The approximately 640 military veterans who are now students at the University of Texas at Austin have something that few of their peers have available to them: a new Student Veteran Center [6].
UT-Austin and George Washington University in Washington, D.C., are among the first colleges in the country to create such centers to assist Post-9/11 veterans earn an education through the so-called New GI Bill [7], which took effect in 2009.
Approximately 2 million veterans, many of whom served in Iraq and Afghanistan, are taking advantage of the New GI Bill. As a result, colleges are dealing with problems their counseling and academic staffs are largely ill-prepared to address: traumatic brain injury and post-traumatic stress, among them.
“Many colleges aren’t aware of the issue, and many don’t even know how many student veterans they have on campus,” David Rudd, scientific director of the National Center for Veterans Studies at the University of Utah, told Kaiser Health News [8] last year.
The Student Veteran Center opened at UT-Austin on November 11, 2011—appropriately, Veterans Day. UT calls the center a “port of entry” for veterans who are seeking the “academic, social, physical and financial support they need to complete college and reach their fullest potential. It will serve as a clearinghouse for information and as a place where student veterans can study, spend time with fellow veterans and find community.”
San Diego State University [9] is attempting to foster a sense of community by providing on-campus housing for veterans, who typically live off-campus.
The Post-9/11 GI Bill [10] is referred to as the largest investment in veterans’ education since World War II, covering the full cost of an undergraduate education at any public university or college in the country, and many private schools.
The bill provides up-front tuition payments directly to the school, a monthly living allowance, and a book stipend of $1,000 per year.
To qualify, a veteran must have served at least 90 days of active duty service since Sept. 10, 2001, or have served 30 days and was discharged due to a service connected injury or illness.
In early May, at Fort Stewart, Ga., President Obama signed an executive order to protect Post-9/11 GI Bill users from predatory lending practices. One key feature of the order is referred to as Know Before You Owe. To accept the GI Bill, or military tuition assistance money, schools will have to provide veterans with completed financial aid forms developed by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau [11] and the U.S. Department of Education [12]. The forms will disclose all tuition and fees, estimated student loan debt upon graduation, and school performance data, such as graduation rates.
- To read more about the educational challenges that Post-9/11 veterans face, Click Here [8] to read the Kaiser Health News story.
- The Dean of Students at UT-Austin operates the school’s new Student Veteran Center. Click Here [6] to read more.
- Numerous government and veteran organization websites provide information about the New GI Bill. Two of them are: