Veterans can now ask for new GI Bill college aid

WASHINGTON

Up to half a million veterans are expected to begin seeking federal college aid today as the largest GI Bill program since the Vietnam War hits its first critical milestone.

The Department of Veterans Affairs was to start accepting applications this morning from Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans for assistance under the "Post 9/11 GI Bill." The VA also is collecting applications from vets seeking help under the new law's predecessor, the Montgomery GI Bill.

"We are set to go," said Keith Wilson, the VA's director of education services.

His agency has hired 500 people to process applications, anticipating a 25 percent jump in the number of vets who will seek school aid. Funds will begin to flow to those vets and their colleges in August. The new law is a boost for vets and a milestone for U.S. Sen. Jim Webb, D-Va., who introduced it on his first day in office in 2007.

But taking full advantage of it figures to challenge vets, colleges and the VA. Some vets will find that the Montgomery GI Bill, while less generous overall, better suits their needs, Wilson said. Others, still on active duty, may want to study the new law's provisions governing when benefits may be transferred to a spouse or children.

Congress added transferability to Webb's original proposal at the insistence of uniformed leaders, who argue that it will encourage troops to make a career of the military. In general, the law will let active-duty service members with at least six years of experience shift their GI Bill benefits to their spouse or children if they commit to at least four additional years of service.

Like much of the rest of the law, the transferability benefits may vary depending on a service member's time in uniform or choice of school, among other factors. Indeed, the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, one of several vets groups tracking the law's implementation, has estimated that it creates more than 315,000 potential combinations of benefits.

"The biggest problem is that people don't understand the benefits," said Patrick Campbell, the veterans group 's legislative counsel.

While the VA and veterans groups have done extensive mailings and posted information on the law on their Web sites, his group is "still answering tons of questions every day," Campbell added.

Beginning in August, the new law will pay an eligible veteran's college tuition and fees, up to the maximum charged by the most expensive public college in the state where the vet enrolls. It also will provide a monthly housing allowance and $1,000 a year for books and materials.

The maximum benefit - eight semesters of aid - is payable for vets who served 36 months or more after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. A vet serving as little as 90 days after Sept. 11 will qualify for 40 percent of the maximum benefit.

The Montgomery GI Bill, enacted in the 1980s, remains in effect for vets whose service ended before Sept. 11. It covers college courses, vocational school training and on-the-job training; the new law is limited to college aid. Applications under both laws may be submitted by mail or online at www.gibill.va.gov through the "Apply Online" link. Printed forms also can be downloaded from the GI Bill Web site and are available at VA offices.

While payments under the Montgomery GI Bill are distributed to veterans, who can use the money to cover college expenses, most of the $78 billion to be spent on the new law over the next decade will go directly to colleges.

Wilson said vets who apply and are found qualified will receive certificates that can be presented when they register for classes after Aug. 1. The schools will then bill the VA for payment of tuition and fees. The VA will send checks for housing allowances and books directly to veterans.

The new law is designed to give Iraq and Afghanistan vets a college benefit that matches the famed World War II GI Bill. But while that law covered all college costs at both public and private schools, the booming cost of higher education spurred Webb to tie his bill to public-school tuitions.

For private universities, where tuition often is higher than the public maximums, the law includes a "Yellow Ribbon" program that will provide additional aid if the participating school matches it with a tuition cut or scholarship.

In Virginia, where the VA calculates that public-college costs top out at just over $20,000, a private school with usual fees of $30,000 could elect to cut its charges to veterans by $5,000 and in return would receive an additional $5,000, or $25,000 in all, for each veteran enrolled.

The VA has given private colleges until May 15 to decide whether they'll take part.

"Our schools are kicking it around," said David Boisselle, director of military affairs at Regent University in Virginia Beach. Within Regent, each school will decide how big a tuition discount it can offer in return for more aid, he said.

Boisselle said he expects the new law will spur a surge of applications to Regent from veterans. Nearly 330 vets are enrolled at the school this spring; Boisselle predicted the total could reach 400 in the fall.

Despite the breadth and complexity of the new law, there are gaps in the benefits it provides, said Rep. Bob Filner, a California Democrat who chairs the House Veterans Affairs Committee.

The VA has its hands full in processing applications and getting checks out to the colleges by August, he said, and Congress has avoided making adjustments in the law this year so as not to complicate the agency's work.

But Filner said the law should be adjusted next year to provide housing aid to vets in distance learning programs - it's currently limited to those who study on campus.

Other changes may be needed to compensate states that heavily subsidize their public universities, he said.

Because the law ties aid to tuition and fee charges, it shortchanges states that have set low fees and use state tax money to cover most educational costs, Filner said. "High-cost states," where students pay most school costs, will be rewarded by having the federal Treasury absorb those expenses, at least when it comes to veterans, he suggested.

Dale Eisman, dale.eisman@pilotonline.com