Sgt. Anthony Miller, a 39-year-old veteran, walked into the office of a college admissions counselor and asked whether President Biden has released education benefits that could help him offset tuition costs. Miller, who had only recently transitioned back to civilian life, said that he had decided to get his degree, so it would increase his chances of getting a really good job in the private sector. But he was afraid that the tuition costs could stand in his way of graduating.

While in the military, Miller had been stationed overseas, and deployed twice to Afghanistan and Iraq. Due to his deployments, his wife had been unable to get any kind of meaningful employment. School tuition for his two children had eaten up the rest of the family's savings. He explained to the counselor that he had carefully considered his options first but decided getting a degree was the best way to make sure he could provide for his family.

What prompted Miller to go into this counselor's office was that President Biden seemed to prioritize the education needs of military learners, since his own son, Beau, had served. Miller wanted to find out if his assumptions were correct, and if so, would any new benefits help him or his family offset tuition fees and related expenses.

Sgt. Miller made the right decision to contact his college admissions counselor, because James Ruhlman (deputy director for Program Management in the Education Service division of the Veterans Administration (VA) who has been employed by the VA since 2001) described President Biden as being "pro veteran."

"Broadly speaking, the President has demonstrated on multiple occasions that he certainly is committed to this community. A simple example of that is the major push on loan forgiveness, which I think is a perfect illustration of what public service is."

Ruhlman said that the current administration and President Biden have been very supportive of the Post-9/11 GI Bill®, which includes educational benefits not only for veterans, but for qualifying family and surviving members. He also mentioned the Veterans Rapid Retraining Assistance Program (VRRAP), which came to fruition under Biden's administration, provides up to 12 months of education benefits including tuition and fees, and a basic allowance for housing that applies to the campus where a student is training, based on the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) qualification requirements. VRRAP, which was enacted on March 11, 2021, is designed for veterans who are unemployed because of Covid-19, and who aren't eligible for any other GI education benefit programs.

Knowing there are additional options out there is one thing, but if a guidance, admissions, or academic counselor wants to truly serve the student, they have to understand how benefits work and be able to explain them as well, said Christian "Mac" Manning, program director for the Office of Military-Affiliated Students at Brown University.

Manning became a veteran in 2016, after serving six years in the Marine Corps. Prior to his position at Brown, he worked as a program manager for the military-veteran services office at George Washington University (GWU). While he said Brown has a relatively small veteran population in comparison to GWU, president of the university, Christina H. Paxson, committed in 2019 to doubling the population of military learners at Brown by 2024.

According to Manning, you don't have to be a veteran to be a great veteran supporter. But you do have to be able to explain entitlement programs, which tend to change a lot. And he said, don't assume that because someone has served, that they necessarily know or understand all of the benefits they are entitled to.

"The amount of times that I get phone calls from a student asking questions about coming to the university without knowing how the GI Bill® works, is substantial. But the key ingredient is to listen to what the student is asking for, and then help them find clear and direct answers to all of their questions.

"I think understanding how GI education benefits work, and navigating the VA are two of the most important skills you need to effectively counsel military learners."

Listen to what the student is asking for, and then help them find clear and direct answers to all of their questions, he said.

"You may be doing this over and over again, but your goals as an advisor and counselor are to make sure the student has a foundational understanding of how this process works."

The former Marine credits mentors he had who taught him the philosophy of being student-success oriented. What these military learners really appreciate, he said, is that their needs are being met, whether or not they decide to attend Brown.

"I think that learning about these entitlements can be very difficult because they change a lot."

Sgt. Miller's questions to his counselor reflect only some issues faced by military learners. Below are other realistic concerns that veterans may have as they start to navigate their way into the classroom.

