Big Bill On Campus
After a bumpy start, Post-9/11 GI Bill helps 340,000 pay for college.
By Dan Fazio

The Post-9/11 GI Bill couldn’t have come at a better time for Valerie Brown. The former Army mechanic who used to work on Blackhawk helicopters began working on a communications degree at the University of Missouri - Kansas City in June 2009. Less than two months later, the new GI Bill went into effect on Aug. 1, 2009.

Brown, who still serves in the Army Reserve, is one of nearly 340,000 service members, veterans and dependents taking advantage of the bill – the most generous education benefit offered to military students since the original GI Bill educated a generation of veterans returning from World War II.

For many students, the Post-9/11 GI Bill means a free college degree. For Brown, the benefit covers three quarters of her tuition, but Army Reserve pay and partial disability cover the rest. “A large advantage of the Post-9/11 GI Bill is that the VA certifying official from my school handles every semester quickly and proficiently, making sure that I have confirmation of my courses so myself and the school are paid consistently and expeditiously,” Brown said.

Growing Pains
It didn’t start out that way. The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), which administers the Post-9/11 GI Bill, was overwhelmed by the 157,000 claims filed for the fall semester of 2009. By the end of September, the VA had processed only half of the claims.

It took nine weeks for the VA to process Brown’s initial Post-9/11 GI Bill claim. Fortunately for her, it didn’t mean missing classes. “My school’s VA certifying official corresponded with the finance department and made them aware that there should be no hold placed on my account due to payments,” Brown said.

Not all students were so fortunate. To keep student veterans in class, the VA issued emergency payments of up to $3,000 throughout the fall 2009 semester. In the meantime, VA officials shuffled employees to address the backlog. “In response, we instituted numerous streamlining procedures to improve processing timeliness,” said Keith Wilson, director of education service for the VA.

Shuffling Staff
The agency beefed up the staff at its four education processing offices by reassigning more than 400 temporary employees who were hired at regional offices; temporarily diverted Education Call Center employees to process claims two days a week through the fall semester; and mandated at least 24 hours of overtime per month for claims processors. The VA also hired a private contractor to help process claims for non-Post-9/11 GI Bill benefits, allowing the agency to dedicate additional employees to processing the more complex Post-9/11 GI Bill claims.

Automation Makes a Difference
The staff shuffling allowed the VA to catch up with claims by the spring semester for 2010, but the agency also began working on a long-term solution: automation of claims processing, which was largely manual until Aug. 23 when the system was launched. Although some glitches persist, this fall the agency is processing 10,000 claims a day – up from 2,000 claims in fall 2009. With an enrollment increase of 14 percent over fall, the automated system has made all the difference. “To give you a comparison of where we’re at this fall over the previous fall, last fall at this time we had processed something less than 12,000 claims for Chapter 33 benefits,” said Roger Baker, chief information officer for the VA. “That’s the number of people that we paid. And, as of the same point this year we have already paid 130,000 folks. So, we’re light years ahead of where we were at this time last year.”

Still the One
Despite the birthing pains, the Post-9/11 GI Bill is a hit with most military students. The VA has issued nearly $4.8 billion in Post-9/11 GI Bill benefit payments since its inception last year.

“The biggest advantage of the Post-9/11 GI Bill is that it provides educational opportunities to so many people who otherwise would not be able to afford to pay for college,” said Bill Barns, a Navy veteran who is using the bill to help fund an MBA from Strayer University in Virginia Beach, Va. “For me personally, it allowed me to earn my degree more quickly than if I had to rely solely on my employer tuition assistance program.”

For those eligible for 100 percent of the benefits, the Post-9/11 GI Bill pays tuition and fees equal to the most expensive in-state undergraduate program. On-campus students also get a housing allowance, as well as a $1,000 stipend for books and supplies. For students attending private schools that participate in the Yellow Ribbon program, the VA and school will split the difference between what the Post-9/11 GI Bill pays and the school’s tuition.

Follow the Yellow Ribbon Road
The Yellow Ribbon is Matthew Sullivan’s ticket to a free education. A Marine Corps veteran who served combat tours in Iraq and Afghanistan, Sullivan is taking full advantage of the Post-9/11 GI Bill to get his degree from the College of St. Joseph in Vermont.

“It covers housing, books, tutors and other miscellaneous expenses,” Sullivan said. “Most importantly, it covers all of my education costs. The College of St. Joseph is also part of the Yellow Ribbon Program. Therefore, whatever expenses are not covered by my GI Bill, the school will handle. This is all a real gift to me, and I plan on taking full advantage of it.”

Good Can Get Better
Despite its generous benefits, some say the Post-9/11 GI Bill could be even better. Barns, a former Navy captain, now works full-time for Sonalysts, Inc. while he works on his advanced degree. The company pays for the half of his tuition not covered by the Post-9/11 GI Bill. Although a fan of the new GI Bill, Barns said it is not without its limitations.

