If Service members cannot attend school due to military service as defined below, MBU will readmit them with the same academic status they had when they last attended, or when they were last admitted to MBU but did not begin attendance because of military service obligations. A student’s readmission rights under this specific policy are terminated in the case of a dishonorable or bad conduct discharge, general court-martial, federal or state prison sentence, or other reasons as stated in 34 CFR 668.18(h), but students may still be eligible for regular readmittance.
Readmission Procedures
The student, or an appropriate officer of the Armed Forces or official of the Department of Defense, must give oral or written notice of the student’s military service as far in advance as is reasonable under the circumstances. This notice must be provided to the Director of Records. No notice is required if precluded by military necessity. The student may, alternatively, submit an attestation that military service necessitated the student’s absence from the institution at the time of readmission.
The student must also notify the Director of Records of their intent to return to MBU within three years after the completion of the period of service and provide appropriate documentation. If a student is hospitalized for or convalescing from an illness or injury incurred in or aggravated due to service, the student will be given a two-year extension from the end of the recovery from such illness or injury to provide notification.
The cumulative length of the absence and of all previous absences from the school for military service may not exceed five years. Only the time the student spends performing service is counted.
Documentation Requirements
Students applying for readmission should provide documentation to establish that they did not exceed the five-year service limitation, and that their readmission rights have not been terminated pursuant to the exceptions stated in 34 CFR 668.18(h). Documentation that will satisfy these requirements includes, but is not limited to, the following:
- DD (Department of Defense) 214 Certificate of Release or Discharge from Active Duty.
- Copy of duty orders prepared by the facility where the orders were fulfilled carrying an endorsement indicating completion of the described service.
- Letter from the commanding officer of a Personnel Support Activity or someone of comparable authority.
- Certificate of completion from military training school.
- Discharge certificate showing character of service.
- Copy of extracts from payroll documents showing periods of service.
- Letter from National Disaster Medical System (NDMS) Team Leader or Administrative Officer verifying dates and times of NDMS training or Federal activation.
Terms and Conditions
Military service is defined as Voluntary or involuntary service in the armed forces, including service by a member of the National Guard or Reserve on active duty, active duty for training, or full-time National Guard duty under federal authority, for a period of more than 30 consecutive days under a call or order to active duty of more than 30 consecutive days. This does not include National Guard service under state authority.
An appropriate officer, as defined for the purposes of providing notification of a student’s military service that necessitates the student’s absence from an institution, is a commissioned, warrant, or noncommissioned officer authorized to give such notice by the military service concerned.
At the time of readmission, the student will be admitted at the same academic status into the next program class occurring after MBU has received the student’s intent to return to courses, unless a later date is requested. MBU reserves the right to readmit at a later date to extenuating circumstances. If the program is no longer offered, admittance will be offered into a program determined to be most like the prior program.
For the first academic year, a student readmitted to the same program will be charged tuition and fee charges they would have been assessed for the academic year during which they left the school. However, if veteran education benefits or other service member education benefits will pay the higher tuition and fee charges for the year, the school may assess those charges to the student as well. Subsequent years will be assessed no more than the tuition and fee rates that other students in the program are assessed for the that academic year.
If MBU determines that the student is not prepared to resume the program, MBU will make reasonable efforts to assist the student to become prepared. However, MBU will not readmit a student if it is determined that there are no reasonable efforts available to prepare the student to resume the program at the same point or enable them to complete, or that the student is not prepared after reasonable efforts are made.
Students who fail to apply for readmission within the required time limits or who otherwise do not meet the conditions set out herein may still be eligible for regular readmittance to MBU.