If you serve in the Arkansas Army or Air National Guard, the state will waive your tuition, not discount it, waive it, for up to 120 semester credit hours on the way to a bachelor's degree. And as of the 2025 legislative session, the waiver is no longer limited to public colleges: Arkansas-headquartered private non-profit schools are now in, capped at what the state would have paid a public university. Most members hear about the old public-only version from a recruiter and never learn the program grew. Here is the current picture, sourced from the state rule itself.
What it is
The National Guard Tuition Waiver (NGTW) lives in state law at Ark. Code 6-60-214 and is implemented by the state rule at 6 CAR Part 530. In 2025 the legislature expanded it through Act 14 and Act 826 (HB1786), and the current codified rule now covers three kinds of schools:
- State-supported public two-year and four-year colleges and universities in Arkansas
- Private non-profit two-year and four-year colleges and universities headquartered in Arkansas that are eligible for Title IV federal student aid
- Institutions offering approved postsecondary credential or certificate programs
One honesty note, because you will run into it: the SAMS scholarship portal's NGTW page still describes the program as public-institution-only. That text has not caught up with the 2025 acts. The codified rule is the controlling authority, and it says private non-profits are eligible. If a school's financial aid office pushes back, hand them the rule itself: the full text of 6 CAR Part 530 as a PDF defines an eligible institution as "any state-supported public institution or a private institution of higher education that is a private, non-profit two-year or four-year college or university with its primary headquarters located in Arkansas that is eligible to receive Title IV federal student aid funds". Use that PDF rather than the rules-portal link above, which opens on a chapter index rather than on Part 530.
What it's worth
At a public school, the waiver covers tuition for all approved courses, and mandatory fees may also be covered as funds are available. Public in-state tuition at an Arkansas four-year university runs roughly $9,500 a year, which is the figure your Benefitry audit uses.
At a private non-profit school, the waiver pays up to the amount you would have received at a state-supported university. The rule is explicit that all tuition and fees may not be covered at a private institution, so budget for the gap between the private sticker price and the public-rate benefit.
The caps that matter:
| Limit | The rule |
|---|---|
| Credit hours | 120 semester credit hours (the Adjutant General can approve an exception above this per term, subject to funding) |
| Degree level | Undergraduate only, up to a bachelor's |
| Prior degree | Not available if you already hold a bachelor's degree |
| Private-school amount | Capped at the equivalent state-supported benefit |
The waiver applies before your GI Bill does, and it stacks. That combination is the quiet superpower here: NGTW clears tuition while Post-9/11 GI Bill or Montgomery GI Bill benefits can flow toward housing and books instead of being burned on tuition a waiver would have covered anyway.
Who qualifies (and who doesn't)
Per the rule and the program's own materials, you qualify if you:
- Are an enlisted member or officer of the Arkansas Army or Air National Guard
- Are an Arkansas resident
- Are in good standing with your unit
- Have completed Initial Active Duty Training, or had it waived through ROTC
- Are enrolled in a degree-seeking undergraduate program
- Have not already earned a bachelor's degree
Who does not qualify:
- Veterans who have left the Guard. This is a currently-serving benefit. If you separated, look at the Arkansas in-state tuition guide instead.
- Members pursuing a second bachelor's or a graduate degree.
- Out-of-state schools, and for-profit schools. The 2025 expansion covers Arkansas-headquartered private non-profits only.
How to claim it
- File your FAFSA and register in SAMS, the state's scholarship application system, and apply for your school's institutional aid. The program expects other aid applications to be in place first.
- Apply every semester, in the window. Applications run from 60 days before your courses start to 30 days after. Miss the window and you pay that semester yourself.
- Complete the Statement of Understanding. Army Guard members route through the state Education Incentives Branch (EIB); Air Guard members route through wing headquarters with a commander's letter. Your unit's education office walks you through it.
- Stay eligible, and understand the clawback. Four things trigger recoupment for a given semester: fraud, not completing the term, losing eligibility during it, or dropping more than 6 credit hours after the add/drop date. Separately, and this is the part worth knowing before you sign anything, the Adjutant General can recoup all funds ever paid on your behalf under the waiver if you engage in misconduct or fail to remain a satisfactory participant in active drilling status. That is a program-wide clawback, not a one-semester one (6 CAR 530-306).
Related benefits
- Arkansas in-state tuition for veterans covers the separate residency benefit worth up to $22,000 a year for recently discharged veterans.
- Arkansas Military Family Relief Fund pays one-time emergency grants up to $2,500 for Guard and reserve families in a crisis.
- Run the GI Bill calculator to see what your GI Bill adds on top of a tuition waiver.
Your Benefitry audit checks all of these against your profile automatically, with the dollar value each one is worth to you.