IRS seeks loan taxes from family of dead Marine
By Rick Maze
Staff writer
Posted : Tuesday May 1, 2012
A Tennessee lawmaker is trying to protect a Marine’s parents from having to pay taxes on student loans that were waived after the Marine’s death.
Lance Cpl. Andrew Carpenter died in 2011 in Germany from injuries suffered when he was shot by a sniper in Afghanistan. The 27-year-old, who had attended college before enlisting in the Marine Corps, died with outstanding student loans from a private lender. The lender waived the debt, but family was notified by the Department of Education that the waived debt was considered as income for tax purposes.
While the survivors never expected it, IRS policy holds that forgiven debt on credit cards, personal loans and student loans is treated as income, just like wages — and taxable, just like wages.
Rep. Scott DesJarlais, R-Tenn., a freshman lawmaker representing Carpenter’s hometown of Columbia, Tenn., is trying to help the Carpenter family and ensure similar situations don’t happen to other military families.
“It is simply not right to require the families of deceased veterans, having already sacrificed so greatly for our country, to pay more in taxes for loans that have already been forgiven,” DesJarlais said.
read more here
Showing posts with label GI Bill. Show all posts
Showing posts with label GI Bill. Show all posts
Wednesday, May 2, 2012
Tuesday, May 1, 2012
Greedy colleges target veterans
U.S. Veterans Targeted By Marketers in College Selection Process
By SUSANNA KIM
ABC News
April 30, 2012
The Post-9/11 GI Bill offers financial support for veterans' education, leading some marketers to target vets with deceptive advertising about college opportunities and President Obama to sign an executive order on Friday to curb those abuses.
The bill was an enormous boost to Michael Dakduk, who served in the Marine Corps and is now executive director of Student Veterans of America, an organization whose mission is to provide vets in higher education and following graduation with resources and support.
Dakduk, who left active duty in 2008, said he would not have been able to pursue his bachelor's degree full-time at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.
"I had such a substantial increase in benefits, I could focus solely on studies," Dakduk said.
The Las Vegas-native had previously attended community college while working part-time, with assistance from the Montgomery GI Bill.
That bill provides a monthly education benefit to active duty military members who pay $100 a month for the financial assistance.
read more here
By SUSANNA KIM
ABC News
April 30, 2012
The Post-9/11 GI Bill offers financial support for veterans' education, leading some marketers to target vets with deceptive advertising about college opportunities and President Obama to sign an executive order on Friday to curb those abuses.
The bill was an enormous boost to Michael Dakduk, who served in the Marine Corps and is now executive director of Student Veterans of America, an organization whose mission is to provide vets in higher education and following graduation with resources and support.
Dakduk, who left active duty in 2008, said he would not have been able to pursue his bachelor's degree full-time at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.
"I had such a substantial increase in benefits, I could focus solely on studies," Dakduk said.
The Las Vegas-native had previously attended community college while working part-time, with assistance from the Montgomery GI Bill.
That bill provides a monthly education benefit to active duty military members who pay $100 a month for the financial assistance.
read more here
Friday, April 6, 2012
Veterans group suspends chapters at for-profit colleges
Veterans group suspends chapters at for-profit colleges
By Justin Pope
The Associated Press
Apr 05, 2012
A leading student veterans group is suspending chapters at 40 for-profit colleges, saying it's concerned they've been set up by the colleges as shell organizations to help them appeal to veteran students who carry lucrative government tuition benefits.
The schools may be creating what are essentially fake SVA chapters to help them qualify for lists of "military friendly" or "veterans friendly" colleges that are proliferating in guidebooks and online, Student Veterans of America executive director Michael Dakduk said Thursday. On some lists, the existence of an SVA chapter at a school figures into the formula.
The organization, which has 417 campus chapters, said it would not name the for-profit schools while it investigated further. But Dakduk said that during recent membership renewals, SVA discovered numerous chapters listing as contacts people SVA later identified as school employees, not student veterans, and that chapter websites simply redirected anyone interested to the colleges' pages.
He said SVA has occasionally encountered the issue before, including at not-for-profit universities, but he said the recent discovery amounted to a much more widespread pattern. read more here
By Justin Pope
The Associated Press
Apr 05, 2012
A leading student veterans group is suspending chapters at 40 for-profit colleges, saying it's concerned they've been set up by the colleges as shell organizations to help them appeal to veteran students who carry lucrative government tuition benefits.
The schools may be creating what are essentially fake SVA chapters to help them qualify for lists of "military friendly" or "veterans friendly" colleges that are proliferating in guidebooks and online, Student Veterans of America executive director Michael Dakduk said Thursday. On some lists, the existence of an SVA chapter at a school figures into the formula.
The organization, which has 417 campus chapters, said it would not name the for-profit schools while it investigated further. But Dakduk said that during recent membership renewals, SVA discovered numerous chapters listing as contacts people SVA later identified as school employees, not student veterans, and that chapter websites simply redirected anyone interested to the colleges' pages.
He said SVA has occasionally encountered the issue before, including at not-for-profit universities, but he said the recent discovery amounted to a much more widespread pattern. read more here
Tuesday, March 27, 2012
GI Bill Consumer Awareness Act to help veterans decide
Sens.: Grade schools that take GI Bill benefits
By Rick Maze - Staff writer
Posted : Tuesday Mar 27, 2012 14:26:35 EDT
A new Senate bill proposes to create a consumer report card for every school covered by Post-9/11 GI Bill education benefits to disclose information about their policies on transferring credits to other schools, their average student loan debt, their course or degree completion rate, and how many graduates find jobs in their chosen fields.
The GI Bill Consumer Awareness Act is the latest effort by lawmakers to provide a warning to those using generous veterans’ education benefits that some schools may make big promises but deliver very little.
Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee chairwoman and chief sponsor of the bill, said it is a response to “stories of frustration, confusion and even manipulation.”
“We have seen that in certain instances, our service members and veterans have been misled just to boost enrollment of students with this very lucrative benefit,” she said, referring mostly to some for-profit schools that use recruiters or salespeople to sign up students.
