Noteboom The Law Firm

Florida Veteran Students Finally Receiving Educational Benefits

March 24, 2010 - Floridian veteran students struggled to receive their Post-9/11 GI Bill benefits last fall just like other veteran students around the country. The Post-9/11 GI Bill is used exclusively by veterans who have served in Iraq and Afghanistan and is the single most inclusive benefit offered to veterans since the original GI Bill which was issued following World War II.

Last fall was the first time the Post-9/11 GI Bill was administered and it got off to a very unstable start. Colleges and universities waited months for their tuition to be paid from a backlogged federal government. Veteran students waited months for critical benefits checks.

The Senate Higher Education Committee held a two hour hearing with Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) officials, private and public university officials, and two veteran students currently attending colleges in Florida. The VA acknowledged the slow and unsteady beginning but gave their assurances the system is fully operational and all of the past problems have been resolved.  

Without the Post-9/11 GI Bill benefits last fall, veteran students would not be able to stay enrolled in school and therefore would not be able to attend their classes. In response to their own failure in processing claims quickly enough, the VA advanced these veteran students $3,000.

The VA is now reclaiming these advance payments over 4 separate installments of $750. The VA will withhold their repayments from housing benefits and if the veteran student has not set up a payment plan with the VA, the repayments could cause the veterans problems. Because of situations like this, veteran officials have been asked to improve their communication with the veterans as far as the advance payments so as to avoid causing any more financial strife to already burdened veteran students.

The Post-9/11 GI Bill has allowed thousands of veterans to get an education when the opportunity may not have existed for them otherwise. Veterans have descended on Florida's institutions of higher learning in growing numbers. Since the beginning of the Post-9/11 GI Bill, the amount of veterans attending colleges has doubled.