Local News: Local Colleges Could See Increase in Veterans Enrollment

New GI Bill Could Increase Enrollment at Baylor, Other Local Colleges
By Regina Dennis (Tribune-Herald staff writer)

From the Waco Tribune-Herald

Some veterans may have expanded higher education options locally when a new GI Bill with higher college tuition benefits goes into effect next month.

The new GI Bill, starting Aug. 1, will pay the tuition and fees up to the highest public tuition in the state for veterans who served in Afghanistan or Iraq.

The Department of Veterans Affairs estimates 7,000 Texas veterans will be able to take advantage of the bill this year. Qualified Texas veterans can receive up to $1,471 per credit hour, or $17,652 per semester, for a 12-hour course load.

That means that full tuition costs will likely be covered at Baylor University and other private schools in Texas, Baylor spokeswoman Lori Fogleman said. Baylor has a flat-rate tuition of $25,320 for a full school year, plus $2,590 in fees annually.

“The way we interpret the bill, because of the amount it pays per credit hour in Texas, full tuition at Baylor would be covered by it,” Fogleman said.

Fogleman said 35 veterans were enrolled at Baylor for the 2008-09 school year. Already, 14 new veteran students have enrolled for the fall semester under new GI Bill benefits, and three more prosepective veteran students are awaiting eligibility certification for the new bill from the VA, Fogleman said.

Other area colleges also predict an increase in their veteran student population. Kathy Chastain, veterans benefits certification officer for Texas State Technical College in Waco, said she is already fielding inquiries from prospective veteran students about the new bill.

“It’s possible that more veterans will enroll at TSTC because of the bill,” Chastain said, adding that the school has about 200 veterans currently enrolled. “Most of my calls are from new students, and some current students are trying to weigh the benefits of the new bill versus the old one.”

Kris Cervantes, veterans services coordinator at McLennan Community College, said some of the school’s 190 veterans are weighing their education options under the new bill, with a few considering transferring to Baylor. Some are also considering transferring to the University Center at MCC to earn degrees from colleges like Tarleton State University, Texas Tech University and the University of Texas at Arlington, Brownsville and Medical Branch campuses.

“It does give students more choices for a college education, but at the same time, Baylor and some of the larger universities may not be a good fit,” Cervantes said. “MCC does have a more nontraditional student population, and that student who is 26 or 35 may prefer to see other people their age in their classes, so MCC or the University Center would be a better fit.”

Veterans must file for the new GI Bill benefits through the VA, which will certify eligibility for the program. Cervantes said a few students at MCC have already obtained their certification, including a veteran she knows personally.

Her husband, Rob Cervantes, 35, who served in the Army for six years, will transfer to the University Center to obtain his bachelor’s degree in business administration from University of Texas at Arlington using the new GI Bill education benefits.

Rob Cervantes, who was a sergeant and served two tours of duty in Iraq, began attending MCC last August on the current GI Bill and will graduate with an associates degree in general studies next month. He said while the current GI Bill’s monthly stipend of $1,321 combined with his wife’s salary covered school and living expenses for the couple and their two sons, it would not afford him the opportunity to enter the UTA program.

“It would have been absolutely prohibitive, just because the tuition and fees alone would be twice as much (as the stipend),” said Rob Cervantes, who quit his job as a branch manager at an ATM company in San Antonio shortly after Sept. 11 to enlist in the Army. “Plus, I haven’t bought books yet, so it would be next to impossible.”

The benefits vary by state, with veterans in states with higher public tuition such as Texas and New Hampshire receiving close to $20,000 or more per semester in education credits — while veterans in other states could receive next to nothing, which is the case in California, where public universities and colleges are barred from charging tuition. California schools raise money through fees, which are not covered in the bill.

U.S. Rep. Chet Edwards, D-Waco, said Congress will likely address the discrepancy in a future bill. Edwards, chairman of the House Subcommittee on Military Construction and Veterans Affairs, has already expanded the GI Bill to cover full tuition to all children of military members who were killed in active duty after Sept. 11 through a provision in the 2009 supplemental appropriations bill to fund military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan.

“The cost of higher education has gone up dramatically, and the old GI Bill had not kept pace, making it increasingly difficult for our troops and veterans to attend college,” Edwards said. “Secondly, we felt this was a show of respect for the extreme sacrifices being made by our troops, and third, this is a matter of recruitment and retention of the best and brightest into our all-volunteer military force.”

Published on Wednesday, July 22, 2009