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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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Latest Actions

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

Study Looks at Why Veterans with GI Bill Benefits Take out Student Loans

Feb 3, 2022, 12:56 PM
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Summary : New survey finds that nearly six in ten veterans who have taken out student loans cited living expenses as their primary reason for borrowing.
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A new survey found that nearly six in ten veterans who have taken out student loans cited living expenses as their primary reason for borrowing, reports Pew Charitable Trusts.

The survey, conducted for Pew Charitable Trusts, sought to find out why so many veterans take out student loans despite having access to GI Bill benefits that cover full tuition at public universities and partial tuition at private universities, as well as offer stipends for books and housing. According to a previous Pew survey, just over a quarter of veterans in undergraduate programs took out loans.

The new survey found that 58 percent of those who took out student loans said they did so to cover housing (21 percent) and day-to-day expenses such as groceries or child care (17 percent). The survey also found that 42 percent cited educational expenses as the primary cost they borrowed to cover.

Pew plans to further study the scope and scale of veteran student loan debt in the coming months.

Related Link

The Pew Charitable Trusts

https://www.pewtrusts.org/en/research-and-analysis/articles/2022/01/07/why-veterans-with-gi-bill-benefits-still-take-out-student-loans 


Heather Zimar
Categories :
  • Advocacy
  • Financial Aid and FAFSA
  • Industry News
  • Veterans and Service Members
Tags :
  • Cost of Attendance
  • Debt
  • student loans
  • tuition
  • tuition assistance program
  • VA Programs
  • Veterans and service members issues
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