GI Bill limits funds available to veterans, MSU students

As a U.S. Army veteran of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, Justin McClean is eligible for $1,100 per month in federal aid via the GI Bill.

But McClean, a 31-year-old human biology junior, doesn’t take the money he’s owed by the government for his military services.

Instead, he takes student loans — money he’ll have to pay back after graduation.

“The GI Bill is kind of a pain in the ass,” he said.

McClean said if he uses his GI Bill, he’d be eligible for $6,000 — $4,000 less than the $10,000 he receives from student loans this semester.

The GI Bill is considered a form of federal aid, and there’s only so much that can be used per semester, he said.

“My original argument with the administration at MSU was that this isn’t federal aid, it’s my money,” he said. “But apparently it’s not.”

McClean said if he used his GI Bill aid, he wouldn’t receive his first payment until he was enrolled for 30 days.

Because he has a daughter to provide for, and can’t work — he’s received 100 percent medical disability since having surgery on his knee and shoulder — he needs the bulk of his aid at the beginning of the semester, he said.

“I need to get set financially so my daughter has clothes to wear this summer,” he said. “I can’t wait for 30 days of classes for $1,100. It wouldn’t work for me.”

Scott Owczarek, associate registrar for registration services, said giving veterans extra benefits hasn’t been discussed.

“It just hasn’t been brought up,” he said. “As an institution, we do all that we can do (for veterans), but this just hasn’t been something we’ve discussed.”

Western Michigan University is one institution that has attempted to offset the distribution flaws of the GI Bill.

Lowell Rinker, Western Michigan’s vice president for business and finance, said the university provides tuition fees for returning veterans, then grants them in-state tuition status for the next semester.

“It usually takes that long for the GI Bill to catch up,” he said.

Rinker said Western Michigan adopted the policy about a year ago because officials determined it was “the right thing to do.”

“Each institution has to make its own judgments about which policies fit best,” he said.

“MSU will probably be having similar conversations and determine what’s the best way to address their policies.”

Owczarek said Western Michigan’s policies could be used as a recruiting tool to attract veterans, but recruiting veterans is not an issue at MSU.

“We don’t have a recruitment problem, but the policy really just hasn’t been brought up,” he said.

Published on Tuesday, March 25, 2008