COUNTERING MILITARY RECRUITMENT
Articles: Leaving Military: Veterans
GI Bill's Buying Power Shrinks
Associated Press
May 11, 2007
FAIRFAX, Va. - Marc Edgerly and his father, Carl, both joined the Armyas young men, served during wartime and eventually decided that
college, not a full-time military career, was what they wanted. But
the cost they shouldered for that education is dramatically different.
The GI Bill covered all of Carl Edgerly's college expenses in the
mid-1970s. His son, however, expects that even with the maximum $1,075
in monthly GI Bill benefits, he will be saddled with $50,000 in
student loans when he graduates from George Mason University.
"The total amount of the GI Bill comes nowhere close to what I
actually need for college," said Marc Edgerly, 26, who is in his
second year at the suburban Washington school. "After five years of
college, it is not going to work."
As the Edgerlys prove, it's not your father's GI Bill anymore.
The federal program that once covered nearly the entire cost of a
veteran's college expenses continues to fall further behind the
soaring price of higher education.
Despite several attempts by Congress to boost benefits in past
decades, the gap has grown so large that many veterans are forced to
take out sizable student loans.
The maximum GI Bill amount a currently enrolled veteran who served on
active duty can qualify for during a college career is roughly
$38,700. But for many students, that is not nearly enough to pay for
tuition, room, board and books. And the GI Bill covers only four years
of school, leaving veterans on their own if they take longer to graduate.
The average cost of one year's tuition, room and board at four-year
public institutions in 2006-07 was $12,796, according to the College
Board. For private schools, the one-year cost was $30,367. Tuition and
fees at all schools have risen 35 percent in the past five years,
while the highest GI Bill monthly payout has increased only 20 percent
since 2002.
Big student loans are not uncommon among college students in general;
the average graduate now leaves school with $19,000 in loans.
Congress has boosted the GI benefit several times since its inception
- the last a $9 billion, 10-year increase passed in 2001 that even
then was criticized as too small to keep up with soaring costs.
Some lawmakers want to try again. Legislation in the House and Senate
would make National Guard and Reserve troops, who are relied on
heavily in Iraq and Afghanistan, eligible for the same GI Bill
payments as active-duty personnel. Currently, Guard members and
reservists receive a much lower educational benefit.
Learn about the Total Force GI Bill
A bill by Sen. Jim Webb, D-Va., a former Marine and Navy secretary,
would pay the entire tuition, room and board of veterans and provide
them with a monthly stipend of $1,000. The expanded benefit would be
available to all members of the military who served after Sept. 11,
2001. A Webb spokeswoman said there is no estimate yet of how much the
expanded benefit would cost.
Webb touted the bill Wednesday in the Senate Committee on Veterans'
Affairs, saying it would help boost recruiting, ease the transition of
returning soldiers and raise the quality of life for veterans. The
legislation is backed by several veterans groups, such as the American
Legion.
Learn about the Post-9/11 Veterans Educational Assistance Act
The Department of Veterans Affairs, which administers the program,
distributed $2.76 billion in education aid to 498,123 people last year.
While that amount is substantial, it falls short of original program's
scope.
President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the GI Bill, officially called
the Servicemen's Readjustment Act, in 1944, largely to keep millions
of demobilized World War II soldiers from flooding the job market. By
1956, 7.8 million servicemen had used the benefit for either college
or vocational training.
Veterans initially received about $500 per year, enough to pay for
tuition, room and books at most colleges, according to Keith Olson, a
University of Maryland professor who wrote a book on the GI Bill. But
the purchasing power of the GI Bill benefits has eroded over the years.
To enroll, troops must buy in to the program. Their pay is reduced by
$1,200 during the first year of service, and then they must serve
their full enlistment period. Those who serve three years or more are
eligible for the full benefit of $1,075 per month. Some may qualify
for additional money provided by each military branch, known as a GI
Bill "kicker."
Despite its original largesse, some veterans aren't sure the GI Bill
should pay for the entire cost of their education.
Carl Edgerly, 55, served for three years in the Army, including a year
in Vietnam. Now an accountant for the North Dakota Game and Fish
Department, he is also a lieutenant colonel in the National Guard
scheduled for a tour in Iraq.
Edgerly worked full time while he was on the GI Bill, and received
$374 per month in GI Bill benefits. He attended Bismarck Junior
College and then University of Mary College, both in Bismarck, N.D.
Despite the costs his son faces, Edgerly said he believes the program
is meant to give a soldier a "head start" rather than a free ride in
college.
His son agrees - somewhat. Marc Edgerly enlisted in a burst of
patriotism following Sept. 11, 2001, and spent four years in the
Army's Old Guard, serving on honor guards at Arlington National Cemetery.
Now a Russian and engineering major at George Mason, Edgerly also
works part-time as security guard at $12.50 per hour. His yearly
tuition bill is about $7,000. Edgerly and his fiancee pay around
$1,200 monthly for a small apartment near campus in the high-rent
Washington suburb.
He expects to find a well-paying job as an engineer after he
graduates, which should help to repay his loans. And he has a big
incentive to stay in school.
"My fiancee says she won't marry me if I don't get a college degree,"
he said.
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