COLLEGE PARK, Md., July 31 (AScribe Newswire) -- With the new GI bill going into effect Saturday (Aug. 1), the University of Maryland is seeing a spike in the number of students who are seeking to take advantage of the enhanced benefits for veterans.
As of Friday, more than 70 veterans enrolled for the fall semester have requested certification to receive the tuition, fee and housing payments allowed under the Post-9/11 GI Bill; 285 veterans at Maryland last semester received payments through the old program, the Montgomery GI Bill of 1944.
"We don't know yet whether the new GI bill is increasing the overall number of veterans on our campus, but we hope that will be true as the number of veterans going to school goes up," says Warren Kelley, assistant vice president for student affairs. He says the fact that so many students are already seeking the benefits, though the semester doesn't start until Aug. 31, is an encouraging sign.
The new bill provides for up to 36 months of tuition and fees at a public university, helps with those costs at a private institution, and offers a separate housing allowance. It also pays up to $1,000 a year for books and supplies. The nearly 2 million veterans who have served in the United States military for at least 90 days since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks are eligible.
The maximum benefit for Maryland students will be $458.13 per credit hour toward tuition and $2,380 for fees per semester. In addition, students will receive a monthly housing allowance of up to $1,917, to be updated annually by the Department of Defense. Under the old GI bill, eligible veterans received up to $1,321 for full-time study, to be spent at their discretion.
Nicholas Laureys, a veterans certifying official in the registrar's office, lauds the bill for giving veterans the opportunity to study full time, without juggling another job, which he says gives them a greater chance at success in higher education.
His office is getting two or three applications every day from veterans seeking Veterans Administration certification for the new GI bill benefit. While the old Montgomery GI bill was a flat monthly payment, Laureys says, this bill authorizes a "front-loaded" payment for tuition and fees straight to the university. A stipend of up to $500 per semester for books and supplies is also issued at the beginning of the term.
"They're choosing the new program, because it makes the university much more affordable for them," he says.
Kirby Bowling, who helps run the university's Veterans Program Office, says it's been fielding a lot of calls and e-mails from veterans about the new bill. He's working to help reservists and guardsmen, in particular, determine how many months of their service counts toward their eligibility for the benefit.
His office is among a series of initiatives launched by the university last year to offer more support to the estimated 1,000 student veterans at Maryland. The Veterans Program Office served more than 400 of them, helping them untangle their unique concerns with financial aid, transferring credits, finding housing and mid-semester deployments. It created a related Web site, http://www.veterans.umd.edu , with information on health and community resources and student life as well as discussion forums. It also helped start Terp Vets, a student-run organization that connects veterans and nonveterans through social and volunteer events and works with the Pat Tillman Foundation to award scholarships to student veterans.
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CONTACT: David Ottalini, University of Maryland Media Relations, 301-405-4076, dottalin@umd.edu
ON THE WEB:
http://www.newsdesk.umd.edu/uniini/release.cfm?ArticleID=1936
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