Student Loan Blog : veteran

Campuses Draw Vets as New GI Bill Benefits Kick In

Student Loan Girl — Tue, 30 Dec 2008 23:26:00 GMT

With the “21st Century GI Bill” set to take full effect in August 2009, colleges and universities throughout the country are preparing to receive the large numbers of veterans that will soon be transitioning from soldiers to students, reports The Detroit Free Press (“With New GI Bill, Campuses Prep for Influx of Veterans,” Dec. 29, 2008).

Campuses could see as much as a 25 percent increase in enrollment by military veterans in the next 2-3 years due to the new GI Bill, said Keith Wilson, education services director at the Veterans Benefits Administration.

The new bill will nearly double the college benefits offered under the old Montgomery GI Bill: anyone who has been on active duty for at least 36 months will get full tuition to the most expensive public university in their home state as well as monthly and yearly stipends to cover the costs of housing, books, and tutoring.

U of Michigan Students Push for Veteran Assistance Programs

Two veterans at the University of Michigan say that the state can leverage the new GI Bill and boost the state’s economy by catering to veterans at colleges.

Carl Ireland, president of the Student Veterans’ University of Michigan chapter, and Derek Blumke, co-founder of the Student Veterans of America, want Michigan to extend in-state tuition rates to all vets. They’re also lobbying colleges to establish on-campus veteran’s offices that assist students with any financial, housing, and mental health issues veterans may confront during their transition from active duty to academia.

School programs that assist veterans are a great marketing tool for universities, said Shaftone Bryne Dunklin, assistant director of Veterans Services at Eastern Michigan University. Dunklin believes that the new GI Bill will open classroom doors next fall to veterans who otherwise wouldn’t have been able to afford a college education.

Proposed Legislation May Soon Help Veterans

To ensure that veterans get the help they need statewide, both Ireland and Blumke have drafted a plan that they hope will become law sometime in 2009.

Besides requiring Michigan institutions to extend in-state tuition to veterans, their plan would require state universities to establish veterans’ offices that would assist vets in claiming their benefits, offer tutoring and other services, and act as a university liaison if a veteran is unexpectedly deployed. The proposal also seeks to waive the admissions fee for veterans and mandates that universities review a veteran’s military training to see if they can get college credit for their training.

Ireland’s and Blumke’s proposed legislation has the backing of two- time veteran and former U.S. Rep. Joe Schwarz, who said he will help the two veterans get their proposal before lawmakers. “The whole idea is make Michigan veteran-friendly, a place that is welcoming and a place where they’d want to pursue their education,” said Ireland.

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All Veterans Qualify for In-State Tuition at Ohio Colleges With New GI Promise Legislation

Student Loan Girl — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 22:19:00 GMT

Ohio governor, Ted Strickland, recently announced the implementation of The Ohio G.I. Promise, the first plan of its kind in the nation to extend in-state tuition rates to all veterans who attend an Ohio state public college or university on the GI Bill, according to an article in The New York Times (“Ohio Gives Veterans In-State Rates at Public Colleges,” July 9, 2008).

Just last month, President Bush signed the new national GI Bill which will double veterans’ benefits and allow soldiers to receive the equivalent of full scholarships at any public university or college in the state they reside.

Under The Ohio G.I. Promise, veterans, their spouses, and their dependents who are residents of any state may attend one of the Ohio’s 36 colleges and universities at the same in-state tuition rate enjoyed by legal Ohio state residents.

The move to implement the G.I. Promise bill is to attract more veterans to Ohio’s public colleges, which have experienced declining enrollments over the last several years, and to add some 230,000 students to the state’s school system over the next decade.

“If we are able to attract veterans to Ohio, we can link them and their families to internships, co-op and other opportunities, and if they get good jobs here, we’ll have Ohioans,” said Eric Fingerhut, chancellor of the Ohio Board of Regents. “We want veterans to know Ohio wants them to come here, and that we think they’re incredibly valuable high potential students.”

To meet the needs of the much-anticipated growth in veteran enrollments at Ohio colleges, Fingerhut told the Times that the state school system will significantly enhance the infrastructure that caters to military veteran students.

“We already have a number of very good programs, which we’ll be expanding, to provide the type of counselors, advisers, and mentors who can work one on one with veterans to help them make the transition to civilian life and navigate the academic environment,” he said.

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Colleges May Be Required to Refund Student Loans for Military Members Called Into Service

Student Loan Girl — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 00:20:00 GMT

At the same time the recently passed GI Bill was being pushed through Congress, legislators have been considering a veterans education “bill of rights” that would protect service members who are called to duty in the middle of their higher education studies, according to an article in The Chronicle of Higher Education (“Congress May Require Colleges to Repay Loans for Students Called to Military Service,” June 27, 2008).

Both the House and Senate are looking at legislation, which has become unpopular among colleges, that would require institutions to refund student loans and other out-of-pocket expenses to students who are called to active military duty mid-semester.

Under the proposed legislation, students would be able to sue colleges that fail to make the refunds and would require colleges to re-enroll veterans at the same academic status they held when they departed for military service.

Opponents say the requirements would be difficult to implement and that the potential changes would conflict with existing rules. They counter that Congress should require the loans to be discharged instead of having colleges repay them.

David Baime, vice president of the American Association of Community Colleges, claims that students should be responsible for the loans they take out, not the institutions they attend.

“It’s kind of outrageous to expect institutions to repay loans” that students take out, he said.

Supporter of the bill Patrick Campbell, legislative director for the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, says that the new requirements are only fair, pointing to the many horror stories of vets who have attempted to get refunds or re-enroll at their schools after returning from active duty.

Campbell said, “When veterans come home and their schools make them jump through hoops, some students will not go back.”

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Veterans See Education Benefits Double as New GI Bill Becomes Law

Student Loan Girl — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 21:00:00 GMT

The new GI Bill, signed by President Bush on June 30, more than doubles veterans’ education funds from the current $40,000 to $90,000, and is seen as a return to the same generous benefits extended to veterans of World War II, according to an Associated Press article (“Bush Signs $162 Billion War Bill,” June 30, 2008).

The new legislation will allow veterans who served in the wars in Iraq or Afghanistan for at least three years to attend the most expensive public institution in their state, all expenses paid. Soldiers will also receive a small monthly stipend for housing and may transfer their benefits to their spouse or children.

For those veterans who opt to attend more expensive private schools, the new GI Bill will match any aid that their institutions provide above the cost of the most expensive public college in their state.

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