S&S - On the new GI Bill, concurrent receipt and advance VA funding

From my archive of press clippings:

Stars and Stripes

On the new GI Bill, concurrent receipt and advance VA funding


By Tom Philpott, Special to Stars and Stripes

Mideast edition, Saturday, May 16, 2009


The Obama administration is taking steps to reconcile ambitious campaign promises with real world budget challenges on two key issues for veterans: advance funding for VA health care and expansion of concurrent receipt for disabled retirees.

Read the whole article here.

Snippet(s):

"ON THE POST-9/11 GI BILL: Since May 1, VA has received more than 20,000 applications and the number climbs by roughly 3000 a day. New GI Bill benefits are to begin Aug. 1, in time for fall classes. Asked at a May 13 hearing of the House appropriations subcommittee if payment would be made on time, VA Secretary Eric Shinseki sounded hopeful, not certain.
Shinseki described “a very, very tight timeline and, I won’t say lots of risk, but there is some risk to the process.” "

S&S - Fiscal crisis snips GI Bill’s ‘Yellow Ribbon’

From my archive of press clippings:

Stars and Stripes

Fiscal crisis snips GI Bill’s ‘Yellow Ribbon’

By Tom Philpott


Pacific edition, Saturday, January 24, 2009


The worldwide financial crisis has hit private colleges hard enough that relatively few are likely to participate in the Post-9/11 GI Bill’s “Yellow Ribbon” initiative when it begins this fall, says Keith M. Wilson, director of education service for the Veterans Benefits Administration.

Read the whole article here.

Snippet(s):

"Under the Yellow Ribbon program, private colleges and universities can enter into agreements with the Department of Veterans Affairs to waive up to half of tuition and fees charged above the most costly state-run school. The VA, in turn, will match the waived amount, thereby enhancing school reimbursements and the value of the new GI Bill."

"Sen. John Warner (R-Va.), who retired this month, insisted last year that the Yellow Ribbon re be part of the new GI Bill as a condition for winning his support. Warner said he wanted to be sure that qualified veterans could afford to attend the best schools just as veterans did following World War II."

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"The new GI Bill will pay tuition and fees at any college, up to the cost of attending the most expensive state-run school. Students also will get a monthly living allowance, set to equal basic allowance for housing locally for pay grade E-5, plus up to $1000 a year for books and school supplies.

Veterans attending degree-granting schools where tuition exceeds the state-run school ceiling will have to pay the higher costs themselves unless the schools offer further discounts through a Yellow Ribbon agreement.

Schools can waive whatever portion of the tuition disparity they choose, from 50 percent down the difference down to one percent. The government will raise GI Bill reimbursements by an equal amount.

VA rules will mandate that waivers be offered on a first-come, first-served basis, and they cannot be offered only to students in select fields of study. Yellow Ribbon colleges, for example, will not be able to target tuition waivers, for example, only at students who major in math."