Federal law will help veterans earn education

Aug. 21--Veterans across America soon will be able to pay a little less money to attend college after they complete military service.

President Barack Obama earlier in August signed a $16 billion veterans health care law, but part of it allows veterans to pay in-state tuition rates. The law applies to military veterans who have completed at least 90 days of active duty, and it also covers spouses and children of veterans who meet certain criteria, and benefits must begin within three years of leaving the military. The law is effective July 1, 2015.

Several states across the country have passed legislation in recent years aimed at doing the same thing. The Collegiate Veterans Association recently successfully lobbied the Florida legislature for in-state tuition rates for veterans at state schools. Abby Kinch, president of the organization, told Pew Charitable Trusts in an Aug. 19 article that many veterans were unable to afford out-of-state rates at Florida State University.

"Veterans new to the state who enrolled at Florida State soon discovered they had to pay out-of-state tuition for their first year, or an additional $15,000," according to the article. "By the second year, they had lived in the state long enough to have established residency."

That's a problem many veterans are facing. Because of military assignments, many don't live in the same place long enough to meet the one-year residency requirements established by most colleges and universities. At least 32 states have passed laws offering veterans in-state tuition, according to The National Conference of State Legislatures. But those policies vary from state to state. Some require veterans to establish residency, some only cover honorably or medically discharged veterans and some require veterans to live within the state throughout their enrollment in college.

West Virginia does not currently offer student veterans in-state tuition through rule of law, but Jerry McCarthy, director of WVU Veteran Affairs, said the state does require participation in the Yellow Ribbon Program.

"The law states all institutions within the state of West Virginia that have student veterans or their dependents on campus using VA benefits, all have to be Yellow Ribbon program participants," McCarthy said.

The program, administered by the Department of Veterans Affairs, is an extension of the Post-Sept. 11 GI Bill and covers excess tuition not paid out by other VA benefits for veterans who have served an aggregated 36 months of active service after Sept. 10, 2001. As of this academic year, all schools and colleges within WVU are part of the Yellow Ribbon program. WVU will pay the maximum amount, or 50 percent, of the difference between in-state and out-of-state tuition rates for student veterans participating in the program.

"Even though we might have to pay an in-state rate, it's a lot cheaper than an out-of-state rate," McCarthy said.

Although participation in the Yellow Ribbon Program is mandatory for West Virginia's public colleges and universities, many other states leave participation up to individual schools. In order to help student veterans, state legislatures across the country have created and funded other programs to help offset the rising cost of tuition.

North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory has proposed a $5 million scholarship fund for the state's public university system to cover the gap between in-state and out-of-state tuition rates, according to Pew, as well as a waiver granting in-state rates for veterans wanting to study at community colleges. The North Carolina Legislature also has approved $5.8 million for public colleges and universities, as well as community colleges, to participate in the Yellow Ribbon Program.

Although the bill Obama signed comes at a cost, the Congressional Budget Office found it will save the federal government about $175 million in Yellow Ribbon benefits between 2015 and 2024. However, it's difficult to estimate how much public colleges and universities will lose in tuition payments.

McCarthy said because of West Virginia's Yellow Ribbon requirement, he isn't worried about the new law's affect on the school.

"We're a very military friendly state, so it's not going to have as drastic an effect as in other states," he said.

Contact writer Whitney Burdette at 304-348-7939 or whitney.burdette@dailymailwv.com. Follow her at www.Twitter.com/wburdette_DM.

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