“We have seen reports of veterans who utilize the benefit for one school only to find out that when they want to move on to graduate school, the degree they received from the first school is inadequate,” Murray said.
read more here
By Rick Maze - Staff writer
Posted : Tuesday Mar 27, 2012 14:26:35 EDT
A new Senate bill proposes to create a consumer report card for every school covered by Post-9/11 GI Bill education benefits to disclose information about their policies on transferring credits to other schools, their average student loan debt, their course or degree completion rate, and how many graduates find jobs in their chosen fields.
The GI Bill Consumer Awareness Act is the latest effort by lawmakers to provide a warning to those using generous veterans’ education benefits that some schools may make big promises but deliver very little.
Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee chairwoman and chief sponsor of the bill, said it is a response to “stories of frustration, confusion and even manipulation.”
“We have seen that in certain instances, our service members and veterans have been misled just to boost enrollment of students with this very lucrative benefit,” she said, referring mostly to some for-profit schools that use recruiters or salespeople to sign up students.
“We have seen reports of veterans who utilize the benefit for one school only to find out that when they want to move on to graduate school, the degree they received from the first school is inadequate,” Murray said.
read more here
Tuesday, March 13, 2012
Webb Targets GI Bill Abuse by Schools
Webb Targets GI Bill Abuse by Schools
March 13, 2012
Military.com|by Bryant Jordan
Virginia Sen. Jim Webb, a key supporter of the post-9/11 GI Bill, says new legislation is needed to ensure that the education benefit isn't weakened by veterans using it at some for-profit schools that do not always meet the same educational standards as traditional institutions.
For that reason, Webb is sponsoring a bill that would require for-profit schools, including online learning programs, to meet the same standards as any other school receiving federal funding.
"Growing concerns of abuses by some educational institutions put at risk the Post-9/11 G.I. Bill itself, and the invaluable benefits it provides our veterans," Webb said in a statement. These abuses include hyped or simply untrue claims about graduation rates, graduate employment figures, and whether the school is officially accredited by a U.S. Department of Education-approved agency.
"Some for-profit institutions are providing our students a great education, but with the significant federal dollars being spent, we owe it to taxpayers and our veterans to carefully monitor and provide adequate oversight," Webb said.
read more here
March 13, 2012
Military.com|by Bryant Jordan
Virginia Sen. Jim Webb, a key supporter of the post-9/11 GI Bill, says new legislation is needed to ensure that the education benefit isn't weakened by veterans using it at some for-profit schools that do not always meet the same educational standards as traditional institutions.
For that reason, Webb is sponsoring a bill that would require for-profit schools, including online learning programs, to meet the same standards as any other school receiving federal funding.
"Growing concerns of abuses by some educational institutions put at risk the Post-9/11 G.I. Bill itself, and the invaluable benefits it provides our veterans," Webb said in a statement. These abuses include hyped or simply untrue claims about graduation rates, graduate employment figures, and whether the school is officially accredited by a U.S. Department of Education-approved agency.
"Some for-profit institutions are providing our students a great education, but with the significant federal dollars being spent, we owe it to taxpayers and our veterans to carefully monitor and provide adequate oversight," Webb said.
read more here
Friday, March 9, 2012
Delayed GI Bill funds leave students scrambling
Delayed GI Bill funds leave students scrambling
By Rick Maze - Staff writer
Posted : Friday Mar 9, 2012 13:38:28 EST
The Veterans Affairs Department says it has hit a “bump in the road” in processing GI Bill benefits claims. Affected student veterans are calling it missing rent money.
VA’s Buffalo, N.Y., regional office that processes claims for East Coast colleges and universities is up to seven weeks behind, meaning that schools are late receiving tuition and fee payments and students are left empty-handed if they are expecting a monthly living stipend.
VA did not respond to questions about the Buffalo problem submitted by Military Times. Instead, days after inquiries were made about GI Bill claims problems reported by readers, a statement from the VA’s education service chief director was posted on VA’s official blog, VAntage Point.
read more here
By Rick Maze - Staff writer
Posted : Friday Mar 9, 2012 13:38:28 EST
The Veterans Affairs Department says it has hit a “bump in the road” in processing GI Bill benefits claims. Affected student veterans are calling it missing rent money.
VA’s Buffalo, N.Y., regional office that processes claims for East Coast colleges and universities is up to seven weeks behind, meaning that schools are late receiving tuition and fee payments and students are left empty-handed if they are expecting a monthly living stipend.
VA did not respond to questions about the Buffalo problem submitted by Military Times. Instead, days after inquiries were made about GI Bill claims problems reported by readers, a statement from the VA’s education service chief director was posted on VA’s official blog, VAntage Point.
read more here
Saturday, February 25, 2012
Utah senate kills veterans tuition bill
Senate kills veteran tuition bill
BY DAVID MONTERO
The Salt Lake Tribune
First published Feb 24 2012
SB44 • Sen. Luz Robles saw her bill that would have extended tuition benefits to military veterans fail Friday in the Utah Senate on a 14-11 vote, leaving the Salt Lake City Democrat incredulous and bewildered after the measure had sailed through previous votes.
“I don’t understand what happened,” Robles said. “I’m in shock.”
The measure, SB44, passed its committee unanimously and its second reading — where senators often debate legislation — 26-1. It would’ve allowed for the state to fund a gap between federal funds military veterans apply for when attempting to obtain a bachelor’s degree at the university level.
read more here
BY DAVID MONTERO
The Salt Lake Tribune
First published Feb 24 2012
SB44 • Sen. Luz Robles saw her bill that would have extended tuition benefits to military veterans fail Friday in the Utah Senate on a 14-11 vote, leaving the Salt Lake City Democrat incredulous and bewildered after the measure had sailed through previous votes.
“I don’t understand what happened,” Robles said. “I’m in shock.”
