Area colleges joining veteran-aid program

Nearly 30 private and state-related colleges and trade schools in the Philadelphia area have agreed to participate in a program that will give far-reaching financial aid to veterans who have had active service since 9/11.

They are among more than 700 schools nationwide that have reached agreements with the Department of Veterans Affairs to take part in the Yellow Ribbon program. The list is expected to be completed by the end of the month.

The program will begin in August and is expected to swell the ranks of college-going veterans by 25 percent, said Keith M. Wilson, the VA's education service director. About 350,000 veterans got education benefits in the last school year, he said.

"It's certainly the most substantial expansion of veteran education programs since the original GI Bill in 1944," Wilson said in an interview this week.

The new legislation is different because it is tied to the actual cost that students incur in college; previous programs tended to offer flat-rate benefits, Wilson said.

The initiative is expected to cost the federal government $68 billion during 10 years.

Every Ivy League school except Princeton is participating. The University of Pennsylvania is offering a variety of benefits in its different schools and programs.

Princeton chose not to participate because it bases aid solely on need and is poised to offer "generous no-loan" aid to veterans who qualify, spokeswoman Cass Cliatt said.

Other selective private schools have signed on, including Swarthmore and Bryn Mawr.

"Even in these tough economic times, we've increased our commitment to financial aid," Bryn Mawr president Jane McAuliffe said in a statement. "Our participation in this program is a part of that and part of our commitment to creating a community with the greatest diversity possible. Our veterans have a unique global perspective to bring to campus."

Others on board include big universities such as Penn State, Drexel, and Rutgers, and smaller private schools such as Rosemont, Cabrini, and Gwynedd Mercy. Drexel announced it had committed $2 million to the effort.

Some schools are offering unlimited seats to veterans, while others set caps. Swarthmore, for example, is committing to two, while Holy Family will provide 999.

Also varying are the amounts schools will provide. Most are offering the cost not covered by the government or other aid.

To be eligible, veterans must have served three years on active duty or at least 30 continuous days before being discharged for service-related injuries since Sept. 11, 2001.

The federal government will pay up to the highest in-state school tuition and then match every dollar that schools offer in aid.

For example, at Widener University, the semester tuition is $15,670, $8,205 of which the government will fund. Widener has agreed to put up $3,000, meaning the government will kick in another $3,000. The student then would look for other aid to plug the $1,465 difference.

The university is making benefits available to students for a full- or part-time undergraduate degree, a graduate degree, or a law degree. In the first year, the program will be open on a first-come, first-served basis to 50 undergraduates, 25 graduate students, and 10 law students – five from each of Widener's two law campuses in Harrisburg and Wilmington.

To learn more about the program, go to www.gibill.va.gov/

For a list of schools and their benefits, go to www.gibill.va.gov/GI_BILL_Info/CH33/YRP/YRP_List.htm

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