Army IgnitED is a portal for military-connected students and postsecondary institutions to use to manage tuition assistance (TA) funds. It replaced GoArmyEd and allows Soldiers to set up educational pathways for themselves and receive guidance on utilizing TA funding. These pathways can range from earning a college degree to credentialing opportunities. Army IgnitED also includes ways to prepare for transition from active duty to a civilian career and land ROTC scholarships.
When a Soldier sets up their Army IgnitED account, they must upload their home school’s education path information into the system. If their education level is not the same or lower than their current Civilian Education Level (CEL), they will have a hold placed on their account that prevents them from receiving TA until their CEL has been updated.
Soldiers are encouraged to reach out to their ESO and/or Military Service Counselor at the Education Center for assistance with setting up and using Army IgnitED. They can also visit this link for a how-to guide to getting started with Army IgnitED.
What Happened to Army IgnitED?
When the system first launched in 2021, it was plagued by massive technical issues and widespread frustration among thousands of Soldiers. The system almost immediately shut down, and the Army had to start manually processing exceptions-to-policy for many soldiers to access their benefits.
The issue was a result of a faulty transfer of data from the previous platform, GoArmyEd. Deloitte, the government contracting firm that ran the old program, did not have enough time to fix all of the errors before the transition.
Despite the problems, IgnitED is getting better. The service recently updated the program and adopted some of the internal mechanics from the Air Force’s online tuition system. The new version has been able to process more payments, and some of the issues that forced troops to pay out-of-pocket are starting to disappear. The Army says IgnitED will be 95% functional for tuition assistance by September 30. But some key features- including civilian professional development and critical backend data links to personnel systems-won’t work until late 2023.
How to Use the Army IgnitED Portal?
The ArmyIgnitED portal is an online tool that allows soldiers to create a student account, set up their education path, and request tuition assistance (TA) for courses. To use the portal, soldiers must have access to their military email and a CAC card reader.
Once a student is signed up for the ArmyIgnitED portal, they will need to add their USI student ID and their education goal to it. The education goal should be the current degree program they are enrolled in with USI. Once their education path has been approved by their Army Education Counselor, they can then submit their TA request to USI.
The ArmyIgnitED portal is designed to help each Soldier find the right educational pathway for them. The paths can lead to college degrees, certificates, or even ROTC scholarships. To set up their pathway, Soldiers should start by finding the program that best fits them by using tools like CollegeRecon’s School Search Tool and the Career Path Decide tool. After they have found their program, they can add it to their Army IgnitED account and begin requesting TA for it.