How did these vets go into debt? Doesn't the GI bill take care of all this? Or did they go over their limit?
My friend was saying, unless you fail the class, then you have to pay for it and the GI bill wont cover.
There are a dozen ways military members pay for college:
- The military academies for all services are 100% tuition free but requires a Congressional Appointment to attend.
- ROTC offers scholarships for 2-4 years including tuition and a monthly subsistence payment. You can attend any college that accepts you and which offers the ROTC program for the branch you want to join.
- Military personnel can attend college on their own time. Once they attain a certain number of credits in a degree program that benefits their military career, they can go to school full time (no military duties) for up to two years tuition free. There are additional slots for enlisted who intend to apply to Officer Training once they graduate.
- Active duty have a variety of tuition assistance programs depending on rank and degree being sought. As an officer, I was paying 20% of in-state tuition in Virginia, and the Air Force picked up the other 80%. Enlisted often qualified for 100% tuition assistance.
- Each branch has their own colleges, too. Air Force Institute of Technology (AFIT) would send you to classes either on campus or at another college tuition free if you worked toward a degree in your career field. I worked for a Captain who got his masters degree from AFIT in residence and another who got her masters paid for by AFIT through University of San Antonio. She stopped wearing her uniform for 2 years. When she came back to work, she got to start wearing her new Captain's rank.
- There are programs everyone can opt into, depending on when you first joined, that lets you save for education. When I was in, there was a 2-for-1 matching program. You put $2K in your account over time, and the military gives you $6K for school. There are limits on contributions and how much the distributions can be. Basically you get a monthly allowance as you go to school out of that account.
GI Bill benefits (and requirements) have changed a number of times in the last 50 years. To talk about it, you have to specify which GI Bill you mean. The 2-for-1 matching program I had was during the time the GI Bill was suspended. If you didn't opt-in and contribute by a certain date, you had no after-separation benefits.
Most of the programs I listed are highly competitive, require a service commitment (2 years college = promise to serve 2 additional years after graduation), and are designed to benefit active duty or pre-active duty members.
GI Bill and other similar programs are designed for the veteran -- no longer on active duty. Big difference between seeking a post-military degree and one that benefits your military career in terms of schools, cost and degree you might choose.
I remember paying $80/class for undergrad prerequisite classes on active duty. When I separated, the college wanted me to pay $1,600/class -- as an out-of-state student, even though I'd been going there for 2 years. Once you separate, you find there are not many automatic educational benefits. It's out-of-pocket or student loan time.
I know of a few who got degrees on active duty that didn't translate well into the civilian job market, too. They opted to get another degree to further their civilian careers. It's a major reason many of us used our degrees and job experience to become DoD contractors -- same job, different company.