Bill Summary: H.B. 486 - National Guard Education Assistance Changes

• University of North Carolina System and Community College System must adopt uniform policies by July 1, 2017 requiring excused absences for National Guard members placed on state active duty, effective fall 2017 semester.

• National Guard members on active duty may make up missed work, continue classes online when feasible, receive incomplete or absent grades with extended completion deadlines, or drop courses without academic penalty.

• National Guard tuition assistance program expanded to cover students enrolled in approved professional certification programs recommended by the North Carolina National Guard Education and Employment Center.

• Veterans and their dependents using federal education benefits (38 U.S.C. Chapter 30 or 33) qualify for in-state tuition without the 12-month residency requirement if their abode is North Carolina, including those using transferred Post-9/11 GI Bill benefits and Marine Gunnery Sergeant John David Fry Scholarship recipients.

• Department of Military and Veterans Affairs prohibited from closing any state-owned veterans cemeteries and must maintain current operations at all facilities, including the Eastern Carolina State Veterans Cemetery in Goldsboro.