The measure, SB44, passed its committee unanimously and its second reading — where senators often debate legislation — 26-1. It would’ve allowed for the state to fund a gap between federal funds military veterans apply for when attempting to obtain a bachelor’s degree at the university level.
read more here
Sunday, December 25, 2011
Veterans find N.C. residency requirements hinder higher education efforts
Veterans find N.C. residency requirements hinder higher education efforts
Sun Dec 25, 2011
By Paul Woolverton
Staff writer
Staff photo by James Robinson
Johnny N. Allen retired from a 30-year career with the Coast Guard and moved to North Carolina in August. Allen wants to attend Fayetteville State University on the GI Bill to get a degree to become a middle-school math teacher, but he's taking classes at an online school until he's lived here long enough to qualify for in-state tuition.
Military veterans who want to attend college in North Carolina are encountering a roadblock to their plans to further their education: the state's residency laws combined with new restrictions in the GI Bill.
The GI Bill is intended to provide former military personnel with scholarships to get their college degrees. But in August, the GI Bill was changed. It no longer pays out-of-state tuition rates at public universities and community colleges, said Mark Waple, a lawyer who represents the Student Veterans Advocacy Group of North Carolina.
Veterans who haven't become North Carolina residents must make up the difference between the in-state tuition rate and the much higher out-of-state rate until the state accepts them as in-state students.
In North Carolina, that takes a year of living here as a North Carolina resident.
According to data that Waple gathered, about 420 student veterans in the state's 16-campus university system are affected by the change in the GI Bill and the residency restriction.
read more here
Tuesday, November 29, 2011
Colleges Face Challenges With Influx of Military Veterans
UPDATE
For Veterans' Day, I asked students at Valencia College what professors could do to help them enter into the next part of their lives after combat. Here's what they had to say.
Colleges Face Challenges With Influx of Military Veterans
By Sandra G. Boodman
NOV 29, 2011
This story was produced in collaboration with
When Brian Hawthorne enrolled at George Washington University as a 23-year-old junior after two tours in Iraq, the former Army medic was unprepared for the adjustment.
"I felt like I was on another planet," he said of his first semester in 2008. Hawthorne recalled feeling whipsawed by the abrupt transition of "going from an environment where people around you are dying every day and trying to kill you" to a campus where he was surrounded by people who didn't know anyone in the military.
Academics provided no refuge. "I was very worried because I couldn't concentrate," said Hawthorne, who had graduated near the top of his Westchester County, N.Y., high school class. "I would read one page and forget what I'd just read." In danger of flunking out, he sought help on campus and was referred to the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in the District, where doctors quickly diagnosed a mild traumatic brain injury caused by his proximity to bomb blasts.
Hawthorne's experience is emblematic of the challenges — social, academic, psychological and medical — facing the rapidly growing population of veterans who are flocking to colleges around the country, and the health demands placed on the schools they are attending.
Propelled by the Post-9/11 GI Bill, which took effect in 2009, 2 million veterans, many of whom served in Iraq and Afghanistan, are eligible for generous benefits that can amount to a full scholarship. At George Mason University, Virginia's largest public school with more than 32,000 students, for example, the number of veterans has almost doubled, from 840 in 2009 to 1,575 last spring.
also
Vets on Campus Face Unique Challenges
November 29, 2011
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
ST. LOUIS -- Army veteran Ben Miller remembers the isolation he felt when he enrolled at the University of Missouri-St. Louis in the fall of 2009.
"I would show up on campus, talk to absolutely no one and go home," said Miller, 27, who did three tours in Iraq as a counterintelligence specialist. "I didn't feel like I really belonged."
With wars in Iraq and Afghanistan winding down and enhancements to the GI Bill, colleges and universities are expecting a surge in veteran enrollment unseen since World War II.
But some academics and veterans' advocates are warning that many colleges are unprepared to deal with the unique needs of former service members. Many veterans face a difficult transition to civilian life, ranging from readjustment issues to recovery from physical and mental injuries.
And they say without special attention, many will fail to graduate.
"If colleges are not prepared to help transition Soldiers from combat you do run the risk of losing an entire generation," said Tom Tarantino of the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America. "The GI Bill isn't a thank you for your service. What it really is is a readjustment benefit. It is giving them the opportunity to do something that is constructive for their mind and their body, that gives them a mission and allows them to move forward in life. It's a backstop so you're not walking right off the plane from combat in to the civilian world. It was designed to be a soft landing."
read more here
For Veterans' Day, I asked students at Valencia College what professors could do to help them enter into the next part of their lives after combat. Here's what they had to say.
Colleges Face Challenges With Influx of Military Veterans
By Sandra G. Boodman
NOV 29, 2011
This story was produced in collaboration with
When Brian Hawthorne enrolled at George Washington University as a 23-year-old junior after two tours in Iraq, the former Army medic was unprepared for the adjustment.
"I felt like I was on another planet," he said of his first semester in 2008. Hawthorne recalled feeling whipsawed by the abrupt transition of "going from an environment where people around you are dying every day and trying to kill you" to a campus where he was surrounded by people who didn't know anyone in the military.
Academics provided no refuge. "I was very worried because I couldn't concentrate," said Hawthorne, who had graduated near the top of his Westchester County, N.Y., high school class. "I would read one page and forget what I'd just read." In danger of flunking out, he sought help on campus and was referred to the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in the District, where doctors quickly diagnosed a mild traumatic brain injury caused by his proximity to bomb blasts.
Hawthorne's experience is emblematic of the challenges — social, academic, psychological and medical — facing the rapidly growing population of veterans who are flocking to colleges around the country, and the health demands placed on the schools they are attending.
Propelled by the Post-9/11 GI Bill, which took effect in 2009, 2 million veterans, many of whom served in Iraq and Afghanistan, are eligible for generous benefits that can amount to a full scholarship. At George Mason University, Virginia's largest public school with more than 32,000 students, for example, the number of veterans has almost doubled, from 840 in 2009 to 1,575 last spring.
also
Vets on Campus Face Unique Challenges
November 29, 2011
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
ST. LOUIS -- Army veteran Ben Miller remembers the isolation he felt when he enrolled at the University of Missouri-St. Louis in the fall of 2009.
"I would show up on campus, talk to absolutely no one and go home," said Miller, 27, who did three tours in Iraq as a counterintelligence specialist. "I didn't feel like I really belonged."
