Noteboom The Law Firm

Veterans in Private Schools are Waiting For GI Bill Improvements

The Post-9/11 GI Bill has had its share of issues since first being made available a few years ago. The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) and student veterans faced funding and timely payment problems, which lead to temporary payments being made and of course, repayment issues. Most recently, veterans attending private colleges face drops in the amount of their tuition reimbursement payments.

To aggravate that situation, there is a timetable that must be met to remedy the private tuition issue. Both the Senate and the House Veterans Affairs Committees approved bills ensuring those tuition payouts to veterans attending private colleges even though Aug. 1, 2011 is the established date on which tuition payments are supposed to change.

Both bills hope to prevent student veterans from being forced into debt because their tuition is reimbursed at a rate lower than what their colleges are charging. Unfortunately, this may be an issue the full chamber does not address before the start of the fall semester.

At the same time, the VA just recently automated their GI Bill processing and payment system, which could be undone with drastic changes to the system. This is sparking fears that attempting to make changes so close to the new semester will cause interfere and end up disturbing GI Bill payments to every veteran in every school.

If that happens, the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) could very likely find themselves in a situation akin to what happened 2 years ago; the debacle that was the initial GI Bill rollout payments.

Veterans attending private schools are given tuition payments equivalent to the tuition of the public university with the highest tuition in their home state. Veterans in the same classrooms at the same schools were then receiving different payments. Lawmakers then capped yearly tuition reimbursement at $17,500. The result: approximately 30,000 veterans attending private colleges hailing from states with "previously higher rates" will have to pay the difference out-of-pocket.

To pay for the "grandfathered tuition rates," the House bill will essentially force homebuyers using VA loans with a down payment of less than 5% to continue to pay an additional fee, which was facing proposed elimination. The Senate bill is similarly structured. Those students entering classes this fall for the first time will not notice any difference.

If you are a disabled veteran who has been denied disability compensation or have not yet applied for benefits from the VA, a South Florida disability attorney from LaVan & Neidenberg is ready to help. To learn if you are entitled to certain programs and benefits contact our veterans disability rights firm today - 1-888-234-5758.