Tuesday, August 26, 2008
President Bush passed a new GI bill in June that could cover all college costs for veterans who served after Sept. 11.
The new GI bill, known as the Post-9/11 Veterans Educational Assistance Act of 2008, will replace the old Montgomery GI Bill but will not go into effect until August 2009. Student veterans currently using the old GI Bill may be able to receive money from the new GI bill.
The old bill paid portions of tuition, room and board, books and supplies, but it was usually not enough to cover all college expenses. Under the new bill, as long as the veteran served for 90 days after Sept. 11, the veteran is eligible to receive benefits of the new bill. Veterans who served 36 months will receive $6,700, the amount that the government considers the cost of tuition and fees. The less time a veteran served, the less money he or she is eligible for.
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Eligibility requirements
•Eligible veterans must have served at least 30 days of continuous active duty after Sept. 11, 2001.
•Veterans will receive benefits up to 15 years after their last day of active duty.
•The new GI Bill will cover undergraduate, graduate and vocational/technical training.
•Monthly housing allowances will be paid depending on basic housing allowance.
•For yearly books and supplies, veterans can receive up to $1,000.
•Veterans can get payments for up to 36 months. The percentage is determined by the length of active duty. However, the amount cannot exceed the most expensive in-state undergraduate tuition.
Darwin Lujan, Wichita sophomore, is a 24-year-old theater major and will be eligible to receive the benefits from the new GI Bill once it goes into effect. But for the next year, Lujan will still receive the benefits of the old GI Bill.
He said he could really use the extra money from the new bill.
“The old GI Bill is unrealistic,” Lujan said. “My part of the rent for my apartment is $350 alone, and then you add in gas, food, bills. It all adds up.”
Currently, Lujan receives $1,100 a month from the government for college.
“It doesn’t cover everything,” Lujan said. He said he also had a scholarship granted to him by the Kansas Board of Regents that helped him pay for school and books.
Betty Childers, veterans affairs certifying official at the University, said she wasn’t sure how the new GI Bill would affect student veterans.
“We’re not sure how it will be implemented because the government isn’t sure how it will be implemented,” Childers said.
The bill may be revised before it takes its final form next August.
“The new GI Bill hasn’t been fully explained to us, simply because it may not be 100 percent approved yet,” said Sgt. 1st Class Michael Straw, station commander at the Army Recruitment Center in Lawrence.
With the old GI Bill, active duty members would pay the government $100 a month for 12 months to support the program, resulting in a total payment of $1,200. Straw said there was also discussion about eliminating the $100 payment from active members.
As far as Lujan knows, he’ll be included in the benefits of the new GI Bill. Lujan signed up for the Marines in June 2002 upon graduating high school. Lujan said he joined to pay for college, but also because he wanted to fight for his country.
Part of a provisioned rifle platoon, he served in Ramadi and Fallujah, Iraq, from September 2004 to March 2005. Because of his service in Iraq, Lujan said he should get all educational expenses paid by the new GI Bill.
— - Edited by Lauren Keith
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