Veteran College Archives

Military Connection: College Admission Counseling for Veterans

May 17, 2015/in Education, Military Veteran, Veterans Benefits

By Joe Silva

Millions of Veterans have enrolled in college through the use of the Post-9/11 GI Bill or other Veteran education benefits. Veteran education benefits provide those who served their country with the means to pay for their higher education, including vocational certificates or degree programs. While these benefits are a great way to say thank you, they do not necessarily provide Veterans with the knowledge needed to ensure that they get the education that they have earned. Many Veterans could benefit from mentorship and counseling on how to use their benefit to select the right school for them.

Unfortunately, students can’t always rely on the advisors and counselors at prospective schools. Due to the rapid influx of Veteran students onto college and university campuses, several practices have been initiated by institutions of higher learning designed to help the school more than the Veteran. Additionally, many schools and staff members who actually do have Veterans’ best interests in mind, aren’t always knowledgeable about Veteran education benefits and how they work.

It is for this reason that MilitaryConnection.com would like to let every Veteran student know about Service to School.

Service to School is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization that was created to provide free college application counseling to Veterans, with the goal of maximizing their education benefit. The organization was founded by three combat Veterans, Gus Giacoman, Tim Hsia, Khalil Tawil while they were enrolled in elite graduate programs. The three joined forces with Anna Ivey, the former Dean of Admissions from the University of Chicago Law School. The group began a dialogue on how Veterans have a very different struggle when it comes to admissions policies, and how there aren’t enough resources for Veteran students.

Service to School connects Veteran college applicants with “Ambassadors,” who are volunteers and very often Veterans and/or higher education staff. The ambassadors are proficient with both Veterans education benefits and higher education admissions. Service to School Ambassadors are available to coach Veterans as to how to gain admission into the very best undergraduate or graduate programs at the finest schools in the country. The organization provides Veterans with mentorship, application assistance, résumé assistance, application essay assistance, interview preparation and network assistance.

Easing the process will make the road to higher education easier to navigate, therefore presenting a better chance of arriving at the final destination…the coveted graduation, with degree in hand.

For more information about Service to School visit www.Service2School.org.

Military Connection proudly serves those who serve in the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, Coast Guard, Guard and Reserve, Veterans and their Families. We are the go to site for Veteran Employment and information on Veteran education. Militaryconnection.com provides Veterans with and Directory of Employers, a Job Board, information on the Post-9/11 GI Bill, and a blog that offers Veterans boundless information. Be sure to visit Militaryconnection.com, the go to site.

Military Connection: College Admission Counseling for Veterans: By Joe Silva

Military Connection: Intern Program for Veterans: By Debbie Gregory

December 5, 2014/in Archived Blogs

Three years ago, the VA Acquisition Academy (VAAA) and its Acquisition Internship School began a program called the Warriors to Workforce (W2W) Program. The W2W Program was created to provide returning wounded Veterans with the opportunity to take their skills and experiences obtained through military service and apply them to a new professional field.

For the W2W Program, interns are hired as GS-1106 procurement technicians.

The W2W curriculum provides participants with the training needed to succeed in challenging careers as federal contract specialists. During the first year of the three-year program, interns complete 24 college credits in business courses. These classes and credits are required for entry into the contract specialist GS-1102 job series. Participants also take part in performance training and performance psychology.

After completion of the first year, interns convert to contract specialists in the Acquisition Intern Program, earning on the job training and experience. Upon successful completion of the program, interns are strategically positioned into the workforce, throughout the country, to meet the needs of VA contracting organizations.

The curriculum provides extensive technical and business skills training, advanced biofeedback work, mission service, and on-the-job rotations. The built-in support system and network mirrors the team environment and camaraderie that Veterans experienced in the military, easing the transition to the civilian professional world.

The W2W Program was launched in 2011 when 26 Veterans began their mission to become federal acquisition professionals through the program. Their mission was completed on Thursday, November 6^th, as they graduated and transitioned to full-time federal contract specialists.

With sponsorship from VA’s Office of Information and Technology, the program was expanded in 2013 for Veterans interested in a career in program management. Similar to the original program, the W2W the Program Management curriculum includes IT and foundation program management training. The first class will graduate in 2016.

Ideal candidates for these programs are military Veterans who have service-connected disabilities, and little-to-no post-high school education (e.g., no bachelor’s degree). Veterans interested in applying to the W2W Program can email vaaaw2w@va.gov or call 240-215-0561. Veterans with a bachelor’s or other advanced degree can apply for the VAAA’s two-year Acquisition Intern Program. For more information on the two-year program, email vaaainternshipschool@va.gov or call 240-215-0561.

Military Connection proudly serves those who serve in the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, Coast Guard, Guard and Reserve, Veterans and their Families. We are the go to site for Veteran Employment and information on Veteran education. Militaryconnection.com provides Veterans with and Directory of Employers, a Job Board, information on the Post-9/11 GI Bill, and a blog that offers Veterans boundless information. Be sure to visit Militaryconnection.com, the go to site.

