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Veterans & Service Members

AACRAO recognizes and honors the sacrifices these men and women have made and its members are proud to assist them and meet their educational needs. Veterans and students on active military duty and their families face special circumstances and challenges.

Changes in federal statute and executive actions have greatly promoted the expansion of services toward veterans and their families. Since the Post-9/11 GI Bill was passed in 2009, close to 1 million veterans, service members, and eligible dependents have taken advantage of the educational benefits available to them. With the passage of more recent legislation, such as the Forever GI Bill in 2017 and the Isakson Roe and THRIVE Acts in 2021, there will be significant changes to military education benefits over the coming years.

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AACRAO recently hosted a webinar to discuss the implementation of veteran legislation passed in December 2020, also known as the Johnny Isakson and David P. Roe Veterans Health Care and Benefits Improvement Act. This law will have a transformative effect on the mission of Education Service to provide ready access to, and timely and accurate delivery of, education benefits to Veterans, Service members, and their families, as well as further enable the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to empower GI Bill beneficiaries to achieve their vocational and career goals.

Other recent legislation introduced in both the House and Senate include important provisions to help ensure veterans can continue to receive their education benefits as well as technical corrections to the legislation passed last year.

UPDATES

Congress Approves New Protections for GI Bill Recipients

Dec 20, 2018, 10:40 AM
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Summary : Bipartisan package of veterans-friendly legislation would prohibit colleges from collecting a late fee or requiring GI Bill users to take out additional loans because of delayed payments, among other things.
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The U.S. Senate on Wednesday night passed a bipartisan package of veterans-friendly legislation, S. 2248.


The minibus includes language from a bill co-sponsored by Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and John Boozman (R-AR) that would prohibit colleges from collecting a late fee or requiring GI Bill users to take out additional loans because of delayed payments. It would also require the U.S. Veterans Affairs (VA) Department to provide electronic proof to student veterans that they will receive a housing payment from the VA under the GI Bill that they can use to show a prospective landlord.

Lawmakers have been increasingly frustrated by GI Bill processing delays throughout the fall semester as the VA struggled to implement provisions in a law that changed how the monthly housing benefit tied to the benefit is calculated.

The minibus legislation, approved last week by the House, now awaits President Trump's signature.


The White House has not said publicly if Trump will sign the legislation, but VA officials have previously said the administration supports the provision that prohibits colleges from collecting late fees, reported Politico.

The Senate sent a separate bill, S. 3777, to the House on Tuesday, co-sponsored by Boozman and Sen. Brian Schatz (D-HI), that would require the VA to reimburse veterans for missed or underpaid GI Bill housing benefits.

Related Links

Politico

https://www.politico.com/newsletters/morning-education/2018/12/13/farm-bill-to-boost-historically-black-colleges-universities-454662

Michelle Mott
Categories :
  • Advocacy
  • Financial Aid and FAFSA
  • Veterans and Service Members
Tags :
  • Federal relations
  • gi bill
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