Rising tuition costs are eroding the impact of military benefits paid to students who may be committed to overseas service, one university official and veteran advocates say.
The cost of school has become especially burdensome for out-of-state students, as their tuition costs have far outpaced those of residents, said Helen Dozier, a registrar official who processes military benefit applications. As a result, some of the roughly 330 Maryland students who qualify for the GI Bill – the main source of funding available to military service members and veterans for tuition – have been forced to cut back on their class load to take on full-time jobs.
That’s a dramatic change from the spring of fiscal year 2003, when benefits paid to active duty service members covered about 95 percent of out-of-state tuition and fees. This fiscal year, that figure has dropped to about 40 percent, according to university and Department of Veteran Affairs statistics.
University students collecting benefits include active-duty soldiers, veterans, reservists, National Guard members and their dependents.
“The problem with the GI Bill right now is it’s not paying enough for out-of-state tuition, private schools, and in some cases public schools,” said Patrick Campbell, a legislative liaison with the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, a veterans’ advocacy organization. “It’s definitely not enough to pay for tuition, books and living expenses.”
The benefit will fall short for active-duty troops who have in-state status as well. With a monthly GI Bill payment set at $1,075, or $8,600 for the school year, in-state students will receive about $1,000 less than tuition rates. Reservists, soldiers who are not called to service as quickly as active duty soldiers, are also feeling the pinch, said Steve Strobridge, director of government relations for the Military Officers Association of America.
Ten years ago the rate paid to reservists was 50 percent of what active-duty troops received, Strobridge said. Now it’s down to 27 percent.
The widening disparity comes at a time when reservists are being relied upon to make up for troop shortages, in some cases serving as many as three tours of duty in Iraq.
Signed into law by President Roosevelt in 1944, the GI Bill allowed a generation of blue collar workers to enter the middle class following World War II by providing money for college and low-interest loans to start small businesses and buy homes in the suburbs.
Today, the bill “doesn’t have the same value as it did back then,” Strobridge said.
According to statistics provided by the office of House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer (D-Md.), the GI Bill now pays less than two-thirds of the average cost of a four-year public school. In a statement, Hoyer blamed the diminishing impact of the bill on the 40 percent tuition increases over the past four years at the University System of Maryland schools and a decrease in financial aid at the federal level.
Maryland Gov. Robert Ehrlich’s office, which oversees discretionary spending for higher education, did not reply to requests for comment.
Strobridge and Campbell said their organizations support legislation introduced by Democrats last year entitled “The GI Bill for the 21st Century,” that would mitigate higher tuition costs. No progress was made on the bill this year, though Strobridge said it has the support of more than 50 interest groups.
Under the bill, those who enlist for four years of active-duty military service would receive the full cost of tuition plus a living allowance for 36 months. It would also raise the monthly payment for those already attending college to $1,300.
For those collecting benefits at the university, the new bill would cover an extra 10 percent of out-of-state tuition.
But the improvement might not be enough to satisfy everyone.
“Supporting the troops is more than just signing a card and sending cookies,” Dozier said. “When these young men and women come back they should be able to go to any school in this country for free.”
Contact reporter Andrew Vanacore at vanacoredbk@gmail.com.
