The official blog of American Veteran Magazine, the national quarterly publication of AMVETS.

Friday, August 7, 2009

White House fixes California's G.I. Bill glitch

On Wednesday, the White House announced a resolution that will resolve the tuition reimbursement issue with the Post-9/11 G.I. Bill in California.

Since California charges "fees" in lieu of traditional "tuition" for students at public colleges and universities in the state, student-veterans who sought to take advantage of the Post-9/11 G.I. Bill at California private schools were ineligible for any tuition reimbursement from the VA.

However, the solution to this semantics battle, which Army Times reported on Wednesday, will allow student-veterans in California to take advantage of their fee reimbursement entitlements to pay for tuition at California private schools.

Leading up to the Post-9/11 G.I. Bill's implementation on Aug. 1, veterans and academics alike were concerned about the inequities for California students and Congress was working on legislation to possibly change the G.I. Bill to benefit California student-veterans.

AMVETS applauded the President's decision, and the organization will continue to monitor the implementation of the Post-9/11 G.I. Bill to ensure that all veterans of the current conflicts receive the benefits they have earned.

Check back regularly with American Veteran Online for more updates as the new G.I. Bill rolls out.

1 comment:

  1. This is a problem reaches beyond California. The public school in Massachusetts (UMASS Amherst) chosen to drive reimbursement rates for the GI Bills charges a nominal tuition of $857 per semester while charging $5009 in fees. This has driven the tuition rate to only $71 per semester hour, the lowest in the nation, hitting thousands of students who attend private colleges or universities that charge hit tuition and little or no fees.

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