By Jessica Carr
After veterans serve in the military and decide to return to college to pursue their degree, they are usually financially independent and older than their college peers. This means they rely on the GI Bill to help cover the financial costs of college.
There are many different routes to take in using the GI Bill, but the most common used GI Bill elective is the Chapter 33 Post 9/11 GI Bill.
“One of the things we always tell the current generation of veterans is benefits right now, GI Bill Chapter 33, is probably the best benefits we have had since World War II because you get a stipend for living,” Lou Ortiz, director of the Texas Tech Military and Veterans Program, said.
Photo from ttu.edu
The Post 9/11 GI Bill provides up to 36 months of education benefits to veterans after they are released from duty. The education benefits include a Monthly Housing Allowance, annual books and supply stipend, and all tuition and fees covered for in-state students attending a public institute, according to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.
“It is not free money,” John Bowles, a Navy veteran, said.
Bowles, a senior journalism major, said the GI Bill is something veterans have paid into with their service to then finance their education.
“It is great that it is there because I would not have been able to go to college if not for the Post-9/11 GI Bill,” Bowles said. “It covers the one thing the [Montgomery GI Bill] did not, which is living expenses.”
The Monthly Housing Allowance is calculated based on the zip code of the school and cost of living in the area. The allowance amount varies based on pay grade and if the veteran has dependents.
The housing allowance for veterans is lower in Lubbock compared to bigger cities due to the cost of living.
“It is all about living within your means,” Bowles said. “I do not have dependents so it is enough for me, but somebody with dependents would have to have their spouse working to cover the extra costs.”
Lucinda Holt/The Hub@TTU
While the Monthly Housing Allowance is a great addition to the Post-9/11 GI Bill, it still poses its challenges when it comes to veterans with dependents.
Bowles said it is challenging to go from having a military salary and a Basic Allowance for Housing to just having a Monthly Housing Allowance and no military salary. Since veterans in college are just receiving the Monthly Housing Allowance, it leaves a financial gap in the transition to college.
Adam Disque, an Air Force veteran and sophomore environmental engineering major, said he has seen a lot of his veteran friends struggle with this particular financial situation because of the way student housing is designed.
Since student apartments are geared toward traditional students to rent per room at an affordable cost, veterans with dependents do not have the option of renting in the student housing area. It is more costly for them to rent out an entire apartment because they would have to pay for each room instead of a flat rate for the entire apartment, Disque said.
“There is no dependent housing on campus, and most of us have to live outside of the loop or out by the mall,” Disque said.
Disque said since he is the vice-president of the Veteran’s Association at Texas Tech, he tries to find ways to help families make social connections to make the transition easier for veterans.
“We try really hard with the student veteran group here at Tech to get the whole family unit integrated,” Disque said. “We want to do community and social events where they can bring their kids with them, so we try to find fun ways to get them involved too.”
The Post 9/11GI Bill benefits include a book and school supply stipend, which is about $500 a semester.
The stipend provides a decent amount of money, but veterans in STEM (Science, technology, engineering and math) majors can still have a difference to make up in the cost of books, which is where the inspiration for the Veteran’s Association’s book share program came from.
Jennifer McColloch/The Hub@TTU
Daniel Ayala, an Army veteran and senior electrical engineering major, came up with the idea to start the book share program for the Veteran’s Association at Tech.
“It creates this community of veterans helping veterans and hopefully it keeps growing,” Ayala said.
Veterans can get access to the book share program by joining the Veteran’s Association on campus and paying their dues, Ayala said.
The Post 9/11 GI Bill also provides 36 months of payment for tuition and fees, which translates to four years of paid tuition. It works for veterans with majors that require the average 120 hour degree plan, but veterans pursuing a STEM related degree plan are often left to figure out how to cover the additional costs, since it takes more than the average 120 hours to finish their degree.
Austin Shoepf, a Navy veteran and a senior mechanical engineering major, said his major requires 131 hours, but veterans are currently working on a proposal to have the Post 9/11 GI Bill extended for STEM majors.
“The Student Veterans of America are working on trying to extend the Post 9/11 with Chapter 33 benefits to cover a longer period of time,” Shoepf said. “They are trying to get 5 years for a STEM degree.”
The GI Bill STEM Extension Act of 2015 is a proposal that would give students who use the Post 9/11 GI Bill the option to apply for an extra nine months of benefits, which is two additional semesters, if they pursue a degree in one of the STEM fields, according to congress.gov.
Blaine Hill/The Hub@TTU
While this would help veterans in STEM majors, it is still being bounced around in legislation, but eligible Texas veterans can use the Hazelwood Act once their Post 9/11 GI Bill runs out in the meantime.
Disque said he would not finish his environmental engineering degree in the 36-month time frame his GI Bill allows, so he will rely on the Hazelwood Act to finish his degree.
“It does not do me any good to speed through all my classes and just get by,” Disque said. “I want to get a good degree and be proud of what I learned.”
Disque said he feels it is a common philosophy veterans adopt when pursuing their degree because in the end, they all want to have a degree they are proud of.
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