A month and a half after missing its original deadline to sign an agreement giving service members tuition assistance, a University of Arizona official says they are closer to resolving the impasse that left many students saying they would have to leave UA.
Both Arizona State University and Northern Arizona University signed the agreement with the U.S. Department of Defense before the original Jan. 1 deadline. Because of problems, some universities were having, DoD set a new deadline of March 30, which UA officials say they hope to meet.
The tuition assistance program grants each student $4,500 per year, according to the Defense Department.
UA South CEO James Shockey, who is facilitating discussions with the Defense Department, anticipates that the paperwork will be completed within the next 10 days.
One reason that UA has so far refused to sign the document is because the language of the document could be interpreted in different ways, Shockey said.
“There is a whole array of issues that weren’t as clearly stated in the MOU as we would have liked,” he said.