Is College Therapeutic?

A recent article in the Sacramento Bee, College Helps Veterans Navigate Life After Combat, explains how going back to school can help veterans transition both academically and emotionally.

According to the author, veterans not only bring the typical student concerns like concerns about juggling work and classes, and how to improve their English grades. They also bring Iraq.

In fact, according to federal figures, about 17 percent of veterans who served in Iraq and Afghanistan have suffered disabilities related to their duties, from amputations to severe anxiety. But many veterans with combat anxiety or PTSD refuse to file disability benefits because they are afraid it will affect their future employment.

Sierra College in Rocklin, Ca. has developed a unique program to help veterans deal with these issues by establishing full time counselor dedicated to helping veterans navigate life after combat. Sierra even has a social club for veterans, and courses in English and physical education adapted for men and women who survived the war zone.

The veterans social club gives veterans a place where they can find fellowship among other veterans on campus - the only people who seem to be able to relate to them. A place where they can vent the frustration of dealing with pampered civilian students and the world in general. A place where they won't feel quite so isolated. But best of all, belonging to the club has none of the stigma attached with psychotherapy.

With the advent of the new Post 9/11 GI Bill there may be an opportunity for more schools to reach out to veterans and provide a means for them to transition back into a world that has become foreign to so many.

Read the full article.

States Rush to Help Vets Go Back to School

In an effort to help student veterans reach their education goals, many states recently started offering added incentives for military veterans and servicemembers to attend their state operated colleges and universities. These new incentives include scholarships, tuition reductions and tuition awards.

The latest state to announce such a move was Ohio, where Governor Ted Strickland announced a plan that could lure veteran students to Ohio schools. The “Ohio GI Promise” program ensures veterans will receive the in-state tuition rate, no matter their home of record. This program was announced right on the heels of the Post 9/11 GI Bill, which was signed just over a week earlier.

This tuition reduction program can mean a savings of about $13,000 a year at Ohio State University. With that kind of savings, the Ohio program could entice veterans to relocate to Ohio to attend college and use their Post 9/11 GI Bill. [after Aug. 1, 2009]

In a similar program designed to help veterans get back to school, New York State announced the Veterans Tuition Awards (VTA). This program is for eligible veterans pursuing an undergraduate or graduate degree program in New York State. The VTA can reduce tuition by 98 percent.

Earlier this year Penn State World Campus announced a pilot grant-in-aid program as part of a growing initiative by several colleges and universities that will help make obtaining a degree more affordable for servicemembers and veterans.

The timing of these programs fits well with the recent increase in Montgomery GI Bill benefits and the future Post 9/11 GI Bill benefits. Based on the current trends, I would say that this is just the beginning of what will turn out to be the great opportunity for veterans to go back to school.

Post 9/11 GI Bill – the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly.

After much debate and years of pushing, Senator Jim Webb’s proposed Post 9/11 GI Bill has finally become law. But is it really what we had hoped for?

The passage of the Post 9/11 GI Bill is great news for those of us who have been championing GI Bill reform and on the surface it appears to fix what ails the current Montgomery GI Bill (MGIB). It increases payment rates, extends the expiration date, and provides more benefits. But, on closer inspection, it appears it may miss the mark in some significant areas.

As with most new veteran benefit laws, the Post 9/11 GI Bill has some good, some bad, and some down right ugly aspects. The following is a brief look at each of these areas:

The Good
• Increased payment rates for undergraduates – payment rates will be based on your current state of residence and will vary greatly.
• Tuition is paid in lump sum for each term – this may relieve veteran students from having to make payments.
• Provides a monthly stipend for books – this is a huge benefit, books can run in excess of $100 a copy for some courses.
• Traditional classroom students will be given a monthly check for living expenses – this payment will be set at the current E-5 with dependents Basic Allowance for Housing (BAH) rate.
• The bill will extend the deadline for using the benefit to 15 years – the current MGIB expires 10 years after leaving active-duty service.
• Servicemembers who joined prior to June 1985 under the Veterans Education Assistance Program (VEAP) are eligible for benefits - the MGIB excludes most of these servicemembers.
• No more pay-to-play enrollment fee – the MGIB requires members to pay $1,200 to enroll.
• Anyone who has served on active-duty since Sept. 11, 2001 including activated members of the Guard and reserve are eligible – the current GI Bill has separate benefits for active-duty, Selected Reserve - Montgbomery GI Bill for Selected Reserve (MGIB-SR), and activated guard and reserve - Reserve Education Assistance Program (REAP).
• GI Bill transferability to family members is included - the details are still being worked out, but this has long been an issue for members of the military who would like to use their benefits to pay for their dependents education.
• Provides benefits to those previously left out - the MGIB excluded most officers and those who opted out due to the $1,200 enrollment fee.

