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Colleges across the
nation may see a flood of new applicants as a revamped
post-September 11th GI Bill Program is set to begin
August 1.
Locally, numerous
schools are preparing for a potential wave of Iraq and Afghanistan
War veterans, creating new programs and institutional support
services geared towards the unique needs of former service men and
women.
The post-9/11 GI Bill
will fund a college education for military veterans up to the
highest in-state tuition at any public college or university. In
addition, the Yellow Ribbon Program gets more expensive private
institutions into the mix by allowing participant institutions to
offer grants to make-up for the difference between private and
public cost.
The money provided by
the private colleges will be matched dollar-for-dollar by the U.S.
Department of Veteran’s Affairs.
Kathleen Fitzgerald
is the Vice President of Enrollment Management at Paul Smith’s
College.
“Any eligible veteran
will be able to come here and have full access to an education,” she
said. “We found that the highest SUNY tuition will cover most of the
cost at Paul Smith’s, but just in case they will be eligible for an
additional $5,000 through the Yellow Ribbon Program.”
The GI Bill and
Yellow Ribbon monies will pay for tuition, room and board she said.
Paul Smith’s is in
the process of creating an advisory board composed of veterans who
are currently students or faculty at the college.
“I can’t assume that
I know what the needs of veterans are,” Fitzgerald said. “But other
veterans can tell us.”
Reintegration
programs and retreats are currently being researched to assist
veterans with acclimating to civilian and student life, she said.
Fitzgerald noted that
some of the earliest Paul Smith’s applicants were GI Bill
benefactors when the college opened shortly after World War II. The
college will also waive admission fees for any veteran who qualifies
for the funding.
Other Upstate schools
are also diligently working to prepare for the coming wave of GI
Bill participants.
Clarkson University
will allow late admission for GI Bill applicants, since the program
doesn’t officially begin until two-weeks before the fall semester.
Clarkson is also a participating member in the Yellow Ribbon
Program.
“Our program
offerings are appropriate for GI’s looking to transition into
civilian life,” Dean of the Clarkson School of Business Tim Sugrue
said. “The first GI Bill was instrumental in developing the post-
World War II economy – I think it will work yet again.”
According VA
officials, nearly 90,000 applications have already been received for
the Post-9/11 GI Bill nationally and many more are expected.
Tim Pierce is a spokesman for the New York
State Division of Veteran’s Affairs
“It’s hard to tell
how many will take advantage of the programs at this point,” he
said. “We expect it to be very popular.”
In order to qualify
for the program, veterans must have served at-least 90 days on
active-duty since September 11, 2001.
-Jon Alexander,
7-8-09 |