Military Connection: Intern Program for Veterans: By Debbie Gregory

Military Connection: Retroactive Scholarships for Vets: By Joe Silva

December 1, 2014/in Archived Blogs

American’s take great pride in the Department of Veterans Affairs statistic claiming that over one million Veterans have gone to college or vocational training through the Post-9/11 GI Bill. While this data is accurate, it leads to the misconception that every Veteran is entitled to a free college education through the GI Bill. But, sadly, this is not so.

It’s true that the Post-9/11 GI Bill is the most complete and most generous Veteran education benefit to date. The most current GI Bill will cover the complete cost of tuition at a state college or university, or up to $20,235 in tuition per year at private schools. The benefit also pays recipients a housing allowance that is equal to BAH for E-5 with dependents for the zip code of the school, as well as a $1,000 per year stipend for books and supplies. The benefit is available for a total of 36 months to Veterans who have served since September 11, 2001.

But not every Veteran is eligible for the Post-9/11 GI Bill. Also, the benefit does not pay for student loans already accrued. So, while 1 million Veterans and counting are reaping the rewards from a tremendously generous VA benefit, there are many, many more struggling with tuition payments and student loans.

The VA estimates that there are approximately 22 million Veterans in the U.S. There are also more than 1.3 million service members on active duty, and more than 850,000 members of the Reserves. Despite the fact that over 1 million Veterans have received free tuition, there are still over 20 million Veterans who may be in need of tuition assistance. Additionally, there are over 2 million service members between current active duty personnel and Reservists who may have student loans that won’t get paid by the GI Bill.

Veterans who are facing financial hardships due to uncovered tuition payments and student loans should research Leave No Veteran Behind (LNVB), a Chicago based nonprofit organization that offers Retroactive Scholarships to Veterans.

The LNVB Retroactive Scholarship is a highly sought after scholarship open to eligible Veterans who meet the criteria, which includes: the completion of a degree or vocational program, existing loans from a lending institution for education costs, and a letter explaining the financial or personal/family hardship that their education debt has created. LNVB scholarship recipients must also be willing to agree to complete 100-400 hours of community service.

Veterans interested applying for the LNVB Retroactive Scholarship should click here to apply.

Patriotic Americans and Veterans interested in contributing to the education of Veterans are invited to DONATE what they can.

Military Connection proudly serves those who serve in the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, Coast Guard, Guard and Reserve, Veterans and their Families. We are the go to site for Veteran Employment and information on Veteran education. Militaryconnection.com provides Veterans with and Directory of Employers, a Job Board, information on the Post-9/11 GI Bill, and a blog that offers Veterans boundless information. Be sure to visit Militaryconnection.com, the go to site.

Military Connection: Retroactive Scholarships for Vets: By Joe Silva

Military Connection: Better Way to Research GI Bill: By Debbie Gregory

September 1, 2014/in Archived Blogs

On Thursday August 28, 2014, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) announced the launch of an upgraded version of the GI Bill^® Comparison Tool.

Since its initial release in February if this year, the GI Bill Comparison Tool has been making it easier for Veterans, service members, and military dependents to estimate their GI Bill education benefits and learn more about their prospective school. The tool has provided key information about the school and its tuition prices, as well as data on graduation&amp, borrowing rates for individual colleges and universities. The information provided by the GI Bill Comparison Tool helps Veterans choose the best education program to meet their needs and available benefit.

The VA estimates that over the past 6 months nearly 350,000 people have utilized the tool on VA’s GI Bill website.

The upgraded version of the GI Bill Comparison Tool provides the same wealth of information, but with added data. Along with the information already provided by the original tool, the new version is equipped with a more comprehensive benefits calculator.

The new GI Bill Comparison Tool now offers Veterans the ability to click on an option that says, “How much am I going to get?” after typing in their eligibility information and the name of their school of interest. This new option offers a complete breakdown of cost. It shows how much your education benefit will pay you per month (specific to the school’s zip code), how much book stipend a student can expect to receive, and the total of what is “paid to you” for the year.

The new option goes even further by calculating the school’s tuition &amp, fees cost and comparing the cost against your benefit, ultimately providing Veterans with the “out of pocket cost” that they would have to pay, if they attended the school with their benefit.

The Post-9/11 GI Bill will pay the entire tuition cost of a state school’s in-state tuition, or up to $20,235. Once that tuition cost is exceeded at a private college or out-of-state school, the rest of the tuition comes out of the Veteran student’s pocket. Knowing the information that the upgraded GI Bill Comparison Tool provides could save individual Veteran college students thousands of dollars each year.

Military Connection proudly serves those who serve in the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, Coast Guard, Guard and Reserve, Veterans and their Families. We are the go to site for Veteran Employment and information on Veteran education. Militaryconnection.com provides Veterans with and Directory of Employers, a Job Board, information on the Post-9/11 GI Bill, and a blog that offers Veterans boundless information. Be sure to visit Militaryconnection.com, the go to site.