With wars in Iraq and Afghanistan winding down and enhancements to the GI Bill, colleges and universities are expecting a surge in veteran enrollment unseen since World War II.
But some academics and veterans' advocates are warning that many colleges are unprepared to deal with the unique needs of former service members. Many veterans face a difficult transition to civilian life, ranging from readjustment issues to recovery from physical and mental injuries.
And they say without special attention, many will fail to graduate.
"If colleges are not prepared to help transition Soldiers from combat you do run the risk of losing an entire generation," said Tom Tarantino of the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America. "The GI Bill isn't a thank you for your service. What it really is is a readjustment benefit. It is giving them the opportunity to do something that is constructive for their mind and their body, that gives them a mission and allows them to move forward in life. It's a backstop so you're not walking right off the plane from combat in to the civilian world. It was designed to be a soft landing."
read more here
Sunday, September 4, 2011
Veterans struggling to pay for school this semester
Veterans struggling to pay for school this semester
Friday, September 02, 2011
by Nancy Osborne, News Team
FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- Fresno State University has welcomed returning veterans to its campus to enroll and work toward a college degree. Some are now having a tough time following changes from Washington that the university has to enforce.
read more here
Friday, September 02, 2011
by Nancy Osborne, News Team
FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- Fresno State University has welcomed returning veterans to its campus to enroll and work toward a college degree. Some are now having a tough time following changes from Washington that the university has to enforce.
read more here
Wednesday, August 3, 2011
Tea Party elected put military pay and veterans programs in line for cuts
Is this what the people who voted for these Tea Party folks really wanted? Did they even pay attention to what they were up to before they voted for them? It has been clear from the start that anything to do with the government was not worth anything and now they just proved it.
Wasn't it bad enough with all the fighting over protecting tax cuts for the wealthy ended up making them worried about being deployed and not getting paid? What happened to the jobs these people said they wanted to create? Any bills done on getting people back to work? What happened to honoring the men and women serving this country? Any idea who the hell is supposed to process claims and take care of the wounded if employees get cut? There are not enough of them now!
Under debt deal, military pay, veterans programs in play for cuts
By Bob Brewinbbrewin@govexec.com
August 3, 2011
Military pay raises, funding for veterans health care and the Post-9/11 GI Bill could be sacrificed to new fiscal realities as the result of the deal signed by President Obama on Tuesday to raise the federal debt ceiling, according to the Military Officers Association and veterans groups. The law requires the federal budget be cut $2.1 trillion over 10 years.
The White House said it plans to cut $350 billion from the Defense Department budget (excluding war funding) over the next decade. Retired Air Force Col. Michael Hayden, the association's deputy director for government relations, said this means "everything is on the table," including military pay.
While Congress historically has been reluctant to freeze military pay, the 2011 Budget Control Act signed by Obama on Tuesday makes it clear upfront that military pay is no longer off-limits in budget discussions. If the administration and Congress fail to make the required reductions then across-the-board cuts in discretionary funding will be triggered through a procedure known as sequestration. The law gives the president "authority to exempt any [military] personnel account from sequestration" but only if "savings are achieved through across-the-board reductions in the remainder of the Department of Defense budget," states a House Rules Committee analysis of the bill.
read more here
Under debt deal, military pay, veterans programs in play for cuts
Wasn't it bad enough with all the fighting over protecting tax cuts for the wealthy ended up making them worried about being deployed and not getting paid? What happened to the jobs these people said they wanted to create? Any bills done on getting people back to work? What happened to honoring the men and women serving this country? Any idea who the hell is supposed to process claims and take care of the wounded if employees get cut? There are not enough of them now!
Thursday, June 2, 2011
College veterans get more time to pay back Uncle Sam for overpayments
VA extends Post-9/11 GI Bill overpayment period
By Rick Maze - Staff writer
Posted : Thursday Jun 2, 2011 12:02:16 EDT
Student veterans required to give back Post-9/11 GI Bill overpayments will get more time to do so under a new Veterans Affairs Department policy.
Previously, GI Bill overpayments had to be repaid before the end of the term, which in some cases left students paying thousands of dollars in a few months. The new policy gives them up to a year to make repayments.
The new repayment policy took effect on April 20 without fanfare. Sen. Jon Tester, D-Mont., who has pushed for the change, announced the new repayment rules on May 24. VA confirmed the rule change on Thursday.
Tester had pushed VA to change the rules after receiving complaints that students, who often were not at fault when excess tuition and fees was paid to a college or university, were given very little time to repay the money. In some cases, students were put in a position of repaying VA out of their own pockets while waiting on their school to pay them.
Although pleased that VA is giving veterans more time to pay, Tester said he still is not satisfied. He wants safeguards put in place to protect the credit records of veterans who end up owing money because of clerical errors, and he wants VA to come up with a way for schools that receive overpayments to directly reimburse the government without getting the student involved.
read more here
GI Bill overpayment period
By Rick Maze - Staff writer
Posted : Thursday Jun 2, 2011 12:02:16 EDT
Student veterans required to give back Post-9/11 GI Bill overpayments will get more time to do so under a new Veterans Affairs Department policy.
Previously, GI Bill overpayments had to be repaid before the end of the term, which in some cases left students paying thousands of dollars in a few months. The new policy gives them up to a year to make repayments.
The new repayment policy took effect on April 20 without fanfare. Sen. Jon Tester, D-Mont., who has pushed for the change, announced the new repayment rules on May 24. VA confirmed the rule change on Thursday.
Tester had pushed VA to change the rules after receiving complaints that students, who often were not at fault when excess tuition and fees was paid to a college or university, were given very little time to repay the money. In some cases, students were put in a position of repaying VA out of their own pockets while waiting on their school to pay them.
