Published: July 31, 2009 07:19 pm         

New GI Bill in effect Saturday

Tunnel Hill resident Daniel Petty is one of about 10 students at Dalton State College planning to attend school on the new GI Bill for veterans who served on or after Sept. 11, 2001, the day of the terrorist attacks.

“I would have made more if I had used the old (GI Bill), I think ...” Petty said, “but it’s just so much more convenient.”

The old Montgomery GI Bill pays veterans a monthly stipend while they are in school but doesn’t directly pay tuition. The Post-9/11 GI Bill, which takes effect Saturday, pays tuition and fees directly to the school and gives veterans a monthly stipend. Stipends under the bills vary for participants depending on several factors including where they live, pay scale while on active duty, type of degree and number of dependent family members. Some factors apply only to the new bill.

Petty, a 2001 graduate of Murray County High School who served in the Navy from 2004 until March of this year, said he’ll get about $920 a month under the new bill.

Financial aid counselor Katrina Autry said most veterans she counsels are staying with their initial benefits while new students are tending toward the Post 9/11 program. Both programs have a limit on how long veterans can stay on them, but some veterans on the old plan could be eligible for the new one after the first one expires. Because of that, many students on the old bill are opting to stay with it, Autry said.

Sophomore Clinton Ray, an Eton resident who serves in an Army reserve unit from Atlanta, said he was on active duty from 2000 to 2004. He said he gets about $984 a month on the old bill while attending school half time.

“I would actually get less money if I went for the new plan,” he said.

Department of Veterans Affairs officials project a 20 to 25 percent increase in participants in its academic programs, and anticipate that up to 460,000 veterans will use the Post-9/11 GI Bill in its first year, according to the department’s GI Bill Web site, www.gibill.va.gov. Dianne Cox, director of financial aid at Dalton State, said she did not know how much the bill will increase veterans’ college enrollment over the long term.

Between 150 and 200 students at Dalton State receive some kind of VA benefits to help pay for school, she said. More than 5,000 students are expected this fall.

Cox said the college refers students to the VA for questions about which plan is best for them.

Petty said that in addition to the draw of an adventurous lifestyle, the military’s Veterans Affairs benefits attracted him to the Navy. Now engaged to be married, he said he will use the Post-9/11 GI Bill for help toward his English education degree.

Ray is married, working full time and pursuing a degree in computer networking and service.



New GI Bill

The Post-9/11 GI Bill provides financial support for education and housing to individuals with at least 90 days of aggregate service on or after Sept. 11, 2001, or individuals discharged with a service-connected disability after 30 days. The amount of support that an individual may qualify for depends on where they live and what type of degree they are pursuing.

Source: Department of Veterans Affairs GI Bill Web site, www.gibill.va.gov

     

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