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EDUCATIONAL SERVICES

COLLEGE STUFF

FINANCIAL AID

GRANTS

 

 

CGMA Supplemental Education Grant (SEG)

 

The Coast Guard Mutual Assistance (CGMA) Supplemental Education Grant (SEG) is intended to help defray non-tuition costs of your education that are required for the course(s) you're taking (up to $250 per year).  This program is designed to help individuals obtain their first associate or bachelor degree, students having an associate or bachelor degree and seeking a second degree at the same level do not qualify, nor do those seeking a graduate degree.  However students who have an associate degree and are seeking a bachelor degree do qualify.

You can submit multiple grant requests during the calendar year as long as the total isn't more than $250.  Make sure your applications get to your CGMA representative within 12 months after the date of the expense.  Each grant applies to the current calendar year, regardless of when the costs were incurred.  Eligibility is based on the status of the CGMA client and student as of the first day of the course for which the SEG is applied.

To be eligible, the student must be:

For more information about eligibility, what it covers, etc., read the CGMA brochure.  For a SEG application go to your command's CGMA representative or the CGMA web site.

 

Coast Guard Foundation Grants

 

Education Grant & Vander Putten Education Grant

 

The CGFEG and VPEG are meant to help active duty enlisted personnel pursue higher education by reimbursing them (up to $500 per calendar year) for many costs not covered by tuition assistance.  Examples of items you can be reimbursed for are listed at the Coast Guard Institute's web site.

In addition, Mr. Roy Vander Putten, a former enlisted member of the Coast Guard and now a senior executive in the insurance industry, has funded another grant of $250 for those who have received the maximum available under the Coast Guard Foundation Grant.

Applicants will be considered automatically for a Vander Putten grant if they request a grant for more than $500.  As a result, the maximum available under this merged grant program is effectively $750 per calendar year.

Once you've completed the application, you can submit it with or without an endorsement.  Although those at the Institute who decide whether to approve or disapprove grant requests prefer you to have an endorsement from someone in your chain of command on the form, your request won't be disapproved solely because there's no endorsement.

CAVEAT: There's no guarantee that if you apply for these grants you'll receive one or both.  They both depend on separate private funding sources – individuals, military and civilian – which may not always be available.

This being the case, don't pay for something you don't absolutely need assuming you'll get reimbursed through these grants.

Grant requests may be submitted at any time of the year; the 31 December deadline has been eliminated.  You may submit a grant request up to one year after you incur an eligible expense.  All applications will be held for a year (in the order in which they were received) OR until a grant has been awarded, whichever occurs first.  After that, your application will be shredded.

Even if it’s been less than a year since the expense was incurred, you may not resubmit a grant request for amounts not reimbursed during the previous calendar year.

EXAMPLE: You submit a request for a $1,100 grant in March 2011 and receive $500 from the Foundation grant and $250 from the Vander Putten grant in October 2011.  You can’t then submit an application for the 2012 funding cycle for the $350 worth of items not reimbursed in 2011.

 

Timing of CGEG & VPEG Grant Disbursements

 

Even after grant requests have been approved (which most are), disbursement of funds by the Institute depends on whether funds are available.  The CG Foundation and Mr. Vander Putten disburse funds to the Institute at irregular and unpredictable intervals.

As soon as the Institute has money, it disburses it. When the Institute's pot of money runs out, no disbursements are made.

 

Spouse Education Grant

 

From 01 April through 01 June 2012, the Coast Guard Foundation is accepting applications for a needs-based education grant for spouses of Coast Guard enlisted personnel. The grant ($500) is intended to help the spouses personnel on active duty (E-3 through E-6) in the regular Coast Guard and the Coast Guard Reserve.

Applicants need only show enrollment in an education program or proof of a course completion at any time after 31 March 2010. Types of courses for which reimbursement is available include those offered by vocational and certification programs, as well as those offered at colleges and universities.

Applicants will not need to provide receipts for expenses, but they will need to itemize expenses. They will also need to list some basic financial information. Transportation and child care expenses can be listed as legitimate expenses for the grant. Also part of the application process is an essay (no longer than 500 words) which addresses what it means to the applicant to be a Coast Guard spouse and describing the difference education has made to the applicant’s life and the lives of the applicant’s family members.

In June 2012, a selection committee will convene to select grantees.
 

Stafford/PLUS Loan Origination Fee Refund

 

Coast Guard Mutual Assistance also offers a grant to reimburse clients for the 3% loan origination fee on Federal Stafford Loans and Federal Parent Loans for Undergraduate Students (PLUS).

The lender ordinarily deducts this fee from the loan amount before disbursing the loan funds. After confirming use of the loan, CGMA will reimburse the dollar amount of the loan origination fee to the client.

 

Pell Grants

 

Pell Grants are named after their congressional sponsor, Senator Claiborne Pell of Rhode Island, are gifts of money from the federal Treasury to financially deserving undergraduate students. 

For the current year (01 July 2011 - 30 June 2012), students may receive a maximum of $5,550.

Many factors determine eligibility and how much you might be eligible for.  Eligibility is determined by the Department of Education, based on information you provide on a Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA).

Funds are paid directly to your school and you may not receive Pell Grant funds for more than one school at a time.  But "your school may credit the Pell Grant funds to your school account, pay you directly (usually by check), or combine these methods. The school must tell you in writing how and when you'll be paid and how much your Pell Grant will be."

 

Miscellaneous Grants

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Last Modified 01/16/2013