Although pleased that VA is giving veterans more time to pay, Tester said he still is not satisfied. He wants safeguards put in place to protect the credit records of veterans who end up owing money because of clerical errors, and he wants VA to come up with a way for schools that receive overpayments to directly reimburse the government without getting the student involved.
read more here
GI Bill overpayment period
Thursday, May 5, 2011
Soldier kicked out for being in wrong unit over substance abuse
Their future should not depend on who their commanders are or what rules they apply. Over the last ten years there have been many reports of soldiers using alcohol and drugs to stop feeling the effects of combat but finding help instead of discharges. Unfortunately there there have also been too many given the "bums rush" out the door cutting them off from everything as a member of the military as well as what they would have received as a veteran.
They lose their military pay and benefits including housing and when they need it the most, their healthcare. Where do you think they can go after serving and suffering for doing it when they have been cut off from everything?
They lose the chance to go to college topped off with the fact that most companies won't hire a dishonorably discharged veteran especially when there are so many honorably discharged veterans with medals looking for work when employers won't hire them. They lose the VA healthcare along with compensation for wounds they received including TBI and PTSD. They lose support from organizations, most with bylaws regarding conditions that the veteran was honorably discharged.
Their future should not depend on who they served under but it does. How do you tell a soldier like Bill Surwillo that his service leading to all of his suffering just killed off his future but others found the help they needed and are still in or going to college or being treated for what combat did to them? Then how to you tell him that had they left him alone for one more day, he would have received everything he should have? How do you tell him that? How do you explain to him that while he served at Lewis-McChord and lost it all, if he served under another commander, he would be in treatment and see his service appreciated? Four years in a unit that went through hell and they couldn't give him one more day to heal his life?
They lose their military pay and benefits including housing and when they need it the most, their healthcare. Where do you think they can go after serving and suffering for doing it when they have been cut off from everything?
They lose the chance to go to college topped off with the fact that most companies won't hire a dishonorably discharged veteran especially when there are so many honorably discharged veterans with medals looking for work when employers won't hire them. They lose the VA healthcare along with compensation for wounds they received including TBI and PTSD. They lose support from organizations, most with bylaws regarding conditions that the veteran was honorably discharged.
Their future should not depend on who they served under but it does. How do you tell a soldier like Bill Surwillo that his service leading to all of his suffering just killed off his future but others found the help they needed and are still in or going to college or being treated for what combat did to them? Then how to you tell him that had they left him alone for one more day, he would have received everything he should have? How do you tell him that? How do you explain to him that while he served at Lewis-McChord and lost it all, if he served under another commander, he would be in treatment and see his service appreciated? Four years in a unit that went through hell and they couldn't give him one more day to heal his life?
Combat Vet Loses GI Bill Over Pot And Spice
Austin Jenkins
05/03/2011
TRANSCRIPT
NEAR JOINT BASE LEWIS-MCCHORD, Wash. – Here's a soldier's tale. Bill Surwillo deploys to Afghanistan. Nearly a quarter of his platoon is killed. He comes home with PTSD. He turns to marijuana and spice – a synthetic version of the drug – to relax. The Army kicks him out and takes away his GI Bill. Is this fair?
I meet Bill Surwillo at a noisy café just outside the gates of Joint Base Lewis-McChord. His car is packed and he's ready to head home to Wisconsin. He's been kicked out of the Army for drug use one day shy of his official end of service date – and he's bitter.
Bill Surwillo: "I gave my life to that unit for the past four years."
Surwillo is especially upset the Army took away his college benefits. He wanted go to trade school to become a plumber or welder.
Sitting next to him in the café booth is his friend and fellow battle buddy, Nick White. Over the din, they describe the chaos in both their lives since they returned home.
That leads them to war stories from what they call their "gnarly" deployment to Afghanistan.
Surwillo tells me about one of the many roadside bombs that maimed and killed his friends and fellow soldiers.
read more here
Combat Vet Loses GI Bill Over Pot And Spice
Wednesday, April 13, 2011
Veteran in college says "I paid a steep price to have my butt in that seat"
How can most civilians understand any of them if they do not even know what veterans went through in combat? The news stations won't cover any of it, not that the average college aged student would watch much news in the first place. Veterans go back to school with a whole different mindset after combat than they had during high school. When you consider most enter into the military right after high school by the time they serve their time, they enter into college a few years older than other students, but that obvious fact is overshadowed by what they were doing with those years.
I attend Valencia College and I'm a member of the Veterans Council. My husband is a Vietnam Veteran. I thought college life was over when our daughter graduated but the month she was done, I went in. One of the problems this article does not address is that for families, we don't seem to fit in with anyone. We are not really civilian. When you look at the back of a military ID issued to families of disabled veterans, it has "civilian NO" and this allows us to go to military commissaries and get onto bases. We are not veterans, so we don't really belong to them. Wives have no idea what it is like to be gone for a year risking our lives. They only know what it is like to worry about them and do the best they can to take care of what they used to do. In my case, I didn't even do that part. I met my husband over 10 years after he got back from Vietnam, so I don't really fit in with them. There is always a price to pay for membership in any of these groups but the fact is, less than 10% of the population of this nation has a clue about any of this.
While Valencia has veterans attending classes, most of them have the same experience with coming back from combat duty. They can't understand fellow students showing up late for class any more than they can understand assignments not being turned in on time. The attitude of some students bother veterans a great deal when the price of a veteran's education came with putting their lives on the line, as this veteran put it, “I paid a steep price to have my butt in that seat.”
The good thing is that more and more colleges are stepping up to help veterans feel better about their days of learning instead of fighting.
I attend Valencia College and I'm a member of the Veterans Council. My husband is a Vietnam Veteran. I thought college life was over when our daughter graduated but the month she was done, I went in. One of the problems this article does not address is that for families, we don't seem to fit in with anyone. We are not really civilian. When you look at the back of a military ID issued to families of disabled veterans, it has "civilian NO" and this allows us to go to military commissaries and get onto bases. We are not veterans, so we don't really belong to them. Wives have no idea what it is like to be gone for a year risking our lives. They only know what it is like to worry about them and do the best they can to take care of what they used to do. In my case, I didn't even do that part. I met my husband over 10 years after he got back from Vietnam, so I don't really fit in with them. There is always a price to pay for membership in any of these groups but the fact is, less than 10% of the population of this nation has a clue about any of this.