“The program is somewhat inefficient in the way the funds are issued,” Barns said. “Specifically, when checks arrive there is no accompanying statement identifying for the recipient their intended purpose – textbooks, tuition, allowances, etcetera.”

Congress Agrees
There are three bills that have been introduced in Congress that would improve the Post-9/11 GI Bill. In May 2010, Sen. Daniel Akaka, D-Hawaii, introduced a bill that would fund vocational and on-the-job training programs and open eligibility to thousands of National Guard and Reserve members initially overlooked in the new GI Bill. Akaka’s bill also would replace the state-by-state tuition and fee cap with a national average of tuition and fees, provide a housing allowance to distance-learning students and pay a books stipend to active duty students.

“What my measure is intended to do, is to serve as a starting point to move forward in this important yet very complicated and complex endeavor,” Akaka said. “I strongly believe that whatever is done in this connection must not be done in a piecemeal manner. We need a full and deliberative consideration of all the issues in order to craft the best possible approach to delivering these important benefits to our nation’s veterans and those who are serving in uniform.”

Although Akaka’s bill sailed through the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee virtually unscathed, it is questionable whether Congress will approve the bill before the end of the year. Even if it does, Wilson this summer urged Congress not to implement any changes until August 2011 to avoid any complications with the new automated claims processing system.

“Congress can pass changes now,” he told the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee, “but delaying the effective date of any such changes would avoid interference with the development and deployment of a new computer system that will streamline eligibility decisions and the complicated calculation of benefits.”

Lawmakers Pitch GI Bill Upgrades
A bill introduced in the U.S. Senate in late May is one of three bills proposed in Congress that would improve the Post-9/11 GI Bill, already considered the most generous military education benefit package in history.

Sen. Daniel Akaka (D-Hawaii) on May 27 introduced the Post-9/11 Veterans Educational Assistance Improvements Act of 2010.

“The World War II GI Bill changed my life, and my generation,” said Akaka, one of three current senators who attended college on the original GI Bill. “Hundreds of thousands of troops and veterans are already using the new GI Bill to pursue their education. Now that we have seen the benefit in action, this new legislation can improve the existing framework. I look forward to working through a comprehensive legislative process to pass a good improvement bill.”

Under Akaka’s Legislation:

• National Guard and Reserve members who serve on active duty domestically could be eligible for the benefits.
  
• All types of training would be funded, including vocational programs, on-the-job training, apprenticeships, flight training, and all types of non-college degree training. By doing this, individuals would not need to make an irreversible decision as to whether or not to receive benefits under the old Montgomery GI Bill or under the new program.
  
• The state-by-state tuition and fee cap on tuition and fees would be replaced by a national average of tuition and fees.
  
• A modified living allowance would be paid to distance-learning students.
  
• A book and supplies allowance of up to $1,000 would be paid to active duty students and their spouses.
  
• Allow those enrolled in VA’s program of rehabilitation and training under chapter 31 of title 38 who also have eligibility for the new chapter 33 program to elect the program from which to receive their subsistence allowance. This would mean that a service-connected disabled OEF/OIF veteran would not need to elect to training under the new

GI Bill and forego the valuable counseling and support services available under chapter 31 in order to receive an increased living allowance.

• The housing allowance would be revamped; payments would be pro-rated on the number of credits taken.
  
• Ensure that the same period of active duty cannot be used to establish eligibility for more than one program of education.

A bill proposed in early May by Sens. Patty Murray (D-Wash.), Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) and Mark Begich (D-Alaska) that is designed to help military veterans find civilian jobs also includes this change:

• Expands the Post-9/11 GI Bill to allow returning veterans to use the benefit for apprenticeship and worker training programs.
  

In July, Idaho Congressman Walt Minnick introduced a bill in the House of Representatives that is nearly identical to Akaka’s.

While the changes have been well-received and are supported by Veterans Service Organizations, the cost has yet to be determined. And with Congress in an anti-spending mood this fall, the amendments may idle until 2011.

Post-9/11 GI Bill at a Glance

• Those who have served at least 36 months on active duty since Sept. 10, 2001, will receive 100 percent of the maximum benefit: tuition, housing allowance and a books/supplies stipend. The benefit level ranges from 40 percent to 100 percent.
• Tuition payments will not exceed the highest in-state public college tuition rate in the state where you are enrolled. The Department of Veterans Affairs will make tuition payments directly to the college.
• Full-time students will receive a monthly stipend for living expenses equal to the Basic Housing Allowance of an E-5 with dependents in the same ZIP code as their school. Spouses of active duty service members who use the entitlement, however, will not receive BAH.
• The VA will pay a yearly book and supply stipend of up to $1,000 directly to full-time students. Active duty service members do not receive the book stipend.
• In addition, the new GI Bill provides for $1,200 worth of assistance for tutoring and up to $2,000 reimbursement for licensing or certification testing.
• Applications are available online through the VA at www.va.gov.