New GI Bill Helps Military Families
by Andrea Downing Peck

For military families whose retirement and college savings have been decimated by the recession, the Post-9/11 Veterans Educational Assistance Act of 2008 – also known as the “New GI Bill” – took effect at a most opportune time.

Those who had funds set aside in college savings plans have seen much of this money evaporate under the weight of last year’s 40 percent decline in the U.S. stock market. When the new GI Bill went into effect on Aug. 1, 2009, however, eligible veterans and active duty service members gained an opportunity to earn a free college education with the new benefit estimated at as much as $97,000 based on current college tuition rates.

The new education assistance plan is available to most service members who served on active duty since Sept. 11, 2001. Unlike the Montgomery GI Bill, the new benefit package covers all in-state tuition and fees at public universities, provides a living allowance and includes a $1,000 per year stipend for books, and is transferable to spouses and children, if certain criteria are met.

Talk About Timing
For many military families, the timing is just right.

“We’re really excited about having this option now,” said Emily White, an Army spouse stationed at Fort Shafter, Hawaii, who had to stop attending college after a family emergency depleted her savings.

“I didn’t qualify for (college) grants,” White said. “I qualified for loans. We already have a lot of debt, like everybody else does, and I was scared to get into more debt.”

Navy spouse Caroline Lagoy Sirhal, who is employed full time with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta while attending law school part time, said she “just about fell over” when she learned about the new GI Bill’s benefits.

“It’s an amazing opportunity, especially in the economic times now,” Sirhal said. “We (spouses) sacrifice and I don’t think education is something anyone should sacrifice. If there is something you feel passionate about and want to learn about, everyone should do that.”

Transferable Benefits
Including a transferability provision was a key to getting the bill passed. Pentagon officials and some members of Congress feared an enhanced GI Bill would lead to an exodus of service members who would leave the military once they met the eligibility criteria for the new benefits. By allowing long-serving military members to share the benefits with family members, defense officials believe they have created an important retention tool.

“That is exactly what it was designed for,” Keith Wilson, director of education service for the Department of Veterans Affairs, said of the transferability provision. “The Department of Defense had legitimate concerns that if there was a program so potentially lucrative or robust as this bill ended up being, they could end up seeing more of a negative impact on retention than a positive impact on recruitment.”