While Valencia has veterans attending classes, most of them have the same experience with coming back from combat duty. They can't understand fellow students showing up late for class any more than they can understand assignments not being turned in on time. The attitude of some students bother veterans a great deal when the price of a veteran's education came with putting their lives on the line, as this veteran put it, “I paid a steep price to have my butt in that seat.”
The good thing is that more and more colleges are stepping up to help veterans feel better about their days of learning instead of fighting.
Colleges, VA work to help veterans on campus
By Trevor Hughes - The (Fort Collins,Colo.) Coloradoan
Posted : Monday Apr 11, 2011 21:02:12 EDT
After a four-year stint in the Marines that took him to Iraq and Afghanistan, Michael Dakduk returned home to Las Vegas in 2008, enrolled in the University of Nevada, and got bored.
It wasn’t that Dakduk, now 25, lacked the discipline or drive to succeed in school. But the former sergeant says he found it hard to study calculus or write English papers — and listen to fellow students complain about the workload — when his mind was still replaying what he had seen and been through.
“I’d revert back to thinking about guys getting blown up, getting shot at,” he says, instead of focusing on what he called his “mundane and menial” schoolwork.
As returning veterans struggle to make the transition from military to civilian life on campuses with younger students without their kind of life experience, colleges and universities are increasingly developing programs to address their needs.
“I paid a steep price to have my butt in that seat,” says Matt Randle, 30, a former Army combat medic who is now a senior at the University of Arizona. “I had a keen sense of not fitting in.”
Dakduk graduated in December and now helps other returning veterans as executive director of the Student Veterans of America in Washington. Randle founded and is student-director of the Arizona campus’ Veterans Education and Transition Services office.
read more here
Colleges, VA work to help veterans on campus
Tuesday, April 12, 2011
Lawmakers: Protect new GI Bill living stipends
Lawmakers: Protect new GI Bill living stipends
By Rick Maze - Staff writer
Posted : Tuesday Apr 12, 2011 12:57:07 EDT
Two California lawmakers have joined forces to try to prevent Post-9/11 GI Bill living stipends from being cut off between school terms for thousands of students.
Reps. Susan Davis, a Democrat, and Duncan Hunter, a Republican, are co-sponsoring what they are calling the Post 9/11 GI Bill Payment Restoration Act, which would prevent a cutoff of interval payments between terms, quarters or semesters that is scheduled to take effect on Aug. 1.
About 270,000 student veterans will lose money under that provision of law, according to an estimate from the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office. How much they will lose will depend on the living stipend for their school, and the length of the break.
Denying interval payments, which in some cases have been paid for up to eight weeks a year for full-time students, was included in an overhaul of the Post-9/11 GI Bill approved by Congress in December and signed by President Obama in January.
read more here
Protect new GI Bill living stipends
By Rick Maze - Staff writer
Posted : Tuesday Apr 12, 2011 12:57:07 EDT
Two California lawmakers have joined forces to try to prevent Post-9/11 GI Bill living stipends from being cut off between school terms for thousands of students.
Reps. Susan Davis, a Democrat, and Duncan Hunter, a Republican, are co-sponsoring what they are calling the Post 9/11 GI Bill Payment Restoration Act, which would prevent a cutoff of interval payments between terms, quarters or semesters that is scheduled to take effect on Aug. 1.
About 270,000 student veterans will lose money under that provision of law, according to an estimate from the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office. How much they will lose will depend on the living stipend for their school, and the length of the break.
Denying interval payments, which in some cases have been paid for up to eight weeks a year for full-time students, was included in an overhaul of the Post-9/11 GI Bill approved by Congress in December and signed by President Obama in January.
read more here
Protect new GI Bill living stipends
Tuesday, April 5, 2011
Governor Scott Walker learns we owe veterans and not the other way around
GI Bill restored, veterans services funded in proposed Wisconsin biennial budget
by Micah Pilkington
April 04, 2011
On Friday, April 1, Governor Scott Walker met with veteran’s groups to announce that his proposed 2011-2013 Biennial budget would restore the GI bill, fully fund veteran assistance programs and ensure the solvency of the Veterans Trust Fund in the state of Wisconsin.
“Protecting Wisconsin’s most courageous citizens is of the highest priority, and restoring the Wisconsin G.I. Bill is a promise that I am proud to keep,” said Gov. Walker, who was most recently in the news in February for his controversial efforts to eliminate collective bargaining rights for the state’s government employees.
New funding for the Wisconsin G.I. Bill was eliminated from the state’s 2007-2009 budget under former Gov. Jim Doyle; increased state support for veterans was one of Gov. Walker’s campaign promises.
read more here
GI Bill restored, veterans services funded
by Micah Pilkington
April 04, 2011
On Friday, April 1, Governor Scott Walker met with veteran’s groups to announce that his proposed 2011-2013 Biennial budget would restore the GI bill, fully fund veteran assistance programs and ensure the solvency of the Veterans Trust Fund in the state of Wisconsin.
“Protecting Wisconsin’s most courageous citizens is of the highest priority, and restoring the Wisconsin G.I. Bill is a promise that I am proud to keep,” said Gov. Walker, who was most recently in the news in February for his controversial efforts to eliminate collective bargaining rights for the state’s government employees.
New funding for the Wisconsin G.I. Bill was eliminated from the state’s 2007-2009 budget under former Gov. Jim Doyle; increased state support for veterans was one of Gov. Walker’s campaign promises.
read more here
GI Bill restored, veterans services funded
Tuesday, March 15, 2011
Is Kaplan University taking advantage of veterans?
Army Veteran: "Kaplan University Even Put Pressure On My Wife"
by Carol Scott · March 14, 2011
A growing number of students are coming forward to share their negative experiences with Kaplan University, the for-profit college owned by the Washington Post Company.
To better tell their stories, Change.org is publishing one Kaplan student’s account every day for one week, starting today. These students are part of a group urging the Washington Post to stop preying on low-income students ( sign their petition here). The below accounts are students' descriptions of their experiences.
