IAVA Issues Statement On GI Bill Benefits

NEW YORK - The recent article, “Veterans groups want cap on tuition aid under new G.I. bill,” printed in the Virginian-Pilot, grossly misstated the position of IAVA regarding the new GI Bill benefit by implying we are seeking a reduction in the value of that benefit. There is already a cap on the benefits available under the new GI Bill – it is a cap that varies wildly and unfairly by state.  IAVA supports a fairer, national ceiling which would increase the benefit for many veterans who wish to attend private colleges or universities, and would have no effect on anyone attending a public school. Ideally, there would be no cap.  But if there is a cap, it should be fair and generous.

The new GI Bill is intended to give every veteran access to an affordable college education, but the VA’s recently-issued regulations have made the benefits system both confusing and unfair.  Right now, a veteran attending a private school in Arkansas might end up tens of thousands of dollars in debt, while a veteran across the border in Texas, with identical tuition costs, gets their school paid for.  Besides being inequitable, the system is confusing.  Under the VA’s patchwork system of tuition and fee benefits, veterans will not be able to make educated decisions about the costs of attending school.  IAVA has recommended a simpler system that would increase benefits for thousands of students attending private school, leave the benefits to public school veteran-students unchanged, and would dramatically improve the benefit’s fairness. A complete breakdown of our recommendations is available at http://iava.org/iava-in-washington/legislative-agenda.

Since 2004, IAVA’s mission has been to improve the lives of troops, veterans and their families. IAVA was at the forefront of the fight for a new GI Bill, and we will continue to work closely with the VA and with Congress to resolve these and other oversights within the new GI Bill regulations, so every Iraq and Afghanistan veteran gets the benefits he or she has earned.

For IAVA's updated analysis on GI Bill implementation, please read: GI Bill Implementation: Where Are We now? 

Any veteran seeking more information on the new GI Bill and their benefits, or to give us feedback, should also visit us at www.GIBill2008.org.

 Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America (www.IAVA.org) is the country's first and largest nonprofit, nonpartisan organization for veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and has more than 125,000 veteran members and civilian supporters nationwide. Its mission is to improve the lives of this country's newest generation of veterans and their families.