Post 9/11 GI Bill--Send it Back to School
I am not going to pretend to be an expert on the subject of the Post 9/11 GI bill; I am not a veteran myself, nor am I married to one. If I make mistakes here; forgive me. I'm learning as I go and am trying my best to understand what appears to be a muddied, confusing mess involving education, lots of people's lives and dreams, and tons of money.
One of my most favorite people in the world served five years in the Navy, enlisting in 2000, after graduating from high school. He’s my sister’s high school sweetheart, now her husband, the love of my children’s lives, and he seriously has been dealt a raw deal with the Post 9/11 GI Bill.
I couldn’t be more ticked.
Brian, like all of the men and women who put themselves in harm’s way for the sake of our country, does not deserve the mess--the chaos--that has become of a bill designed to better their lives. What began as a light at the end of the tunnel--a fully-funded education, complete with money for books and supplies and a stipend for housing, has turned into a black hole of debt for my sister and her husband. And thousands of other undeserving veterans.
After three tours overseas, Brian decided to leave the Navy and move to Maryland with my sister. He landed a lucrative position at a local concrete company where he flourished along with the company during our economic high times. Only when everything hit rock bottom last year, so did the company, and he was laid off. While looking for another position and surviving on my sister’s salary as a pre-Kindergarten teacher, Brian heard about the Post 9/11 GI Bill.
When Veterans Today initially wrote about 'A New GI Bill, Rewarding Troops, Rebuilding Our Country', in December of 2008, they explained,
Further, Veterans Today says the GI Bill "discards outdated benefits system and replaces it with a WWII style GI bill" paying schools the tuition directly along with a $1000 yearly supply stipend and a monthly living stipend. Importantly, the "tuition payments can be used at any public or private school."
This seemed to be a perfect fit. He qualified in every way. It was too good to be true.
Except that the academic end of his middle and high school careers was not a high point for Brian. One of the most charismatic people I know, he is a people-person--the life of the party, caring, intelligent, concerned, and aware of others. Focusing on book learning was an area of anxiety for him, and he didn't want to repeat these struggles again as an adult. He researched programs that interested him, that would provide him with skills and training he needed, and that guaranteed placement in a job after program completion. He visited his doctor and started taking medicine to help him focus more once school began. This time, school would be different for him.
The decision to enroll full-time in a certificate program at the Baltimore School of Massage was not an easy one for my brother-in-law, but after hours of researching, visits to the school, and tons of discussions and analyzing, he made the decision. He began school on August 1, and we couldn't be more excited for him.
My sister and Brian sat down with counselors at the Baltimore School of Massage to discuss whether or not his tuition would be covered by the Post 9/11 GI Bill; they assured him it would be. Together they completed paperwork for the VA, applied for loans, and then waited.
The US Department of Veterans Affairs site lists the schools that are covered as "Education and Job Training Programs" and "License and Certification Programs". Only as recently as three weeks ago was a link included on the site so that Veterans could actually search for approved programs and schools. Brian's program is not on the list. It is not approved. He qualifies for the program, but his school does not.
Military.com states under the Vocational, Technical, or Trade School section of its site that the benefits of a vocational or technical school are that "learning is hands on; they get training and enter the work force . . fast; and that instructors have personal experience in the subjects they teach." They say the school "should be accredited by the ACCST and should be approved to accept veteran's benefits."
The Baltimore School of Massage does provide hands on learning; with both textbook and clinical learning and assessments, students learn, are evaluated, and practice their craft daily. The school's Career Services will assist graduates in job placement immediately upon completing the program. It is accredited by the ACCST. But it still doesn't qualify, even though counselors at the school told Brian that the school did accept veterans' benefits.
Now it's October, my sister and Brian are three months behind on tuition and are slowly slipping behind on rent, car payments, and other bills. Beginning on August 3rd, they--along with thousands of other veterans who are awaiting tuition and housing payments--have called the VA daily seeking answers.
Last month, the New York Times reported that of the more than 277,000 veterans and their eligible relatives who applied for assistance, tuition payments were sent to only 20,000 colleges and only 13,000 payments were sent to the applicants directly. The department's "antiquated technology" and the overall "complexity of the program" are the reasons that they are unable to keep up with the processing of applications, even though they hired over 700 new people to help process the claims.
Many veterans who expected payments by September 1 for tuition, supplies, and expenses are now paying out of pocket, and numerous families--like my sister and her husband--are fearful of how quickly debt can snowball. The department, however, according to this article, states that no payments were due until October; this is news to many veterans who thought otherwise.
One of the frustrating aspects of this situation is the mixed messages and inconsistent information that has been relayed to veterans. After dozens of calls to the VA, my sister and her husband reached a human--a real human!--on only three occasions. The first person told them not to worry; the program that Brian was interested in did qualify and that he would receive money soon.
Weeks went by. Still no money. More and more calls and the next human they reached wasn't sure that his program would qualify and told them that they had to wait 6-8 weeks for a packet to arrive that would explain whether the program was approved or not.
Still no money, and still no packet. More calls and the final human they reached said that no, the program he was enrolled in now for three months was not eligible because he was not earning a degree and that sorry, he would not receive any of the promised money for tuition, supplies, or housing.
Apparently, Brian did not choose to enter the Education Buy Up program when he enlisted in the Navy at age 18 for the cost of $1200.00. He decided to invest his life in the safety of our country but not to "buy up" to maximize his military-funded education afterward. He's paying now. And are we really expecting teenagers--and many are teens when they enlist--to be able to make that kind of decision? How many 18 year olds do we know who have an extra $1200 they're willing to part with as they step into war zones to fight for our freedom?
My sister took a personal day today to go with her husband to talk with the VA, and the meeting ended badly. There will be no money coming for them, or the other young veteran who has enrolled at the Baltimore School of Massage who was also promised complete and total reimbursement from the government. They will get nothing. Zip. Zero. Nada. They are left to manage on their own.
The program doesn't qualify, and the VA people are sorry that Brian received misinformation. My brother-in-law will meet with a financial aid counselor on Monday to sign for a student loan--something that he didn't anticipate, wasn't expecting, and doesn't want in the first place.
Our veterans deserve more than this. If they are willing to fight for our safety, travel to places we don't even dream about and put themselves in the line of fire every day, why can't this one thing--an education--be easier for them? Why the financial holdups? Why the changing information? Why can't one person get one straight answer just one time? And why can't that answer be a better one?
If we're going to make a distinction so fine--that some job-training programs are eligible but not others, or that a cosmetology license is fine but a massage therapy certificate is not, or that some programs accredited by the ACCST are approved programs but not all of them are, then I think something is wrong here.
And why should a young enlistee's decision not to "buy up" at age 18 still affect him or her at age 30? How about allowing them to be a part of the program but deducting the $1200 now? Anything would help. Anything.
Sure, the Post 9/11 GI Bill may be helping some veterans get off to a better start in this new chapter of their lives, but why isn't it designed to help all of them?
This is an original DC Metro Moms post.
When she's not spending hours, upon hours, upon hours researching information on the Post 9/11 GI Bill or Veterans' Affairs, Amy M. can be found at teachmama where she's focusing on easier things like how to make learning fun and exciting for her three little children.
