No Veteran Left Behind
Student veterans who want to learn a trade were left out of the Post-9/11 GI Bill. On Oct. 1, that will change.
By Andrea Downing Peck 

Beginning Oct. 1, service members who want to parlay their military skills into a vocational education, on-the-job training or apprenticeships will benefit from legislation that expanded the Post-9/11 GI Bill to include non-college degree training.

While the Post-9/11 GI Bill has been heralded for its sweeping enhancement of education benefits, it has not been the best option for veterans seeking a career in a trade or non-traditional field. For those veterans, the Montgomery GI Bill (MGIB) has remained the benefit of choice because the new GI Bill can only be used at degree-granting institutions. That means training such as flight training, HVAC certification, truck driving or beautician schools currently do not qualify for the bill’s generous benefits.

That changes on Saturday thanks to legislation introduced by Sen. Daniel K. Akaka (D-Hawaii) that was passed by Congress in December 2010. Most of the changes went into effect in August.  

Student veterans organizations and veterans groups advocated for the new GI Bill to be broadened to include many types of training and education.

“We want veterans to be doing what they want to do when they leave the military,” said Brian Hawthorne, legislative director of the Student Veterans of America. “The federal government should not be saying you need to go to a four-year institution and that’s it. That’s not a realistic assessment of the population. That’s not good for our economy. We want people to be doing the job they want to do.” 

The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) estimates that about 30,000 people using GI Bill benefits today for vocational courses will benefit from enhancements to the Post-9/11 GI Bill. 

Left Out
David Weisman, executive director of the Commercial Diving Academy in Jacksonville, Fla., believes the change is overdue.

“I have never understood why they differentiate between someone who is in a vocational track and someone going to traditional college,” Weisman said. “The reality is the vocational track is probably going to be much more geared to them coming out and being gainfully employed.” 

About 50 percent of Commercial Diving Academy’s students are military veterans who pay $19,800 in tuition and $975 for room and board per month for a five-month program that prepares them for jobs in the diving industry. 

Not All Are Left Out
Not all veterans seeking non-traditional or trade careers are currently shut off from the Post-9/11 GI Bill. For example, the Culinary Institute of America (CIA) offers a bachelor’s degree in culinary arts management and an associate degree program in culinary arts. 

Lauren Cunningham, manager of admissions communication at the CIA’s Hyde Park, N.Y., campus, said several student veterans have used the Post-9/11 GI Bill to enroll in the institute’s degree programs since August 2009. 

“Luckily, New York State has a high in-state tuition rate,” Cunningham said. “Those who use the Post-9/11 GI Bill to attend the Culinary Institute of America at our Hyde Park campus have 100 percent of tuition and fees covered.”  

Fast Track
Lincoln Technical Institute has 44 programs and campuses throughout the United States, offering diploma and degree programs ranging from automotive and skilled fields to the health sciences and cosmetology.

Army veteran Jim Kuntz, vice president at Lincoln Technical Institute, said diploma programs enable service members to quickly transfer their military skills to a civilian job.

“The degrees obviously take longer to get,” he said. “That puts a burden on service members. A lot of them are married. A lot of them can’t go to a four-year college. They need to get in, get a skill, get out and go to work ... They could get a skill like being an automotive mechanic or an HVAC technician and get out in 13 to 16 months and go to work. I think that is what most service members would like to do.”