New GI benefits vary widely by state

Associated Press

When the new GI Bill kicks in Aug. 1, the government’s best-known education program for veterans will get the biggest boost since its World War II-era creation. But the benefit is hardly the “Government Issue,” one-size-fits-all standard the name implies.

In fact, depending on where service members and veterans decide to attend college, they could receive a full ride or very little.

An Associated Press review of state-by-state benefits under the new bill shows huge discrepancies in the amount veterans can receive.

For example:

UVeterans attending New Hampshire colleges such as Dartmouth might get $25,000 from the government each year, and in Dartmouth’s case essentially a free ride, thanks to an additional grant from the Ivy League school. But in neighboring Massachusetts, it is a different story. At that state’s numerous private schools — many just as expensive as Dartmouth — the government’s baseline tuition benefit is only about $2,200 a year.

UVeterans who choose a private school in Texas could get close to $20,000 a semester from the government for a typical course load. Those picking schools in California will get nothing for tuition.

The explanation stems from the formula the government created, as well as a much-criticized decision by the Department of Veterans Affairs on how to implement the law.

The new GI Bill covers full in-state undergraduate tuition and fees at any public college. That’s far more generous than the old GI Bill, which provides a monthly stipend that is the same from state to state.

But Congress also wanted to help veterans attend often-pricier private schools. So the new bill offers them an amount equal to the tuition at the most expensive public college in the same state.

That penalizes veterans going to private colleges in states that have kept their public university tuition low.

As a result, the new GI Bill is a great deal for such vets in states such as New Hampshire, New York and Texas; a pretty good one in states such as Ohio; and hardly any deal at all in Massachusetts and especially California, where the state constitution prohibits public universities from charging tuition. Instead, California’s public universities typically charge “fees” of several thousand dollars per year.

Critics argue the Department of Veterans Affairs misinterpreted the law and should have combined tuition and fees in coming up with reimbursement levels. That would have put the total California benefit at around $13,000 per year.