Veteran student Archives

By Debbie Gregory.

All too often, veteran students and military students (active duty and reservists) find themselves struggling to succeed in higher education. For some, the pitfalls might be financial, while for others, it might be the challenges of dealing with physical or psychological injuries.

Returning to higher education for veteran and military students can cause added stress to an already stressful transition for those who have been away from academics for many years.

Also, the manner in which GI Bill benefits are processed, arriving well after the semester has started, can be a huge stumbling block.

One huge advantage is having a well-informed veterans’ resource center on campus.

Many veterans are entering higher education after a prolonged break from school. There are programs that can assist in preparing them.

The Wounded Warrior Project’s TRACK program is the first education center in the nation designed specifically for wounded service members. As part of the cohort model, Wounded Warrior Project Alumni join other wounded service members who have shared similar experiences. They enter and complete the program as a team. Through this 12-month program, wounded service men and women take part in a whole-life approach to education, earn college credits that can be applied toward a degree, and gain valuable practical experience through an externship.

The Warrior-Scholar Project is an academic boot camp aimed at veterans who plan on attending or transferring to a 4-year college. Funded by foundations and private donors, the one and two-week programs are immersive and demanding. Veterans run the sessions, which are taught by university professors and graduate students. The curriculum is designed to help participants prepare to tackle the reading lists of rigorous college courses.

Veterans Upward Bound is a federal program run by the U.S. Department of Education that helps veterans prepare to be college students.

Veterans who come to college do so with a certain level of intensity, mission focus, discipline and structure from military life that is different from the mindset of traditional students. Anything that can be done to set these veteran students and military students up for success benefits us all.

Military Connection salutes and proudly serves veterans and service members in the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, Coast Guard, Guard and Reserve, and their families.

The passing of the Veterans’ Access to Care through Choice, Accountability, and Transparency Act of 2014 allots a colossal $16.3 billion for the reformation of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). While most of that money is intended to overhaul the VA’s healthcare system, the legislation also includes measures to lower the cost of college tuitions for Veterans.

A very important measure for Veteran education and the American higher education system was included in the popularly approved legislation. Essentially, section 702 of the legislation prohibits the VA from paying education assistance to colleges and universities that charge Veterans more than in-state tuition rates. Most colleges charge a higher tuition rate to students from out of state. The measure is intended to help military Veterans who are often relocated around the country during their military careers, and don’t always meet eligibility requirements. By making it the VA’s policy to stop paying GI Bill tuition money to schools that charge out-of-state tuition prices to Veterans, the government is forcing schools to comply or forfeit all of their Veteran students.

This is great news for many Veterans, whose service called upon them to serve all states and territories of the country, and not just the states that they are residents of.

This can be a game-changer for the schools. While the law does not make it mandatory for all schools to provide Veterans with the lower tuition rate, it does create an extremely strong incentive for them to comply.

Either way, the schools are losing money. If a school continues charging Veterans the out-of-state rate, they lose the ability to enroll future students into their school who will have their tuitions paid, on time, by the federal government. But if they comply with the law, they will lose the extra money from the additional out of state fees.

The VA says it has doled out more than $20 billion in benefits for 773,000 Veterans and their family members under the Post-9/11 GI Bill, since it became effective in 2009. That’s 773,000 paid tuitions to the colleges, most spanning multiple semesters.

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.