PHOENIX, AZ -- 08/01/08 --
The new Post-9/11 GI Bill, which President Bush
signed into law last month, goes into effect today, more than doubling
veterans' educational benefits to $90,000 from about $40,000.
The new GI Bill, being called "a GI Bill for the 21st century," is designed
to allow more veterans to cover the full cost of their college education,
making it possible for them to rely less on federal student loans, private
student loans, or other forms of debt to pay for college. The Post-9/11
GI Bill will cover full tuition at the most expensive public college in a
veteran's home state, grant up to $1,000 for books and supplies, and
provide a monthly living stipend. Veterans with as little as 90 consecutive
days of service may receive partial benefits toward a college education in
their home state.
"This new GI bill gives Iraq and Afghanistan veterans a chance at a
first-class future," said Patrick Campbell, legislative director for Iraq
and Afghanistan Veterans of America. "Our nation has renewed its social
contract with our men and women in uniform and their families."
The new veterans' benefits will be implemented in two stages to give the
Department of Veterans Affairs time to transition into the new program.
Current GI Bill participants will start receiving partial benefits from the
new GI Bill today. Full-time students who have three or more years of
active-duty service will receive a $220-a-month increase, bringing their
monthly benefit payments up from $1,101 to $1,321. Full-time students with
less than three years of service will also see a 20-percent increase in
their monthly benefits, from $894 to $1,073.
Beginning Aug. 1, 2009, some 1.6 million Iraq and Afghanistan veterans who
have completed three years of active-duty service will start receiving
their full education benefits under the Post-9/11 GI Bill, comparable to
the level of assistance offered to World War II veterans under the original
1944 GI Bill, known as the GI Bill of Rights. This original GI Bill helped
nearly 8 million veterans pay for a full college education by covering 100
percent of their tuition, fees, textbook costs, and providing a small
living stipend.
The current GI Bill, on the other hand, which expires today as the
Post-9/11 GI Bill goes into effect, has been criticized for not keeping
pace with the rising costs of a college education: Experts estimate that
the current GI Bill -- the Montgomery GI Bill -- covers only 60 to 70
percent of the average cost of four years at a public college or
university, or less than two years of the average cost of a private
institution. And since veterans' benefits are counted as income in federal
student aid calculations, students receiving Montgomery GI Bill benefits
may not be able to qualify for need-based federal grants and subsidized student
loans to pay for the rest of their college costs that their benefits
don't cover.
By precluding some veterans from qualifying for low-income grants and
college loans, the current GI bill forces some of these college-bound
service members to rely on higher-interest unsubsidized federal student
loans, private student loans, and
credit cards. The Montgomery GI Bill also requires veterans to contribute
$1,200 -- $100 a month for the first 12 months they are in active duty -- to
the program in order to receive any benefits.
Under the new GI Bill, veterans will no longer required to contribute that
$1,200. Veterans will also have 15 years rather than 10 to use their GI
benefits. Military members who are still on active duty as of Aug. 1, 2009,
may be able to transfer education benefits to their spouse or dependent
children.
The Department of Defense will issue an expanded statement of policy
outlining the specifics of the benefits-transfer program and more specific
details of the Post-9/11 GI Bill in the coming months.
About NextStudent
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and their families find affordable ways to pay for college. NextStudent
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please visit our website at NextStudent.com.
Contact:
Philip J. Tannenbaum
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