Military-Supportive GI Bill® Approved and Yellow Ribbon Program Colleges Online and in Tennessee

Tennessee isn’t called the Volunteer State for nothing. The state’s legacy of military service and sacrifice runs deep. In fact, the nickname can be traced back to the War of 1812 when a group of volunteer citizen-soldiers organized under the Tennessee Militia to defend against the British, fighting alongside indigenous allies. Three years after joining the war effort, they contributed to a decisive victory at the Battle of New Orleans, marking the last major stand-off in the war and the beginning of the British drawdown.

Today, we’re generations removed from those historic battles, and living at a time when even the prospect of being sent off to deployments in middle eastern theaters no longer looms as heavy as it did just a handful of years ago. This gives new service members and veterans recently discharged a whole new lease on the American dream, thanks in part to all the benefits that come with military service– chief among them is the ability to access a college education.

Featured Programs:

Sponsored School(s)

Southern New Hampshire University

Featured Program: SNHU has been helping military service members reach their goals for nearly 80 years—from those coming home from WWII, to those still serving around the globe. See all the ways we can help you maximize your benefits, save time, and save money on the path to your next transition.

Request Info

UMass Global

Featured Program: Educating members of the military is at the root of who we are. It’s how we got started more than 65 years ago — providing outreach education to Marines stationed at Marine Corps Air Station El Toro — and our dedication to supporting U.S. service members, veterans, and their families has grown ever since. Military Times ranked us 14th nationwide for primarily online institutions and 19th in the western region in 2023.

Request Info

Tennessee Department of Veterans Services (TDVS) Military Education Benefits

It’s not just federal programs like the GI Bill® and the Yellow Ribbon program that are making college more accessible to Tennessee’s service members, vets, and their eligible dependents. Tennessee stands behind its vets and military families. Here you’ll find state-level benefits, along with military friendly colleges familiar with the programs in place to cover tuition costs and streamline the transition to college.

The Tennessee Department of Veterans Services (TDVS) has 14 field offices throughout the state, from Chattanooga, Knoxville and Mountain Home to Nashville and Murfreesboro to Jackson and Memphis and beyond, many located in the VA Medical Centers that you may already be familiar with. Each one of those locations has resource officers on-staff to help military members and their families file for the federal benefits they’ve earned. The TDVS also serves as an advocacy group, promoting pro-veteran legislation in Tennessee.

College assistance is counted among the many support and assistance programs that veterans and active duty service members can access through the TDVS. Some run parallel to certain federal programs but are even more generous and state oriented. The scholarship and grant programs are fully in addition to what you are already entitled to through the federal programs.