In the late 1960s, UVA’s Dean of Admissions John Blackburn received veteran benefits to attend college. He enrolled at Western Maryland College and, with the help of the government, graduated from there and continued to graduate school. Blackburn, like many other veterans, took advantage of the GI bill, a 1944 mandate that was designed to educate World War II veterans for a career after service. Under the bill, veterans are given a monthly allowance for tuition and books at a school of their choice.
But though almost half of the 16 million WWII vets used the original bill, the benefits for later generations have failed to keep pace with rising tuition costs.
 “There are going to be a lot of veterans in the United States who are going to be happy with the United States Senate,” said Virginia Senator Jim Webb. Last week, the Senate passed a war-funding measure that included his updated GI bill. |
Second-year UVA law student Scott Jones served two tours in Iraq before returning to school on the GI bill. “The money we get doesn’t help that much,” says Jones. “In my case, it just pays for rent.”
Under the current bill, veterans who have served as active-duty officers for more than 36 months receive $1,101 per month while they are full-time students. The total amount allotted to education benefits over four years is less than $40,000.
“With my tuition at $36,000 a year, what I get is practically nothing,” said Jones. “The problem with the bill is that it has not kept up with education inflation, the rise in tuition in the last 30 years and it’s really hard now.”
That’s why Virginia Senator Jim Webb proposed the “21st Century GI bill,” which would provide comprehensive education benefits to post 9/11 veterans. The government would cover 100 percent of tuition and expenses at the state’s most expensive universities. It would also provide allowance for essentials based on federal cost-of-living estimates and, as an incentive for private institutions, the government would cover all scholarship funds and match dollar-to-dollar the tuition of the priciest public university in the state.
On June 19, the House passed a measure that includes $62.8 billion for Webb’s GI bill, and the Senate approved the measure last week. President George W. Bush, who originally opposed the bill, is expected to sign the bill into law this week.
“With that bill, I think everyone can go to college and not worry about debt too much,” said Jones.
The likely passage of the new GI bill is probably good news for UVA. Although UVA doesn’t track the number of veterans who are currently enrolled, nor is actively recruiting them, the Department of Institutional Assessment and Study estimates that in the Spring 2008 semester, 99 students received some type of veteran benefits.
Jones says he can see a distinct growth in the number of veterans at UVA over the years. “When I first enrolled in law school here in 2002, I was almost the only one with military experience,” he says. After returning from a stint of active duty, “there are definitely a lot more veterans in law school now than before.”
Blackburn says he is surprised UVA doesn’t have complete data on veterans, but he is pleased to hear that the number is growing.
“We are always open to them,” he says. “They are always highly motivated people and they deserve all the help from the government. The bill is a great thing. I used it and I am grateful.”
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