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A Reporting Project of the Kent State University School of Media and Journalism

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Kent State Veterans Benefit from Forever GI Bill

Brianne Kocher 0 Comments

 

The man’s hands clutched the wheel of the fuel truck. The U.S. convoy moved through Baghdad, carrying food, water and fuel. Around him, 55 other trucks trekked along the road.

Suddenly, a roadside bomb stuck the truck ahead. His own truck blew sideways. His head slammed against the armor plating on the door. Ringing filled his ears.

David Levy is now a Kent State student.

One of about 600 veterans at Kent, the 40-year-old finds the new Forever GI Bill favorable, but wishes for still more improvements. “I wanna see, by the time I get a PhD, the GI bill transform for the veterans that have disabilities,” Levy said, explaining that he sustained a concussion in the Iraq bombing.

With support from both parties in Congress, the Harry W. Colmery Veterans Educational Assistance Act was signed by President Trump on August 16. Veterans make up about 1.5 percent of the student population at Kent, and the 27-page law would profit these veterans by allowing them to take advantage of their educational benefits forever, instead of the former 15-year limit.

Only some of the changes like this one are instant—others will be enacted in coming years.

Here are some implications of the Forever GI Bill (based on MilitaryBenefits.info):

    • No expiration for school benefits
    • Purple Heart awardees get full benefits, no matter how long they served
    • Less money paid for housing, to pay for the bill
    • Housing rate calculated based on location of majority of classes, benefits online students
    • Members of National Guard and Reserve receive more educational aid
    • Levels of benefits changed so members of National Guard and Reserve, who served 6 months to less than 12 months, get the 60 percent benefit level instead of the 50 percent level, which may mean getting $2,300 more for tuition each year
    • Benefits allowed to be transferred to other dependents
    • 36 months instead of 45 months of education benefits, but $200 more a month
    • Extra assistance for STEM program enrollees
    • $30 million given to Veterans Benefits Administration for tech upgrades to complete paperwork/training

 

Joshua Rider, the director of the Center for Adult and Veteran Services at Kent State.

Joshua Rider, director of the Center for Adult and Veteran Services at Kent, said that the Forever GI Bill lengthens the time available for veterans discharged after 2013 to use the educational benefits. Still, veterans have only 36 months or nine semesters of school available to use, but they can use them anytime they wish. The director said that he loves the bill.

“I think that is perfect for the non-traditional student as a whole,” Rider said with vigor. “Things happen in people’s lives that delay them. Right now there’s a 15-year date on their benefit, you know, for those folks. You had folks that got out of the service in 2004, maybe they got married, had children. They turn around—it’s been 10 years, 11 years, 12 years. ‘Oh wow, I have 36 months of benefits, but I only have three years in which to use those.’ Kinda hard to complete a four-year degree in three years when you have other things going on in life, right?”

Rider said that veterans at Kent aren’t yet aware of the new benefits.

Levy, who served in the army for six years, understands the new bill, but won’t benefit from it since he is soon to graduate. He plans to pursue a doctorate, and he hopes to focus his study on traumatic brain injuries and the military, with connections to the GI Bill.

Kent State veteran David Levy and his family. Courtesy of David Levy.

“What the GI bill is right now, says, ‘You have to be a traditional student, you have to go full-time to get the max benefits, otherwise you waste it,” Levy, who struggles with PTSD, said. “So it’s basically saying you have to be a traditional student, or nothing at all. That’s very hard to swallow when you have a traumatic brain injury and PTSD and anything else that might be associated with the military after you get out. I wanna see it add in disabilities so people can go part-time.”

He values his role as a father to his two-year-old son Jack. “I just treat this like a job,” Levy said, referring to school. “So I come every day, and do this [while] my wife is working her job.”

Another change induced by the Forever GI Bill is housing rates. The monthly stipend calculation will change so that the amount of money a veteran receives will depend on where the student takes most of his classes.

“Right now, if they’re a Kent campus student and they’re going to ultimately graduate from Kent campus with their bachelor’s degree and they’re taking six credit hours here and eight credit hours at another regional campus, they’re getting paid that Kent rate,” Rider said. “But you know after this is enacted, let’s say they’re taking six credit hours here and nine at our Trumbull campus—they would be paid at the Trumbull campus rate.”

Because of this, Rider said that Kent will spend more time figuring out where students are taking most of their courses in order to comply with this aspect of the new law. He called it “administratively challenging.”

Rider said that whether the change in housing rate calculation will help or hinder veterans hinges on the varying locations. “If you’re taking classes at Geauga—you’re a Kent campus student, but you happen to be taking a term worth of classes at the Geauga campus, well then, you’ll receive that higher housing rate, [because] Geauga has a higher housing rate,” he said.

David Johnson, a student-veteran at Kent State.

David Johnson, who served in the Navy for six years, lives in Kent with his wife and two children. “I like [Trump’s] direction and where he wants to go with it,” the sports administration senior said. “I do think there’s still a lot of problems within the VA.”

The 30-year-old never saw combat, but suffers from back problems from the military. “I have VA health insurance, so I go through the VA for all my doctor’s appointments, all my visits, stuff like that. And I’ve personally seen how long the wait times can be,” he said. “Like, for instance, I’m still waiting to hear back on a possible appointment, and it’s been over a month.”

Johnson was discharged from the military last year, and now he doesn’t have to rush through school. “I don’t have to be pressured to go back and like get my master’s faster, because I’ll have forever to use the GI Bill.”

Some might say the Forever GI Bill is overgenerous to veterans at the expense of American taxpayers, but Johnson said the opposite. “I do like [Trump’s] theories, because the way veterans are being treated right now is wrong, in terms of the way their healthcare is,” he said. “They went through a lot—I don’t know, it just needs to be better.”

 

 

Text by Davy Vargo. Video by Brianne Kocher. Graphics by Anthony Calvaruso. 

 

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