New tuition assistance portal ranks colleges by soldiers' interests, Army's bottom line

The Army has made big changes to its tuition assistance signup system in hopes of getting soldiers to make more thoughtful and perhaps better choices with TA, but some of the nation's largest TA schools are raising questions about the overhaul.The Army has made big changes to its tuition assistance signup system in hopes of getting soldiers to make more thoughtful and perhaps better choices with TA, but some of the nation's largest TA schools are raising questions about the overhaul.

The new online tool, called Via, quizzes prospective TA students on their interests and needs, then combines that information with data from the Army and federal agencies. Based on this, Via recommends individualized career paths, degrees that will pave the way for such careers, and institutions where the Army thinks its soldiers should pursue those degrees.

Via is required for all new TA users or those changing degree plans, but Army officials stress that soldiers can ignore and override the recommendations. They say Via is a way to inform TA users while making them think about their goals and how TA can bring those goals closer.

"A lot of soldiers might pick a general studies degree. They might try to take the path that's the easiest and fastest way to get a degree without considering the long-term impact of picking a different degree that has a connection to a career or to improving their abilities while they're in the Army," said Pamela Raymer, director of the Army Continuing Education System.

"So that's the ultimate goal, is that they're picking the best degree and the best school for their needs."

While the system is currently limited to the Army, it was designed to allow other organizations, such as the other military services, to copy and implement it.

The colleges that TA users attend most frequently say they support getting more information to prospective students but are concerned with elements of Via's approach.

Some of the information Via uses to recommend colleges is not applicable to most TA users, and the system also factors in cost data that would affect the Army's bottom line but make no difference to soldiers.

Colleges also expressed concern that this digital tool may be used in place of counselors who provide the kind of help that a computer program cannot.

"I think those guidance counselors have helped hundreds of thousands of service members graduate. I'm one of them," said John Aldrich, associate vice president for military relations at American Military University. "It has been a working formula. I don't understand the necessity to introduce a [new] program."

30 minutes, 3 recommendations

The Army rolled out the Via program on Dec. 12. Since then, soldiers have used Via about 27,000 times, Army officials said.

Any soldier with a GoArmyEd account can try out Via. Even those who are not eligible for TA can use the recommendation features, though they won't be able to submit requests to take actual classes. Current TA users continuing a degree plan may use the system, though it's not required.

Only soldiers who are either signing up for TA for the first time, or who are changing their degree or institution, are required to use the system, the Army's Raymer said.

The time to complete the process varies but will typically be about 30 to 45 minutes, which can be done in multiple sessions.

The first key part is a questionnaire asking soldiers about their interests, whether they want their civilian careers to be related to their military jobs, how much money they want to make, their preferred working environment, their ideal learning setting and many other factors, according to Army officials.

The system analyzes the answers and suggests several possible career paths based on them, in ranked order. Soldiers can select one of these careers or pick a completely different job goal.

Either way, Via will then suggest degrees related to the chosen career field based on information from the Labor Department and the Education Department.

As part of this, the system factors in a student's education history. Since you can't earn more than one of the same degree level on TA, Via will recommend master's degrees if you already have your bachelor's, for instance.

Again, soldiers can select a suggested degree or input their own.