The Bad
• Payment rates are set for undergraduate tuition rates – this could mean that veterans who wish to attend grad school will need to pay the difference out-of-pocket.
• The basic allowance for housing is not available for students taking non-traditional classes – online and other distant learning students won’t receive payment for cost of living.

The Ugly
• The new payment rates are based on length of post 9/11 service – The plan creates eight different payment levels, which will differ from state to state and the number of classes taken. Seen as a way of leveling the disparity between reserve and active –duty, this appears to create a new disparity based on the length of service, determined by an arbitrary, although historically significant, date.For Example:
• An active-duty veteran who served 10 years in the military, only 28 months of which occurring after 9/11, will only get 80 percent of the new payment rate.
• A 20-year member of the Guard or Reserve who served a total of 2 years on active-duty, but with less than 6 months on active-duty since 9/11 will only get 40 percent of the new payment rate.
• The Webb GI Bill is an entirely new VA Education benefit. Adding a new chapter to the GI Bill (Chapter 33) creates HUGE administrative issues:
o May increase the current back-log of eligibility applications and increase the burden on the VA system.
o Could result in an extended delay in paying these new benefits - slated to go into effect in August of 2009.
o Will result in confusion, especially for those future troops who will have to choose which benefit they want.

Does the Post 9/11 GI Bill completely fix the GI Bill? No, but on balance, the Post 9/11 GI Bill is a great improvement and for most eligible veterans, it may be much better than the current VA Education programs.

One last note: As it is currently written, the Post 9/11 may not be an improvement for some veterans. Those of us who qualify for both the MGIB and the Post 9/11 GI Bill can elect to keep our current benefits and good news is the MGIB payment rate for 2008-09 is forecast to increase to $1,321 a month.

Visit GovTrack.us to view the entire text of the law.

Click here to view a comparison of the MGIB and Post 9/11 G Bill.

Montgomery GI Bill Benefit Grows!

The same legislation that carried the new Post 9/11 GI Bill to the President's desk also increased the MGIB payment rate by 20%. This new payment rate will make the MGIB worth $47,556 — a total increase of nearly $8,000 over last year's rate.

The $47,556 figure is based on the new monthly full-time student payment rate of $1,321 multiplied by the 36-month limit. If you are GI Bill eligible and have benefits remaining, you get this increase no matter when you became eligible or begin using it.

Not only is the size of this increase unusual, it is also happening sooner than normal. In a normal year the benefit is increased by a smaller amount and does not go into effect until October. This years increase is set to go into effect on August 1st.

Learn more about this MGIB increase.

More Benefits - More Questions

The newly minted Post 9/11 GI Bill is comprehensive and arguably offers more benefits than any of its recent predecessors. But with more benefits comes more questions, many of which may not be answered until August 1, 2009 when the benefit goes into effect.

In addition to the questions being asked, there are thousands of rumors and misstatements and half-truths. Even the originators of the Post 9/11 GI Bill are still trying to figure out what the final version of their bill will mean to us veterans.

In an effort to answer your questions, I have compiled a list of the 20 Most Frequently Asked Questions and the latest answers offered by the Department of Veterans Affairs.

Do yourself a favor as you read through these, keep in mind that these answers reflect the current reality - things may change. In addition, avoid making any assumptions; if it isn’t in black and white, it probably isn’t going to happen. In other words try not to read anything into it that is not there.

Here are the 20 FAQs – have fun .