• Does the GI Bill® pay for veterans to take college classes?
• What kind of educational benefits apply to disabled veterans?
• Are there any programs available that could cancel student debt for veterans?
• Can a student work while accepting VA benefits in order to make school more affordable?
• Do benefits apply to spouses and dependents? What if the veteran has died or become permanently disabled due to his service duties?
• In addition to tuition costs, do benefits help to secure housing and pay for books
• Are spouses or dependents of a veteran who died, or is permanently and totally disabled as the result of a service-connected disability, qualified for this educational assistance? Survivors' and Dependents' Educational Assistance (DEA) (Chapter 35) pays a stipend directly to the student of $1,265 per month for full-time attendance.
• Can active duty service members qualify for some of these benefits as well?
• When do the benefits end, and will funds be available to help the veteran find a job once their education is completed?

The idea of a student going straight from high school through college is outdated, said Hubbard; adding: "What want to see is a modernization of policies and procedures that allows us to account for and reflect all students' needs."

So, when a prospective student like Sgt. Miller goes to the counselor's office seeking practical advice about how to get more money for tuition; how does a college counselor ensure that he has the most current information?

"That is the wonderful question," Ruhlman said. "Because of the fact that we in education deliver services under a number of GI programs, we already have contact information with school-certifying officials. We have school employees who are the ones who fill out the forms regarding students' enrollment, costs, and program dates, in order to deliver benefits.

"I would answer that question by saying say that we are committed to ensuring that schools deliver on the promises they make to their students," echoed William Hubbard, vice president for veterans & military policy, at the nonprofit advocacy organization, Veterans Education Success.

"The reality is that students often lack the right information to make informed decisions," he said. "Helping people at every level, helps everyone involved."

And the best way to reinforce best practices is to make sure as much accurate information as possible gets to students who are deciding how to plan their futures.

"It is clear that both affordability and completion are incredibly important. But what we are looking at, on the front end, is to help these students and families make informed decisions.

Hubbard entered the Marine Corps in 2006, and initially served with 2nd Battalion, 24th Marines. He later went on to lead Marines with 4th Supply Company at Boling Air Force Base in Washington, DC. Today, he continues to serve in the Marine Corps Reserves.

The agency where he now works is designed to identify and eliminate obstacles that prevent military learners from getting their education and finding a successful career path. One of the challenges this agency has taken on is to identify and eliminate, "predatory schools that took advantage of vets."

"I can tell you we have taken punitive action against schools that have failed to meet the requirements and failed to deliver on the promises they have made," Hubbard said. Those schools have run the gamut.

"When we think about education now, it is clear that both affordability and completion are incredibly important."

At the end of the day, the goal is to make sure the school is a match for a military-connected student's career goals and will deliver a good career outcome.

The first step in becoming eligible for GI Bill® benefits, is to apply with a state approving agency, Ruhlman said. In fact, his organization has a national training team that meets with schools to make sure they can provide accurate information to military learners.

"It is very likely that they do understand the various GI benefit programs: what is out there, what is available, and how the students can apply. Most importantly, he added, these school advisors must be able to provide veteran learners with instructions on how to communicate their status to the VA.

Former Army Specialist, Christopher Hull, who served from 1986-1990, offers his own anecdotal evidence of how the advisement system works. Hull was admitted to UCLA in 2018, and decided on a triple major in political science, history, and labor studies.

"My first day on campus, I went to the Veteran Resource Center, and they had a person from the VA working there. She sat down and started helping me right away."

"This is one of the things that UCLA has always emphasized," said Hull. "Dr. Ives, director of the Veteran Resource Center; treats everyone who comes here for help."

Hull described what happens when a military learner accesses their center.

"Normally, the student or their parents will come into our office or call with a question, and we tell them that we'll find the answer for them. We serve not just the general student population, but veterans and military-connected, if we can."

"By providing service to the veteran and their families; we are serving the entire community."

We are a "tool, just another resource for them to use. But hopefully, by coming to us, they can learn to also find the answers themselves."

Article Topics

Military Educational Benefits Military Friendly Institutions Serving Military in HigherEd Veterans Academic Success Working as a Veteran in HigherEd

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