Roger Betancourt, Laredo, Texas
Kaplan student from February 2009 to September 2009
U.S. Army veteran; served in Iraq as an Infantry Paratrooper with the 173rd Southern European Task Force (SETAF). Awarded an Army Commendation medal for exceptionally meritorious service in Iraq.
"Kaplan told me that since I was in the military, my G.I. Bill would pay for all of my classes and that I wouldn't pay a cent out of pocket. My advisor gave me all of the instructions and encouraged me to apply.
I told him that I had left the military with a General Discharge (under Honorable conditions) and that I was worried I wouldn't qualify for G.I. Bill benefits. I told him I did not want to start my classes not knowing if I was going to get the benefits.
read more here
Kaplan University Even Put Pressure On My Wife
by Carol Scott · March 14, 2011
A growing number of students are coming forward to share their negative experiences with Kaplan University, the for-profit college owned by the Washington Post Company.
To better tell their stories, Change.org is publishing one Kaplan student’s account every day for one week, starting today. These students are part of a group urging the Washington Post to stop preying on low-income students ( sign their petition here). The below accounts are students' descriptions of their experiences.
Roger Betancourt, Laredo, Texas
Kaplan student from February 2009 to September 2009
U.S. Army veteran; served in Iraq as an Infantry Paratrooper with the 173rd Southern European Task Force (SETAF). Awarded an Army Commendation medal for exceptionally meritorious service in Iraq.
"Kaplan told me that since I was in the military, my G.I. Bill would pay for all of my classes and that I wouldn't pay a cent out of pocket. My advisor gave me all of the instructions and encouraged me to apply.
I told him that I had left the military with a General Discharge (under Honorable conditions) and that I was worried I wouldn't qualify for G.I. Bill benefits. I told him I did not want to start my classes not knowing if I was going to get the benefits.
read more here
Kaplan University Even Put Pressure On My Wife
Friday, March 11, 2011
VA Reaching Out to Veterans on Campus Through VetSuccess
VA Reaching Out to Veterans on Campus Through VetSuccess
New Agreements Recently Reached to Ease Transition
from Active-Duty Military
WASHINGTON (March 11, 2011)- The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is
making a concerted effort this Spring to reach out to student Veterans
at eight VetSuccess on Campus sites to make them aware that VA
counselors are standing by to help ease their transition from
active-duty military to college life.
"Veteran-students transitioning from active duty service to civilian
educational pursuits face unique challenges entering the college
setting," said Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric K. Shinseki. "The
VetSuccess on Campus program continues this Administration's commitment
and responsibility to meet the needs of Veterans and their families
through effective peer-to-peer counseling and other services."
Under the VetSuccess on Campus program, a full-time, experienced
Vocational Rehabilitation Counselor and a part-time Vet Center Outreach
Coordinator are assigned at each campus to provide VA benefits outreach,
support, and assistance to ensure their health, educational, and benefit
needs are met.
To make Veteran-students aware of the VetSuccess on Campus program at
each of the eight sites, VA will conduct outreach activities through
direct emails, posters, social media posts, articles in campus
newspapers, campus website links, and outreach events at the student
commons.
The VetSuccess on Campus program began in June 2009 as a pilot project
at the University of South Florida. In September 2009, the program was
expanded to two additional universities, Cleveland State University and
San Diego State University.
A fourth pilot was started at the Community College of Rhode Island in
December 2010. Agreements have recently been reached between VA and
Arizona State University, Texas A&M Central Texas, Rhode Island College,
and Salt Lake Community College.
"The President's 2012 budget submission requests funding to support
expansion of the program beyond the eight existing sites to nine more
campuses," said Vocational Rehabilitation and Employment Director Ruth
Fanning. "This continued expansion will help to ensure the coordinated
delivery of VA benefits and services to those who honorably served this
Nation."
Under the VetSuccess on Campus program, vocational testing, career and
academic counseling, and adjustment counseling are provided to work to
resolve challenges interfering with completion of education programs and
entrance into employment.
The Vet Center Outreach Coordinator provides peer-to-peer counseling and
referral services. Both the counselor and coordinator may refer
Veterans for more intensive health services, including mental health
treatment through VHA Medical Centers, Community-Based Outpatient
Clinics, or Vet Centers, as well as provide additional information on VA
benefits and services.
For more information on VA's Vocational Rehabilitation Program and
VetSuccess, go to http://www.vba.va.gov/bln/vre/index.htm or
www.vetsuccess.gov
New Agreements Recently Reached to Ease Transition
from Active-Duty Military
WASHINGTON (March 11, 2011)- The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is
making a concerted effort this Spring to reach out to student Veterans
at eight VetSuccess on Campus sites to make them aware that VA
counselors are standing by to help ease their transition from
active-duty military to college life.
"Veteran-students transitioning from active duty service to civilian
educational pursuits face unique challenges entering the college
setting," said Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric K. Shinseki. "The
VetSuccess on Campus program continues this Administration's commitment
and responsibility to meet the needs of Veterans and their families
through effective peer-to-peer counseling and other services."
Under the VetSuccess on Campus program, a full-time, experienced
Vocational Rehabilitation Counselor and a part-time Vet Center Outreach
Coordinator are assigned at each campus to provide VA benefits outreach,
support, and assistance to ensure their health, educational, and benefit
needs are met.
To make Veteran-students aware of the VetSuccess on Campus program at
each of the eight sites, VA will conduct outreach activities through
direct emails, posters, social media posts, articles in campus
newspapers, campus website links, and outreach events at the student
commons.
The VetSuccess on Campus program began in June 2009 as a pilot project
at the University of South Florida. In September 2009, the program was
expanded to two additional universities, Cleveland State University and
San Diego State University.
A fourth pilot was started at the Community College of Rhode Island in
December 2010. Agreements have recently been reached between VA and
Arizona State University, Texas A&M Central Texas, Rhode Island College,
and Salt Lake Community College.
"The President's 2012 budget submission requests funding to support
expansion of the program beyond the eight existing sites to nine more
campuses," said Vocational Rehabilitation and Employment Director Ruth
Fanning. "This continued expansion will help to ensure the coordinated
delivery of VA benefits and services to those who honorably served this
Nation."
