Summary
"I'm stressing out because I can't survive without that check," says [Drew Cameron], who served eight months in Iraq. Now a forestry major at UVM, Cameron enrolled in the Army in hopes of getting a college education. "Every single beginning of school year for six semesters there is this huge lag," he says of his experiences both at Community College of Vermont where he first enrolled and of UVM where he transferred. "I submit my paperwork to the VA on time, but don't get the check until November."
When [Alexandru Ivan]'s VA check was late this spring, "We let him start anyway," says Stanley Rumph, LaGuardia Community College veterans coordinator. "We have the wherewithal, and we take the risk." Rumph says that vets can to go to class even if the school has to wait until the end of the semester for the VA to pay up. "And we have never lost money because of it," he adds.Most vets, however, end up with $38,700 for 36 academic months. The small percent who fail to sign up for the $1,200 "kicker" get no educational benefits at all. "At in-processing before basic training," explains Rob Timmons of the Iraq Afghanistan Veterans Association, "they announce you can choose to have $100 taken out of your paycheck every month for the next year. For some, it's no big deal. But a lot of the disenfranchised who have never even seen $1,200 before in their lives don't sign up." By missing that one-time opportunity, soldiers forever lose their eligibility to get educational benefits under Montgomery.See the full content of this document
Extract
Gi Bill Fails Vets
WITH HIS BOYISH FACE and soft tangle of curls, Matt Howard looks like he should have carried a fishing rod though a Norman Rockwell summer. Instead, the 26-year-old Vermonter lugged a gun through two tours in Iraq. Now, what the former Marine really wants is a college diploma. But he and other returning veterans are finding it hard to collect the college benefits they expected when they enlisted in the military.
That expectation was fueled by promises from military recruiters and the soldiers' own financial commitment. All new recruits are given a one-time, use-it-or-lose-it opportunity to buy into benefits eligibility by paying $100 a month for their first year of service. Any benefits unused 10 years after they leave the...See the full content of this document
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