The newly instituted Post 9/11 GI Bill promises to afford thousands of recently returned U.S. military veterans the benefits of much-deserved higher education, but some students say late payments by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) are putting an undue strain on their finances.
While pleased with the much-improved educational benefit, some veteran students are concerned that a delay in payments from VA may cause them to suffer deeper personal debt while struggling to cover unpaid bills. A number of student veterans have been forced to take out loans or seek extra employment to meet school expenses while they wait for overdue GI Bill benefit checks to arrive.
“The American Legion sympathizes with these overburdened students,” says Clarence E. Hill, national commander of the nation’s largest veterans’ service organization. “These veterans of our current conflicts deserve to be able to concentrate wholly on their studies and not worry about how to pay for the schooling they have earned.
“It is our hope that by working together, VA and the universities can develop a plan that will not deny any eligible veterans the opportunity to attend classes while waiting for the arrival of the VA benefits,” continued Hill. “We urge the institutions of higher learning to grant financial leniency to their student veterans while the VA works to reduce the time it takes to process educational payments. After all, it is a virtual certainty that VA will issue the checks that are owed to our eligible veterans attending college. It’s just a matter of time.
“While we appreciate the considerable challenge faced by the VA in administering this new benefit,” continued Hill, “the delay in payments is an indication that the VA will indeed benefit from the additional full-time staff and mandatory overtime hours for existing employees recently granted by Secretary Shenseki in order to help meet the payment schedules. The American Legion stands ready to assist enrolling students with the filing of their educational benefit claims and to work with campus veterans’ program administrators to prevent veterans from having to choose between paying bills and attending class. The education of our new veterans is a valuable investment in America’s future and should not be compromised,” concluded Hill.
Student veterans can contact The American Legion directly for assistance with educational benefits questions and issues at 202-263-2995 or by sending an email to the vice president of the National Association of Veterans’ Program Administrators at askvalerie@legion.org.
The American Legion has created a website, www.mygibill.org, to aid veterans in understanding and applying for their benefits under the new Post 9/11 GI Bill.
With a current membership of 2.5-million wartime veterans, The American Legion was founded in 1919 on the four pillars of a strong national security, veterans affairs, Americanism, and youth programs. Legionnaires work for the betterment of their communities through more than 14,000 posts across the nation.
Contacts:
The American Legion
Media:
Craig Roberts,
202-263-2982
Cell: 202-406-0887
or
Joe
March, 317-630-1253
Cell: 317-748-1926
www.legion.org