(The Center Square) – Legislation that would help members of the National Guard repay their student loans was approved Tuesday morning by a committee in the North Carolina House of Representatives.
Nat.l Guard Student Loan Repayment Program, known also as House Bill 110, would establish the National Guard Student Loan Repayment program as incentive to join.
Active Guard members would be eligible for up to $50,000 for three years of service and an additional $10,000 for every additional year. The grants could not exceed the total amount of outstanding loans owed by the Guard member.
The legislation, proposed to be effective July 1, calls for $25.5 million in funding for the 2025-26 fiscal year. The legislation allows the Guard to seek repayment of the grant if a guardsman is discharged for misconduct or voluntarily resigns before the end of the three-year enlistment period. The terms of the repayment would have to be similar to the guardman’s original student loan.
The Homeland Security and Military and Veterans Affairs Committee gave approval, sending it to the Appropriations Committee.
“This is intended to be another tool to help the National Guard in recruitment and retention,” Rep. Robert Reives, D-Chatham, one of the bill’s sponsors, told the committee Tuesday. “A lot of times, National Guardsmen don’t have a lot of the same benefits as some of the same benefits that they might have if they were in some of the other branches. We want to give them that, especially when it comes down to school loan repayment.”
Under the legislation, the program would be administered by the N.C. National Guard Adjutant General.
National Guard members in North Carolina are already eligible for many other benefits, including free tuition at colleges and universities in the state, health insurance, retirement and Veterans Administration home loans.
In order to qualify for the Guard, applicants must be U.S. citizens between the ages of 17 and 35, and pass physical, mental and moral tests, according to the Guard’s website. Former members of the U.S. military who were honorably discharged can also join the Guard and receive credit for their active duty service.
