Metrics and Mandates
Written by Mark Fitzgerald
MAE 2010 Volume: 5 Issue: 5 (July)
HOW MUCH OF AN IMPACT WILL THE
POST-9/11 GI BILL HAVE ON
SERVICEMEMBERS AND HIGHER EDUCATION?
It takes time to implement a new program, especially one that serves thousands and thousands of servicemembers each year. After the Post-9/11 Veterans Educational Assistance Act of 2008 went into effect in August 2009, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs was flooded with requests from servicemembers seeking to cash in on their educational benefits. The initial demand overwhelmed the VA, which had to work through the requests with a limited number of staff and outdated technology.
Last October, in testimony before the House of Representatives Veterans’ Affairs Subcommittee on Economic Opportunity, Keith Wilson, the director of education service for the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, said he sympathized with the situation and was working hard with his staff to get a handle on implementing the program more effectively.
“I can say firsthand I know exactly what these students are going through,” he said. “I know what it’s like to stand in line for food stamps after defending this nation for eight years. I take this very personally and we’re going to fix it.”
As a result of the demand for benefits, the VA hired over 500 employees, who worked mandatory overtime to help address the high volume of claims received for the Post-9/11 GI Bill. The VA also reached out to servicemembers, university officials and other partners to meet its commitment to an aggressive processing goal of February 1, 2010, the date a large number of spring payments were due. By mid-January, the VA had processed over 72,000 of the approximately 103,000 spring enrollments it had received.
“We’re confident that we’ve overcome the hiccups,” Wilson said in this month’s interview with MAE [see full interview on page 21]. “Last year, the fall semester was a challenge. We’ve tried to be very candid about that. But we recovered in the spring semester and I think that went very well. So we really are confident that we’ve got the pieces in place to have a successful fall this year.”
REWARDING RESPONSIBILITY
Originally proposed by Senator Jim Webb (D–Va.) in January 2007, the legislation was designed to pay for veterans’ college expenses to a similar extent that the original GI Bill did after World War II. The main provisions of the act include comprehensive funding of a public four-year undergraduate education for a veteran who has served three years on active duty since September 11, 2001. Under the law, veterans can also transfer benefits to a spouse or children if they agree to serve 10 years.
“This is not simply a debt that we are repaying to the remarkable men and women who have served—it is an investment in our own country,” President Obama said during a milestone ceremony last August at George Mason University that marked the law’s significance and full realization into practice. “The first GI Bill paid for itself many times over through the increased revenue that came from a generation of men and women who received the skills and education that they needed to create their own wealth. The veterans who are here today—like the young post-9/11 veterans around the country—can lead the way to a lasting economic recovery and become the glue that holds our communities together. They too can become the backbone of a growing American middle class.”
Obama went on to compliment servicemembers on their dedication and recognized the challenges of serving in a post-9/11 climate of uncertainty and war. “And even as we help our veterans learn the skills they need to succeed, I know that all of us can learn something from the men and women who serve our country,” he said. “We have lived through an age when many people and institutions have acted irresponsibly—when service often took a backseat to short-term profits; when hard choices were put aside for somebody else, for some other time. It’s a time when easy distractions became the norm, and the trivial has been taken too seriously. The men and women who have served since 9/11 tell us a different story. While so many were reaching for the quick buck, they were heading out on patrol... And now, with this policy, we are making it clear that the United States of America must reward responsibility, and not irresponsibility.”
FROM THEORY TO PRACTICE
The number of servicemembers who took advantage of the Post-9/11 GI Bill during the 2009 and 2010 terms was considerable and much higher than expected. Cost, convenience, geography and support systems proved to be important factors in the decision-making process.
“I enrolled at a local state university for a graduate certificate [under the Post-9/11 GI Bill],” a vet who recently returned from Iraq explained in an online discussion. “It’s gone pretty well so far. Adjusting to life on campus and trying to become a civilian again took some time. It was a lot to take on at once. My advice: take it easy the first semester. Fortunately, the school I picked has a lot of nontraditional students. I found that I clicked better with the 48 year olds than I did with the other 20-somethings in my classes. If you have the choice, find a school with an older average age.”
Lamonte Mills, an Air Force veteran who returned to Tidewater Community College under the Post-9/11 GI Bill after nearly a decade, told The Chronicle of Higher Education that he came back to the college because of its low cost and welcoming environment.
“I was going to apply to various other colleges and universities, but I was led back to TCC,” he said. “It feels like home. When I was gone for so long, I wasn’t certain if anyone would remember me. But everyone did. They thanked me for serving.”
Mills, who served on active duty in the Air Force from 2007 to 2009, was also drawn back to college because he thought the educational benefits under the new bill were more appealing than the Montgomery GI Bill, which mandates an annual adjustment of benefits on the basis of average undergraduate tuition.
Under the Post-9/11 GI Bill, servicemembers and veterans can receive the full amount of tuition and fees at any public college in their state. They can also receive a monthly housing allowance and an annual stipend for textbooks. In addition, the bill includes the Yellow Ribbon Program, which matches the amount of financial aid pledged by participating private colleges, graduate schools, and out-of-state public institutions to help cover the difference between tuition and a veteran’s allocated funds.
SCHOLARSHIPS FOR CHILDREN
Under a new VA scholarship program, children of some deceased servicemembers will be able to tap into Post-9/11 GI Bill benefits. The scholarship honors John D. Fry, a Marine gunnery sergeant who was killed in 2006 while serving in Iraq, and will be available to children of servicemembers who have died in the line of duty since September 11, 2001.
Whereas under the Post-9/11 GI Bill families have to share 36 months of tuition and fees, the Fry scholarship makes it possible for more than one member of a family to use the benefits.
Children who are 18 years or older will receive 36 months of benefits that cover full tuition, plus a living stipend and book allowance. Tuition will be capped at the highest tuition and fees charged for an in-state student at a public college or university in the state where they are attending school. The VA estimates that about 1,500 children and young adults will use the benefit in the first year.
ONWARDS AND UPWARDS
Senator Daniel Akaka (D–Hawaii), an Army veteran, recently introduced legislation that would make all members of the National Guard and Reserve programs eligible for the Post-9/11 GI Bill benefits. Veterans would receive aid for a wider array of educational programs, such as vocational and on-the-job training, and the bill would make it easier for them to qualify for the housing and textbook allowances. Also, benefits would be based on a national average of tuition, instead of on the highest public college tuition in each state under the legislation.
“We are excited that there is again movement in making some legislative changes to the new GI Bill,” remarked James Selbe, assistant vice president for lifelong learning at the American Council on Education. “There’s a pretty large-scale effort nationwide in building the capacity to serve veterans, but there’s still work to do within institutions to improve the veteran experience of transitioning from service to school.” ♦