After J.C. Walter served in Afghanistan and enrolled at The University of Alabama, he expected to be able to pay all of his tuition with assistance from the post-9/11 G.I. Bill and additional aid from the U.S. military.

His senior year, though, will come with a price tag he didn’t expect: $4,500. The junior majoring in criminal justice is set to lose 40 percent of his veteran’s tuition aid because of sequestration.

“You’re taking away from a soldier’s education,” he said. “Cutting these benefits is making it harder for that soldier to go to school, to receive that education that he or she rightly deserves.”

Beginning this fall, the military’s tuition assistance program for members of the Army, Air Force and Marines will be cut as part of the federal cuts to defense and social programs mandated by President Barack Obama and Congress because of a failed attempt to reach compromise on the nation’s debt issues.

Walter said the other 60 percent of his tuition is covered by the post-9/11 G.I. Bill, which is not affected by sequestration cuts, and he came to the University expecting that his educational expenses would be covered.

“Coming in to The University of Alabama, I knew that I didn’t have to worry about taking out a loan to pay for education because I had the G.I. Bill and tuition assistance on my side,” he said.

Jordan Carpenter, a senior majoring in environmental science and a veteran, said these cuts are unfair to soldiers who were promised tuition assistance.

“You have someone who might have set up their life in a certain way because of promises that were made about tuition assistance,” he said. “The recruiter might have said ‘you have access to $4,500 in tuition assistance, so sign up for eight more years.’ Someone has agreed to give up that much of their life, and now you’re changing the terms. I think anyone would be rightfully upset with that arrangement being changed.”

Tuition assistance, unlike the G.I. Bill, is only available to those who are currently serving in an active duty or reserve capacity. Carpenter said he was able to complete classes while in the military largely because of tuition assistance.

“I used tuition assistance while I was on active duty, in-between deployments, he said. “I knew that I would be coming back to UA, and I needed to finish my English and computer science.”

Zach Boyd, a junior majoring in finance and a veteran, said he also took advantage of tuition assistance while he served, and that cutting these benefits will hamper the ability of enlisted service members to move up to officer positions.

“I think that is asinine, because what ends up happening long-term is that enlisted [service members] stay as enlisted and don’t have a chance to move upwards. As soon as you go officer, you’re set for life,” Boyd said.

He said he has personally witnessed this kind of career advancement.

“I know of about three people I used to work with that got a degree while they were in and were then able to apply to a Warrant Officer Package or an Officer Package. That’s a huge promotion,” he said.

Carpenter said the military is betraying its commitment to service members.

“I think that what you’re doing is sacrificing the highest ideals of the military to prove a political point,” he said. “I think that’s a failure of leadership at all levels — the president, the joint chiefs of staff — all senior military leadership.”