New York Naval Militia Education Benefits

Recruitment Incentive & Retention Program (RIRP)

Effective January 1st 1997, the Recruitment Incentive & Retention Program (RIRP) is a very generous benefit available to you as members of the Naval Militia. The RIRP is a tuition assistance program available to members of the New York Army National Guard, New York Air National Guard, and the New York Naval Militia. The RIRP is a program funded by New York State with the intention of retaining and recruiting drilling reservists within New York State. If approved for the RIRP, New York State will pay your school a maximum of the current State University of New York's (SUNY) maximum in-state undergraduate tuition per semester at any college, university, or community-technical college in the State of New York recognized and approved by the New York State Board of Regents or State University of New York. The rate for the Spring 2019 semester was $3,435, and that rate is rumored to increase to $3,535 for the Fall 2019 semester.

Eligibility:

In order to qualify for the RIRP, you MUST meet the eligibility requirements outlined in DMNA REG 621-1. The basic eligibility requirements are as follows:

• Be a current drilling reservist, in good standing both with your Federal component, and the Naval Militia(meaning no AWOL‘s, not flagged, etc.), and remain a drilling reservist for the duration of the time you are receiving the RIRP benefit
• Be a current resident of New York State for a period of 186 days prior to using the program for the first time, and 186 days per year thereafter (excluding Active Duty periods)
• Be enrolled in an undergraduate program working to achieve your first Bachelor‘s degree, or an Associate‘s degree and taking a minimum of 6 credit hours per semester or 4 credit hours per quarter
• *NEW for the Fall 2019 Semester* be a member of the New York Naval Militia for a MINIMUM of 1 month (30 days) prior to the deadline date for the current semester you want to apply for (for the Fall 2019 semester, that means you will have to be a member NLT 12JUL19)

Deadlines:

RIRP is a SEMESTER to SEMESTER program, meaning you must re-apply completely each semester if you would like to be approved.

RIRP currently covers the Spring and Fall semesters only.

The deadline dates listed below are subject to change.

Late applications will not be accepted under any circumstances.

Beginning the day after the first deadline, you will have a 60 day grace period to collect all final requirements and submit them to NYNM HQ for approval. This grace period is meant to allow for processing times at HESC and FASFA; all additional remaining requirements should be submitted ASAP to allow HQ time to review them and make sure everything is correct.

Please note: your college/university will not receive notification about RIRP from NYNM until we have received all requirements & approved your application, therefore it is crucial you submit all documents as early as possible.

• Spring Semesters (1st deadline)
  The completed DMNA Form 96-1 MUST BE RECEIVED by Elizabeth Cummings, Naval Militia Education Officer, NO LATER THAN 1600 on December 13th in order to be accepted into the application period for that semester
• Fall Semesters (1st deadline)
  The completed DMNA Form 96-1 MUST BE RECEIVED by Elizabeth Cummings, Naval Militia Education Officer, NO LATER THAN 1600 on August 13th in order to be accepted into the application period for that semester

Please note, FASFA & TAP are the ONLY requirements that are allowed to be used two semesters in a row, as they apply for the entire school year as opposed to the individual semester. For the Fall 2019 semester, your FASFA & TAP (if applicable) MUST be dated 2019-2020. This means they are good for the Fall 2019 semester AND the Spring 2020 semester, so you should save copies of them for next semester if you plan on re-applying in the Spring as you will have to submit a copy with next semester‘s application as well!

Please utilize the NYNM RIRP Checklist which will outline exactly what you need to do in order to apply. In the checklist, you will see that the Naval Militia has an additional required form, the NYNM RIRP Acknowledgement form - this form MUST be signed and submitted with your RIRP application.

Once received, I will be going through each application and contacting each person as quickly as possible to explain exactly what I have received, and what I still need to receive prior to the deadlines.

Please send all follow up correspondence, messages & documents regarding RIRP to this email address ONLY ng.ny.nyarng.mbx.nynavalmilitia-rirp@mail.mil attn: Elizabeth Cummings

Thank you!