Under the VetSuccess on Campus program, vocational testing, career and
academic counseling, and adjustment counseling are provided to work to
resolve challenges interfering with completion of education programs and
entrance into employment.
The Vet Center Outreach Coordinator provides peer-to-peer counseling and
referral services. Both the counselor and coordinator may refer
Veterans for more intensive health services, including mental health
treatment through VHA Medical Centers, Community-Based Outpatient
Clinics, or Vet Centers, as well as provide additional information on VA
benefits and services.
For more information on VA's Vocational Rehabilitation Program and
VetSuccess, go to http://www.vba.va.gov/bln/vre/index.htm or
www.vetsuccess.gov
Wednesday, February 9, 2011
GI Bill Payments Delayed to 55,000 Vets
GI Bill Payments Delayed to 55,000 Vets
February 09, 2011
Virginian-Pilot
NORFOLK -- The Department of Veterans Affairs is blaming bad weather for a paperwork backlog that's left tens of thousands of college students without their February GI Bill money, and it says some may not see their payments for another week or so.
About 300,000 veterans across the United States will receive tuition money and housing assistance this semester under the Post-9/11 GI Bill. Their February payments were supposed to be deposited into their bank accounts by the first of the month, but so far only about 245,000 students have been paid, according to the VA.
That means about 55,000 -- including many in Hampton Roads -- are still waiting.
"It's been really tough," said Titian Maples, a pre-med student at Old Dominion University who served five years in the Navy. "When the government says the money is going to be there and then it's not, it doesn't leave you a lot of options, especially when you're in school and you're living paycheck-to-paycheck."
She said she began calling the VA last week to ask why her payment didn't arrive, and no one could give her answers.
The VA now says January snow storms are behind the delay.
read more here
GI Bill Payments Delayed to 55,000 Vets
February 09, 2011
Virginian-Pilot
NORFOLK -- The Department of Veterans Affairs is blaming bad weather for a paperwork backlog that's left tens of thousands of college students without their February GI Bill money, and it says some may not see their payments for another week or so.
About 300,000 veterans across the United States will receive tuition money and housing assistance this semester under the Post-9/11 GI Bill. Their February payments were supposed to be deposited into their bank accounts by the first of the month, but so far only about 245,000 students have been paid, according to the VA.
That means about 55,000 -- including many in Hampton Roads -- are still waiting.
"It's been really tough," said Titian Maples, a pre-med student at Old Dominion University who served five years in the Navy. "When the government says the money is going to be there and then it's not, it doesn't leave you a lot of options, especially when you're in school and you're living paycheck-to-paycheck."
She said she began calling the VA last week to ask why her payment didn't arrive, and no one could give her answers.
The VA now says January snow storms are behind the delay.
read more here
GI Bill Payments Delayed to 55,000 Vets
Wednesday, December 15, 2010
Senate OKs GI Bill improvements
Senate OKs GI Bill improvements
By Rick Maze - Staff writer
Posted : Tuesday Dec 14, 2010 21:11:28 EST
In an unexpected drive toward the goal line, the Senate approved a long-delayed package of improvements in the Post-9/11 GI Bill, raising the possibility this legislation, once thought dead, would become law by the end of the year.
Friday is the target adjournment date for Congress, leaving little time for action. At the moment, GI Bill legislation is not on the schedule of measures to be taken up by the House this week, but the schedule is in constant flux.
Passage of the bill this year has been a high priority for veterans’ groups, especially Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, which has been complaining about congressional inaction on veteran-related bills.
Passed by voice vote, the bill, S 3447, makes some major changes in the year-old education benefits program — including added vocational and technical education to the covered classes — allows active-duty service members and their spouses to receive a $1,000 per year good allowance, and provides a living stipend to students who are enrolled in distance learning.
It also expands the types of duty by Guard and reserve members that qualify for benefits.
Most of the changes would not take effect until one year after the bill becomes law.
One of the major changes in the bill is the creation of less complex formula for deciding tuition and fee reimbursement for private institutions and for people taking graduate courses at public and private schools. Instead of setting a reimbursement cap for each state, based on the highest in-state rates for tuition and fees charged by a four-year public college or university, the bill would create a flat-rate cap for the entire U.S. of $20,000 a year for tuition and fees. In cases where tuition exceeds the $17,500, the existing Yellow Ribbon program, where a school and the VA make matching contributions to cover higher fees, would continue.
read more here
Senate OKs GI Bill improvements
By Rick Maze - Staff writer
Posted : Tuesday Dec 14, 2010 21:11:28 EST
In an unexpected drive toward the goal line, the Senate approved a long-delayed package of improvements in the Post-9/11 GI Bill, raising the possibility this legislation, once thought dead, would become law by the end of the year.
Friday is the target adjournment date for Congress, leaving little time for action. At the moment, GI Bill legislation is not on the schedule of measures to be taken up by the House this week, but the schedule is in constant flux.
Passage of the bill this year has been a high priority for veterans’ groups, especially Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, which has been complaining about congressional inaction on veteran-related bills.
Passed by voice vote, the bill, S 3447, makes some major changes in the year-old education benefits program — including added vocational and technical education to the covered classes — allows active-duty service members and their spouses to receive a $1,000 per year good allowance, and provides a living stipend to students who are enrolled in distance learning.
It also expands the types of duty by Guard and reserve members that qualify for benefits.
Most of the changes would not take effect until one year after the bill becomes law.
One of the major changes in the bill is the creation of less complex formula for deciding tuition and fee reimbursement for private institutions and for people taking graduate courses at public and private schools. Instead of setting a reimbursement cap for each state, based on the highest in-state rates for tuition and fees charged by a four-year public college or university, the bill would create a flat-rate cap for the entire U.S. of $20,000 a year for tuition and fees. In cases where tuition exceeds the $17,500, the existing Yellow Ribbon program, where a school and the VA make matching contributions to cover higher fees, would continue.
read more here
Senate OKs GI Bill improvements
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