The New G.I. Bill – A veteran’s perspective

By Kyle More

Veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars now have more options than ever when it comes to achieving academic goals after their military service. As a veteran, I have been fortunate to utilize the old GI Bill through my college career and was able to combine my veterans’ benefits with a Florida Bright Futures scholarship, allowing me the freedom to not have to work to pay the bills.

For most veterans, there is no option to supplement the extra costs of college life that the pre 9/11 GI Bill doesn’t cover, and many veterans are forced to choose between college and working. There are three common choices veterans face when leaving active duty: stay in the military and continue to deploy to war, leave the military and try to secure full-time employment with comparable benefits, or leave the military and attend college while trying to live off the GI Bill.

In order to give veterans the proper opportunity to pursue education in our modern world, a new version of the GI Bill is being implemented.  The Post 9/11 GI Bill, as it is being called, has drawn mixed reviews from some of Washington’s top leaders. Most opponents argue that the $78 billion price tag the new GI Bill requires for the next 10 years is too much. Never the less, Senator Jim Webb (D- Va), who originally drafted the new bill, and other supporters celebrated its implementation on August 1.

Since the creation of the GI Bill after WWII, we have seen this money well spent. Some experts credit the economic success of the nation after WWII to the availability of higher education to returning soldiers. After WWII the GI Bill was what facilitated an educated middle class and strengthened the social fabric of our communities and universities.

As of August 1, all service members who have served at least 90 days on active duty after Sept. 10, 2001, or 30 days on active duty and have been discharged with a service-connected disability, will be eligible for education benefits under the new GI Bill plan.

The new plan makes it significantly easier to focus completely on learning and preparing for a new career and not on making ends meet to stay enrolled.  Up until 2009, transitioning from fatigues and M-16’s to flip flops and number two pencils was mostly about personal risk.

When I was discharged from the Marine Corps, I knew that I was going to struggle financially because my income was significantly reduced. The old GI Bill was only enough for me to get by with proper budgeting and a scholarship. The new GI Bill addresses this common reason veterans are discouraged from going to school, which is the cost of living.

Most military members on their first enlistment are discharged at a base salary rate of about $2,500 a month, with most expenses like housing and food covered. The most I ever took home from the old GI Bill as a full-time student was about $1,300 a month, which leaves a substantial amount of lost income to worry about.

Without a supplement like scholarships, many veterans like myself could not adjust our lifestyles enough to survive on the old GI Bill alone. The new plan gives veteran students a monthly housing allowance based on the average housing costs in the town you live. This was the deciding factor for where I was going to go to college when I got out of the Marines. It wasn’t about the best school I could get into; it was about where I could afford to live and go to school at the same time.

The biggest change, however, may be that tuition payments will now be made to the academic institutions themselves and not the veteran. Up until now, I received a check every month in my bank account. Now the institutions will be paid directly by the VA based on the average cost per credit hour for each state, not to exceed each state’s individual cap. For Florida, the maximum amount the new GI Bill will cover per credit hour is $295, and the maximum amount of fees that will be paid per term is $62,000.

What the new GI Bill legislation facilitates is an actual chance to successfully attend a state university after discharged from the service, and the ability to transfer those hard-earned benefits to dependants if they choose not to use them. For most of our military today, being in harm’s way is commonplace.

In my opinion, if you served your country you ought to at least have the chance to attend a state university without having to worry about keeping the lights on and the dog fed. The Post 9/11 GI Bill does just that. It gives veterans the resources needed to compete inside a modern academic system and an incentive to further develop their already selfless character with valuable post secondary education. The GI Bill has been a valuable asset to my entire college experience.

This fall I will have completed a Bachelor in Psychology and will be moving on to law school next year, and I would not have been able to accomplish this without the benefits I earned by serving in the Marine Corps and in combat. The Post 9/11 GI Bill is our country’s guarantee to future generations that there is always a place for veterans in our universities and our educated workforce.

Serving your country is not an alternative to higher education.