce that we have evaluated every Coast Guard occupation to determine its respective contribution toward earning a Purdue Global college degree. These credits are determined prior to review of your military transcripts.

Find out how close you are to your degree by choosing your rating and rate in our transfer credit tool.

The First Step Toward a Degree

Developing your educational plan is one of several steps you must complete in order to enroll, begin your education, and receive Coast Guard tuition assistance benefits. This plan is essential to ensuring you are on the right path to achieving your educational goals. Our Military Student Support Center can help you develop your educational plan, as well as guide you through the enrollment process. You should also discuss this plan with your Educational Services Officer.

There is an annual cap of $4,500 per individual, which falls within each fiscal year (October 1 to September 30). Tuition can be paid up to 100% as long as it does not exceed the following caps:

• $250.00 per semester hour
• $166.67 per quarter hour
• $16.67 per clock hour (for approved certificate/diploma programs only)

Purdue Global is on the quarter-hour system. Current servicemembers, including Guard and Reserve, are eligible for a 55% per-credit tuition reduction for undergraduate programs, which reduces per-credit tuition to $165, which is below the per-quarter-hour cap.

TA is available to active-duty Coast Guard members and reservists. To utilize TA, you must:

• Meet all requirements set forth in ALCOAST or standing policy order.
• Complete the TA-authorized course(s) on or prior to RELAD, discharge, or retirement. If you are going to RELAD and provide documentation showing that you will be in the SELRES, then TA-authorized course(s) may begin in active-duty status and be completed in SELRES status.

The following individuals are not eligible for TA:

• Coast Guard members in advanced education programs
• Undergraduate students whose average GPA is less than 2.0 (on a 4.0 scale) for the previous 12 semester hours completed under TA
• Graduate students whose academic average for the previous 12 semester hours is "less than a grade of "B" (or less than 3.0 on a 4.0 scale)
• Chaplains (funded through Navy TA) Contract and Non-Appropriated Fund (NAF) employees
• Personnel awarded an administration discharge, in confinement, on appellate leave, or awaiting administration separation other than honorable or general discharge under honorable conditions
• Servicemembers convicted by foreign or domestic courts and serving sentences in foreign prisons
• Coast Guard members who are inmates in military, state, or federal prisons

TA is available for undergraduate and graduate courses up to master’s degrees.

Developmental courses may be authorized if required by the institution prior to taking a higher-level course. Many colleges require a developmental course in math, English, and reading if the member has been out of school for several years. Usually these courses (usually numbered starting with zero "0" as the first digit) are "not transferable."

TA will cover only tuition.

TA does NOT cover books and course materials, academic institution fees, or retakes of the same course. Additionally, TA will not fund your courses if you leave the service before the course ends, you quit the course for reasons other than personal illness, military transfer, or mission requirements, or you fail the course. In the event one of these situations occurs, you will have to provide reimbursement for any funds already paid.

TA is NOT authorized for the following:

• Courses leading to a lateral or lower-level degree than you already possess (e.g., second associate's or bachelor's degree)
• Audited courses (courses you are not officially registered for and for which you do not earn a grade or credit)
• Physical education or recreation courses, unless the courses are required by the institution for degree completion or you are a candidate for a degree with a major in physical education or recreation and have not been awarded the physical education credits recommended by ACE for military training
• Prerequisite courses, licenses (maritime, real estate, AC&R, etc.), tests (GMAT, GRE, LSAT), or certification courses (computer, maritime, law, medical, etc.)
• Courses resulting in continuing education units (CEUs) or professional development units (PDUs)
• Courses credited in contact hours or clock hours, including courses converted from contact/clock to quarter/semester hours (usually applies to certificate programs)
• Course tuition paid for by the primary employer (not Coast Guard); if only a portion of the tuition is paid for by the primary employer, you may submit a TA request for the remainder of the tuition
• Courses when you are in a duty-under-instruction status (DUINS) and your educational fees are being paid through another Coast Guard program
• Any course for which you are receiving assistance under any other federally funded program. TA may be used when you are receiving financial aid such as a student loan, Sallie Mae, Stafford loan, etc. However, per COMDTINST M1500.10C, TA is to be calculated after grants, scholarships, and fellowships have been deducted from the cost of tuition, with the exception of Pell Grants. These grants are need-based and therefore may be used by the student to defray any educational expense.

My Education is the central portal for Navy, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard TA processing. A servicemember submits a WebTA application via the My Education portal each time TA is requested for a specific term. Each service branch authorizes their respective WebTA applications.

Visit the United States Coast Guard website and the Navy College Program website.